Time: Tuesday, 12 November at 7.30pm (GMT)
Please note that our talks now begin at 7.30pm GMT (not BST)
In this month’s talk we take a slightly different but nonetheless fascinating angle compared to our recent talks. We are very pleased to have Brian McDonough speak to us about his greenhouse in Scotland; a talk that promises to appeal to all growers.
Brian became fascinated with plants in general while at school in Manchester, but cacti soon became the focus of his passion. Moving to Scotland with work in 1988, he became increasingly interested in the “other succulents”, especially Mesembs. After going through a phase of growing and hybridizing small Aloes and Echeveria in the early 2000s his main area of interest now is the plants of southern Africa and the Western Cape. This has led to a new subject of interest and learning: winter-growing bulbs and xerophytes! Brian’s favourite part of the hobby is growing from seed and in addition to cacti and succulents he is also interested in alpine/rock garden plants and has a small collection of carnivorous plants.
In 2022 Brian replaced his old greenhouse with a (long overdue) bigger greenhouse. Although in the same location it is a very different space with its own peculiarities. With a different approach to heating and making the most of the sometimes-meagre Scottish sunshine, he has had to modify his growing technique, which he will cover in this presentation.
As Brian says, “This will be a different kind of presentation to what most are used to, covering a variety of topics. Hopefully there will be something of interest for everyone.”
