About
Who am I?
My name is Stuart Estell. I’m a member of the British Cactus & Succulent Society, the Mesemb Study Group, and the Mammillaria Society.
I’ve been growing succulent plants for over 20 years. For most of that time I’ve been what I’d describe as a “non-technical” grower, learning mostly from the advice of others and the invaluable experience of killing plants by misadventure. Recently I’ve been taking a greater interest in the conditions individual species experience in habitat, and in the classification of various genera. I don’t pretend to understand much, if any, of the underlying science at the moment.
I have a varied collection of plants with a strong bias towards cacti, especially the genera Turbinicarpus, Ariocarpus and the Opuntia group, the last of which I propagate constantly.
I’ve only recently become interested in mesembs and have a smallish number of Conophytums, which I hope to gain experience from without killing them. I’ll be attempting to raise various mesembs from seed in 2008.
I’m also a musician.
Why Blossfeldiana?
Blossfeldia are the tiniest members of the cactus family. I’m no particular specialist in growing them, but they are one of the family’s most intriguing forms. And it seemed like a better name than “My cactus blog”!
Some of mine are pictured here growing together in a 2″ pot.
What’s this blog for?
It’s primarily a personal resource to act as a growing diary for my greenhouse’s inhabitants.
I intend to document my plants as they grow, flower, and get attacked - inevitably - by pests, and also as I propagate them, whether by seeds or cuttings. If I find books or other resources that are of use, I’ll make note of those here as well.