July 2009 Program
"The Art of Staging"
by Artie Chavez & Steven Frieze

Our featured speakers for our July program will be Artie Chavez & Steven Frieze, two of the clubs most long-standing members. "The Art of Staging” will be a workshop in the art of staging your plants. Artie and Steven have a combined 50 years of experience in growing and staging succulents and cacti. Each has won numerous ribbons, rosettes, and trophies in Southern California shows. Artie will focus his efforts on preparing and staging succulents while Steven will concentrate on cacti. So exactly what is staging? Its roots (to use an appropriate pun) are in the practice of Bonsai. One of the purposes of staging is display plants as they might exist in habitat. Further staging help accentuate the best quality of the specimen; a well staged plant should look dramatically different when lifted from its original pot and placed into a “show pot”. A well staged plant will present the best features of the plant to the observer. Certainly, staging your plants assist in when competitively exhibiting your collection; staging should comprise only 5 to 10 percent of the total value of a judges’ assessment in theory but often the staging will subtly or otherwise influence the way a plant is viewed. It should be noted that the application of Bonsai techniques to the presentation of a plant is a uniquely American phenomenon. In other countries plants are typically displayed in the plastic or ceramic containers they are purchased in.

The workshop will consist of a series of demonstrations. Artie and Steven will stage plants supplied by members for the workshop potentially creating a winner as you observe and learn. Discussions of when to repot your plants and what tools and materials are necessary to successfully accomplish your staging needs will accompany the demonstrations. The importance of choosing the right pot (selecting a pot that is too large or too small can make a large difference in how the plant is perceived by others) and why that is critical in staging will be addressed as well as the importance of selecting the appropriate top dressing and/or rocks. For those members wishing to have plants staged please notify Artie or Steven at the beginning of the meeting.

Cactus Chronicle: July 2009

June Plants of the Month
Cacti - Echinocereus
Succulents - Stapelia or Caralluma
Caudiciform - Pachypodium (non-Madagascan)

LACSS - 2009 Calendar of Events

Aug. 15th - 16th 24th Annual Intercity Show and Sale- Los Angeles County Arboretum, 301 No. Baldwin Ave., Arcadia, Ca. Info. Call Tom Glavich at 626-798-2430

Aug. 29th Huntington Botanical Gardens Succulent Symposium. All day at the Huntington

Sept. 27th Long Beach Cactus Club Annual Plant Auction, 18127 South Alameda St., Rancho Dominguez, CA 12:00 p.m.

Nov. 7th - 8th San Gabriel Valley Cactus And Succulent Society Show and Sale---La County Arboretum Address Above.

Dec. 5th -6th Orange County Show and Sale at the Fullerton Arboretum, 1900 Associated Road, Fullerton, Ca 92831