Next Meeting Topic: The Pachycaul Trees – Not Suitable for Climbing, but Great for Growing
September 13, 2025: 9am to 11am
WHERE: Dorrance Hall (Desert Botanical Garden)
For this month’s PEG meeting, we are going to talk about an exciting topic we’ve never offered before: all about pachycaul/succulent trees. Over the years, we’ve seen more and more folks asking questions about them, so we finally decided to sit down and give everyone the low-down.
Our special guest will be Tom Briggs – CACSS helper extraordinaire and amazing grower. One of Tom’s specialties is growing succulent/xeric trees – primarily from the genus Bursera. Tom always sent me off on my various Mexico field trips with an encouraging, “Don’t forget to take pictures of the Bursera!”
But in addition to Bursera, there are several other genera that can be classified as pachycaul or succulent trees. A look at the CACSS show categories lists several that can be entered in our own show.
In this meeting, we’ll chat about Bursera and other tree species; we’ll ask questions like:
• What *is* a pachycaul?
• Are the various pachycauls related?
• What types of characteristics are used to call something a pachycaul?
• How easy/hard are they to care for?
• Will these survive in the valley?
• Can I plant these in the ground in the valley?
• How are these plants propagated?
• Are these plants easy to grow from seed?
We’ll have some plants for show-and-tell that exhibit the variety of forms that are considered pachycauls. We’ll talk about what it takes to grow these from folks with firsthand experience, and we’ll go over some of the struggles with growing them. We’ll also identify the forms that are easier, and the forms that are more difficult to grow.
Additionally, as always, we will have some really cool giveaways of various pachycauls for the PEG raffle, which is available to all paid-up CACSS members (must be paid up through 2025!). These specialty raffles are a benefit of being a paid member of the CACSS, so be sure you have renewed your 2025 CACSS membership before the meeting (we will be verifying member status).
Please remember to bring your CACSS Membership name tag (or proof of payment for 2025 dues).
As usual with PEG meetings, we encourage free discussion and contribution by attendees, so please come with any questions you may have. And if you grow succulent trees, we highly encourage you to bring your plants to show off for others.
Of course, we always welcome any guests/non-members of the society, and they are welcome to participate in the giveaways, but those guests won’t be eligible for the specialty raffles.
Remember: we are NOT able to take new memberships or renewals at any PEG meeting; however, you can sign up/renew online at www.centralarizonacactus.org and pay via PayPal and just show me your electronic receipt on your phone!
As always, please feel free to bring along any show-and-tell plants applicable to the topic at hand from your own collection! And, if you have any seedlings or plants related to the topic that you would like to donate to the free giveaways and/or raffles, please be sure to bring them too; feel free to contact me ahead of time if you are wondering if the plants you have would be a good addition.
If you have any questions in the interim, please contact me via email
Also check out other Meetups in Phoenix, Workshops in Phoenix, Trips & Adventurous Activities in Phoenix.
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