Time: Tuesday 18 April 2023 at 8:00pm (BST)
Dr Richard Rolfe studied chemistry at Queen Mary College London from 1965 to 1971 and obtained a special honours degree and a doctorate. In June 1968, in the midst of his studies, he admits to making “the mistake” of buying a flowering Mammillaria Zeilmanniana from Woolworths for 1s9d (about 10p in today’s money). After that Richard was hooked on cacti and then other succulent plants.
In 1969 he joined the Ilford branch of the Cactus and Succulent Society of Great Britain (GB); in 1971 he joined the Havering branch of the National Cactus and Succulent Society. In 1975 he created and staged a display for the GB society at the Chelsea Flower Show, which won a Silver Banksian Medal. Around this time Richard became treasurer of the GB society and was eventually involved in the merger of the two societies to form the BCSS.
Richard has been chairman of the Chelmsford Branch of the BCSS for about 11 years. For the last ten years, on behalf of the BCSS, he has organised displays and sales at RHS Hyde Hall, including at its Annual Flower Show. Richard’s main interest is simplifying the cultivation of succulent plants and growing them from seed which he has been doing since 1975. His collection is contained in two 20ft greenhouses, and two more greenhouses measuring 8x6ft and 6x6ft.
In this talk, Richard will take us on a fascinating road trip through north-west Argentina that will include cacti in habitat in this superb location and so much more. Please join us for this excellent and illuminating talk and remember that we will start 30 minutes later than usual at 8.00pm BST.