Presented by Steven Brack
The program will be a tour of southern Namibia and an introduction to the major succulent families of plants. The diversity of plant life is huge, with tiny to large succulents. The coastal regions are strongly influenced by the cold waters of the Atlantic Ocean with a lot of haze in the air, higher humidity, and fog and drizzle in the winter. The eastern side of the country has an intermittent summer monsoon with moisture coming south from Angola and occasional thunderstorms popping on summer afternoons.
Steven has taken 5 trips to Namibia since 1982 and have been very impressed by the beauty of the country. It is a large country with vast amounts of land with little human influence. The southern desert region can be very harsh with low rainfall, but this is not the whole story. There are many plants and animals that survive and call this area home.
Steven was interested in horticulture from a very young age. Growing up on a small family dairy farm in Wisconsin he started working in the garden as a lad. This interest in plants caused him to go to the local college library after seeing some cacti at a friend’s house. For quite some time his interest was in finding more books on cacti and succulents through library loan. In one of the books, he found that it was possible to join Societies and send away for seeds. Early on he got the raising from seed bug, and eventually decided to move to a desert state, New Mexico, to start a nursery to produce seeds. Once the ball got rolling it just kept on going, he and his wife started Mesa Garden in 1976 and pretty much the rest is history. One of the best parts of the work was taking trips to see plants in nature, and they continue to do this now. In late 2016 they sold Mesa Garden to retire, and now are as busy as ever with plants, growing from seed, and family.
If you have been fully vaccinated for Covid-19 you are welcome to come and join us for this excellent in person presentation (masks will be required by all). This meeting will also be available as a Zoom program and will be an important educational and informational event you must see. Also, if using Zoom, be sure to log in to win a $25.00 gift certificate from TCSS or choose a copy of the new 3rd edition of the Field Guide to Cacti & Other Succulents of Arizona. Plant give aways will also be happening at the in person meeting as well. When leaving the live in person meeting, everyone can get a free plant offered to you by the TCSS.