• Workshop – Succulent Plant Propagation

    Date: Time: - SUCCULENT PLANT PROPAGATION This one-hour workshop is designed to initiate interest in people to learn how to propagate succulent plants. The program will be divided into 2 parts covering Seed Growing and Vegetative Propagation (approx. 30 minutes each). The subjects will be covered in such a manner that anyone can come away with an understanding of how to prepare the material, plant and care for the newly propagated plants. Attendees will come away with newly propagated plants. YVONNE HEMENWAY Yvonne Hemenway is a life long grower of plants. For the past 30 years, she has been involved with growing succulent plants. She was co-owner of the Prickly Palace nursery in California and has recently moved to Calitzdorp where her passion for growing plants continues. She is a committee member and a founder of the Calitzdorp Succulent Society and is very active organising the Calitzdorp Vetplantfees. VENUE Calitzdorp Station Calitzdorp, Western Cape, South Africa AVAILABLE DATES Saturday, 17 September 2022 @ 12:00 DURATION Workshop duration 60 minutes COST R50 per person BOOKING/REGISTRATION Spaces are limited to 20 persons per workshop and advance booking is essential. Book Now

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  • Workshop – Succulent 101

    Date: Time: - SUCCULENT 101 If you thought that a hairy Huernia and a glossy Glottiphyllum were some unknown body parts, then you need to get your succulent ABCs in order. Let me help you make sense of some of the difficult names and where these wonderful succulent plants fit on the plant map. I will guide you through the main plant families and genera that contain succulents in South Africa with notes and plant examples. You will take home succulent cuttings and be able to reply with confidence when someone asks if you are a Lumper or a Splitter. ALISON JAMES Alison is an environmental educator with a passion for plants, especially succulents. She keeps busy growing succulents for the Kirstenbosch plant sales and is a volunteer Kirstenbosch Garden guide. She has won many plant prizes at garden shows and enjoys introducing people to the world of succulents. VENUE Calitzdorp Station Calitzdorp, Western Cape, South Africa AVAILABLE DATES Friday, 16 September 2022 @ 12:00 | Book Now Saturday, 17 September 2022 @ 14:00 | Book Now DURATION Workshop duration 60 minutes COST R50 per person BOOKING/REGISTRATION Spaces are limited to 20 persons per workshop and advance booking is essential.

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  • Workshop – Succulent 101

    Date: Time: - SUCCULENT 101 If you thought that a hairy Huernia and a glossy Glottiphyllum were some unknown body parts, then you need to get your succulent ABCs in order. Let me help you make sense of some of the difficult names and where these wonderful succulent plants fit on the plant map. I will guide you through the main plant families and genera that contain succulents in South Africa with notes and plant examples. You will take home succulent cuttings and be able to reply with confidence when someone asks if you are a Lumper or a Splitter. ALISON JAMES Alison is an environmental educator with a passion for plants, especially succulents. She keeps busy growing succulents for the Kirstenbosch plant sales and is a volunteer Kirstenbosch Garden guide. She has won many plant prizes at garden shows and enjoys introducing people to the world of succulents. VENUE Calitzdorp Station Calitzdorp, Western Cape, South Africa AVAILABLE DATES Friday, 16 September 2022 @ 12:00 | Book Now Saturday, 17 September 2022 @ 14:00 | Book Now DURATION Workshop duration 60 minutes COST R50 per person BOOKING/REGISTRATION Spaces are limited to 20 persons per workshop and advance booking is essential.

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  • Expert Talk – Anso le Roux – Plant Poaching: What that means?

    Date: Time: - Plant Poaching: What that means? Expert Talk – Anso le Roux Sunday, 19 September – 13:00 Calitzdorp NG Church     This is a free event. No booking required. Plant Poaching threatens plant health and biodiversity as entire populations can be destroyed. Anso le Roux is a plant ecologist and for almost twenty years now, studying the vegetation ecology of the Worcester-Robertson Karoo south of Worcester, Western Cape, South Africa, which comprises a diverse mosaic of fynbos-, renosterveld- and succulent karoo vegetation units sustained by a winter-rainfall pattern. This mountainous area includes a diverse and complex mosaic of geological strata, which includes mudrock and sandstone formations of the Table Mountain Group, the Bokkeveld Group, the Witteberg Group as well as glacial Dwyka tillite, marking the geological boundary between the Cape Supergroup and the Karoo Supergroup. These diverse geological features, which include over almost two hundred million years of sediment accumulation as well as an ice age, together with the topography of the area that is characterized by intense folding, as well as a steep precipitation gradient and different influences of winter rain (in the west) and summer rain (in the east) create micro-climate environments which result in the high biodiversity of this complex mosaic mountain vegetation entity. With this talk, the aim is to increase local awareness by telling the stories of events, mainly during the last two years where my own and/or the assistance of the larger community where I live and work, was required in the ongoing battle against the poaching of our veld-treasures. My assistance involves the communication of information to the local people as well as plant identification. As the Police often over weekends or after business hours, when plants are confiscated, need assistance with plant identification and information regarding the conservation status of such plants, I help with the identification and providing the relevant information about the plants. . Anso is a Research Fellow at the University of the Western Cape and although her primary work involves phytosociological research (vegetation surveys, plant identification as well as data gathering, -management and -analysis), she is also involved in taxonomic studies as well as ecological monitoring related to questions arising from the long-term vegetation study that she is conducting. She is often requested to help with lecturing and supporting students with fieldwork, plant identification as well as assisting with other ecological work in the Western Cape.  

