Welcome to the Southampton & District Branch of the British Cactus and Succulent Society

Main BCSS Home Page - Details about what the BCSS is and how you can join.
Monthly Meetings - About our monthly meetings.
Branch Programme - What's on this coming year?
BCSS Zone 11 - Details of what's on at local Branches.
Contact Details - Who do I get in touch with?
Other Branches - A list of other BCSS branches and links to their home pages.
BCSS Calendar of Events - A list of major Cacti & Succulent events across the country.
BCSS Junior site - BCSS website for juniors, explaining some basic facts about cacti and succulents.

April 2025 Meeting

Our next meeting will be on Tuesday 1st April and we will have a talk by Reading branch's Keith Flanagan, who will present a talk about titled "Manageable Agaves".

Agaves are plants from the Americas which are quite adaptable and so they also grow easily in countries with desert climates, and you will find them growing in the Canaries or South Africa, but these are not endemic and were introduced by man. Some agaves grow very large and they could easily overrun a confined space - but for this talk Keith will be focussing on smaller growing plants that we should be be able grow in the confines of a small greenhouse. Keith has been growing Agaves for over 40 years so he has extensive knowledge of this genus.

As usual the hall will be open for setup from soon after 7pm, with the meeting starting formally at around 7:45pm. We look forward to seeing you there.

Monthly Meetings

The Southampton and District branch holds regular meetings on the first Tuesday of each month, at Saint James' Church Hall, Church Hill (A27), West End (SO30 3LA). The Hall is located on the A27, about one mile west of junction 7 of the M27. Access to the hall car park is from Hatherell Close - if this car park is full, you can also go round the corner and use the main church car park which can be entered from West End Road. There is no charge for attending meetings and visitors are just as welcome as members. In addition, the Branch takes part in shows and displays at other venues throughout the year.

Each monthly meeting starts at 7:30pm and finishes at 10:00pm, with a break for refreshments. The meetings generally consist of a speaker and slide show, or a practical demonstration or talk. A good selection of plants are available for purchase, and there is also an extensive library of books which can be borrowed on a monthly basis. There is also a table show, where members bring along plants from a nominated category or genus.

Newsletters

Each month, the branch publishes a newsletter. These contain summaries of the talks given at meetings and also provide additional information about forthcoming events. You can download these newsletters (in PDF format) here.

50th Anniversary

2004 was a very special year for the Branch since it marked our 50th Anniversary. We held a special birthday convention to celebrate this occasion. If you are interested in the history of the branch, click here.

Library

The branch holds an extensive collection of books which can be borrowed by members. Click here for details of the branch library and for a list of the titles available.

Badge

The branch has available an enamel badge which allows members to show their affiliation to the branch. Click here for further details.

Additional Information & Links

Click here for some general information on the cultivation of cacti and succulents. It's also fun to try and raise plants from seed.
Click here for links to other Internet websites containing useful information on cacti and succulents.

Photo Galleries

Photos of plants, of some of the events we took part in during recent years, and of the 2004 National Show (which featured some of the best plants in the country).
Gallery 1   Gallery 2
Events 1   Events 2   Events 3
2004 BCSS National Show 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
2005   2006   2007
2016 BCSS National Show 1 2 3 4 5 6
ELK Conferences ELK 2012 ELK 2013

2025 Programme

Date	Subject/Speaker	Table Show
7th Jan	Members' Evening - Short Talks by Branch Members	none
4th Feb	Brazil Part 2 - Minas Gerais (Cliff Thompson)	TBD
4th Mar	Capture the Moment (Tom Radford)	TBD
1st Apr	Manageable Agaves (Keith Flanagan)	TBD
6th May	Cultivation & Propagation Evening	TBD
3rd Jun	Title to be confirmed (Ian Woolnough)	TBD
1st Jul	Small Opuntias in Habitat and Culture (Mike Partridge)	TBD
5th Aug	Plant Focus Evening. Cactus - Astrophytum, Lophophora, Turbinicarpus. Succulent - Aeonium, Aichryson, Greenovia	TBD

Contact Details

To obtain further information or for correspondence, please contact:

Secretary:
David Neville,
Tel: 023 8055 1173
Mob: 07974 191354
Email: davnev at btopenworld.com
(replace "at" with @ when emailing)

Website:
Vinay Shah,
Tel: 023 80261989
Email: info at southampton.bcss.org.uk
(replace "at" with @ when emailing)

British Cactus and Succulent Society Calendar of Events.