Eleven members of Great Bend Garden Club met on Nov. 18. The meeting opened with the reading of the Gardner’s Creed led by President Nancy Williams.  

The morning’s program was presented by member Jeannine Girton. She had gathered information on the topic of 

“Growing Cacti and Succulents.” These plants are sometimes called “the camels of the plant world” because their leaves and stems are thick and absorb and retain water. Cacti are a sub-genera of succulents and are differentiated from them by their characteristic sharp needles. Succulents and cacti survive in the sandy, arid parts of the world and require little watering if planted in other areas. Some succulents and cacti can even survive in rock beds. However they do need a little bit of dirt in the stone cracks to grow. 

In Kansas, flower gardeners can successfully grow succulents and cacti in flower beds and in pots, but they require a different type of care. They must be planted away from other flowers that need watering in a mixture of one-third part sand and two-thirds part potting soil or African Violet soil. They rarely need watering. They are easily transplanted and often grow profusely, growing small new plants that can be removed from the parent plant and replanted.

Members of the Garden Club shared comments and advice from other members who had a wide variety of experiences with the sometimes mostly decorative, but occasionally ugly, succulent varieties. Interesting was that often differing practices resulted in differing outcomes concerning the same succulent. One point that was agreed on was that most of the time, if infrequently watered, the succulents do a good job of reproducing themselves and surviving.

Refreshments were served by Vi Hiss. 

The next meeting of Garden Club will be at 1 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 16, in the meeting room of the Great Bend Senior Center. Carol Woodmansee will have the program and Jeannine Girton will provide the refreshments. Visitors and new members are welcome.