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  • Expert Talk – Book Launch – Lithops in Habitat and Cultivation

    Date: Time: - Book Launch - Lithops in Habitat and Cultivation by Roy A. Earle and Janice E. Round Expert Talk – Roy A. Earle Saturday, 18 September – 11:00 Calitzdorp NG Church     This is a free event. No booking required.   We are hoping for an in-person introduction of this book by the author at Vetplantfees 2021. Dr. Earle is making plans to be at the festival and give a firsthand presentation of the book at 11:00 on Saturday 18 September. If, due to travel restrictions on account of Covid-19, He is not able to be at the festival, festival staff will present the book along with its chief illustrator, Janet Snyman. This book represents the culmination of several avenues of study on Lithops. It presents a complete representation of the currently recognized taxa, described wonderfully, and illustrated both by photographs and beautiful Illustrations. The description of taxa is fine-tuned by the pictures of seed and illustrations of the differences between some similar plants in their seed. It details the conservation efforts of the foundation. The author describes the best ways of growing lithops in cultivation and goes further by talking about the most advantageous ways to present them at shows. This is by far the most complete monograph on Lithops that has been published to date. It is available online and will be available for purchase at the festival with the savings of shipping charges, and of course an inscription by the author. Dr. Earle is a veterinary medicine doctor, receiving his degree from Rhodes University in 1985. He moved to the UK and in 2001 opened Amicus Veterinary Centre. He has taken his love for Lithops to Namibia where he founded and runs Lithops Research & Conservation Foundation. He has published numerous research papers on Lithops all of which are referenced on the web site www.lithopsfopoundation.com.  

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  • Expert Talk – Louis Jordaan – Nature – A Book Anybody Can Read Who Stop Long Enough

    Date: Time: - Nature - A Book Anybody Can Read Who Will Stop Long Enough Expert Talk – Louis Jordaan Sunday 19 September – 11:30 Calitzdorp NG Church     This is a free event. No booking required.   To the uninformed nature is a closed book and even those familiar with the natural environment often encounter unknown areas or aspects which they would like to learn more about. Indeed, each plant, animal and object, although seemingly insignificant, is a treasure chest of secrets and ‘stories’ waiting to be explored. During this presentation, an interpretative virtual nature tour, many such secrets are unveiled and ‘stories’ concerning a variety of creatures of nature are told. Indeed, the audience will be shown that nature is a book anybody can read who will stop long enough. Louis Jordaan is a nature guide and environmental educator. He is an interpreter, a ‘storyteller’, unveiling a wealth of ‘stories’ (facts, interpretations, explanations, uses, superstitions, etc.) of plants and other creatures and objects of nature. Louis also provides nature lovers with knowledge and skills which allow them to discover and unravel secrets and mysteries that may require a more expert and trained ‘eye’ – he guides people to observe with all their senses, and to understand what they have discovered.  

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  • Expert Talk – Dr. Ernst van Jaarsveld – Exploration Biodiversity in Namibia and Angola

    Date: Time: - Exploration Biodiversity in Namibia and Angola Expert Talk – Dr. Ernst van Jaarsveld Saturday 18 September – 13:00 Calitzdorp NG Church This is a free event. No booking required.   Biodiversity investigation of 3 isolated mountain summits at 1400-2050 M elevation with emphasis on the succulent plants It is with great pleasure that we welcome Ernst back to Vetplantfees. We are grateful to have his participation once again at our festival. His talk will be extremely exciting for those who wonder about places that are hard to get to and for most of us impossibly out of reach. In April 2021, Ernst and 7 associated scientists from Namibia and Angola, were transported to the region by helicopter and proceeded to investigate the biodiversity of 3 isolated mountain peaks above 1400 -2050m. This includes Middleberg (part of Otjihipa Mountains), Serra Techamalinde & Serra Cafema (Angola). They produced a check list of the plants, some animals, & geology and for purposes of this talk on the succulent plants. Join Ernst and the others as the adventure enfolds in the wilds of Western Africa. Trip organizers: NUST – Namibian University of Science and Technology; SCION (Skeleton Coast, Iona Transfrontier National Park) Dr. Ernst van Jaarsveld has been interested in succulents since a young boy collecting and growing succulent plants. He has authored or co-authored more than one hundred succulent plant species. He is especially interested in the classification Gasteria and Aloe and other monocotyledonous succulents. His other interests include the Mesembryanthemaceae and Crassulaceae. He is a keen explorer regularly traveling to remote parts of South Africa, Angola and Namibia. Some of the expeditions include rubber canoe expeditions investigating remote river valleys. Ernst also regularly travels abroad and lectures on succulent plants. Ernst was a horticulturist at Kirstenbosch for more than 40 years. He built and curated the Botanical Society Conservatory. He was appointed extraordinary senior lecturer at the University of the Western Cape in 2012. He is the author of more than two hundred articles (popular, semi-scientific and scientific) and several books. He is a keen explorer and for his latest study (cliff dwelling succulent plants), has visited cliff habitats throughout southern Africa. Ernst has been at Babylonstoren since 2015 where he continues to build display gardens, green houses and educate the public about botanical things.  

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  • Workshop – Container Gardening with Succulents

    Date: Time: - CONTAINER GARDENING WITH SUCCULENTS Container gardening with succulents (90 minutes/1.5 hours). This is a FUN event to uncover your creative skills and plant your own container with a selection of succulents. Alison will demonstrate how she plants a container with suitable plants and then you will have a chance to create your own. You need to bring your own container, could be a bonsai bowl, tin plate, deep drip tray, biscuit tin, etc. Comprehensive notes, soil, pebbles, and some plants for participants will be provided. However if you have any spare succulents , decorations, stones, etc, please bring them along - this is a great way to share plants and increase your collection. ABOUT ALISON JAMES Alison is an environmental educator with a passion for plants, especially succulents. She keeps busy growing succulents for the Kirstenbosch plant sales and is a volunteer Kirstenbosch garden guide. She has won many plant prizes at garden shows and enjoys introducing people to the world of succulents. VENUE 10 Geyser Street Calitzdorp, Western Cape, South Africa AVAILABLE DATES 18 September 2021 @ 14:00 - Book Here 19 September 2021 @ 12:00 - Book Here DURATION Workshop duration 90 minutes/1.5 hours. COST R50 per person BOOKING/REGISTRATION Spaces are limited to 20 persons per workshop and advance booking is essential.

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  • Workshop – Container Gardening with Succulents

    Date: Time: - CONTAINER GARDENING WITH SUCCULENTS Container gardening with succulents (90 minutes/1.5 hours). This is a FUN event to uncover your creative skills and plant your own container with a selection of succulents. Alison will demonstrate how she plants a container with suitable plants and then you will have a chance to create your own. You need to bring your own container, could be a bonsai bowl, tin plate, deep drip tray, biscuit tin, etc. Comprehensive notes, soil, pebbles, and some plants for participants will be provided. However if you have any spare succulents , decorations, stones, etc, please bring them along - this is a great way to share plants and increase your collection. ABOUT ALISON JAMES Alison is an environmental educator with a passion for plants, especially succulents. She keeps busy growing succulents for the Kirstenbosch plant sales and is a volunteer Kirstenbosch garden guide. She has won many plant prizes at garden shows and enjoys introducing people to the world of succulents. VENUE 10 Geyser Street Calitzdorp, Western Cape, South Africa AVAILABLE DATES 18 September 2021 @ 14:00 - Book Here 19 September 2021 @ 12:00 - Book Here DURATION Workshop duration 90 minutes/1.5 hours. COST R50 per person BOOKING/REGISTRATION Spaces are limited to 20 persons per workshop and advance booking is essential.

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  • Workshop – Succulent Plant Propagation

    Date: Time: - SUCCULENT PLANT PROPAGATION Learn how to propagate succulent plants in this one-hour workshop conducted by Yvonne Hemenway. The workshop will be divided into 2 parts covering “Seed Growing” and “Vegetative Propagation” (approx. 30 minutes each). Each part will be covered in a way that is practical and easy to follow and attendees will leave with a clear understanding of how to prepare for planting whether from seed or cuttings, how to plant and how to take care of the newly propagated plants. Attendees will each leave with the plants they propagated themselves. YVONNE HEMENWAY Yvonne Hemenway is a life long grower of plants. For the past 30 years, she has been involved with growing succulent plants. She was co-owner of the Prickly Palace nursery in California and has recently moved to Calitzdorp where her passion for growing plants continues. She is a committee member and a founder of the Calitzdorp Succulent Society and is very active organizing Vetplantfees. . VENUE 10 Geyser Street Calitzdorp, Western Cape, South Africa AVAILABLE DATES 18 September 2021 @ 12:00 DURATION Workshop duration 90 minutes/1.5 hours. COST R50 per person BOOKING/REGISTRATION Spaces are limited to 20 persons per workshop and advance booking is essential. Book Now    

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