One of the things that I love most about making Our Plant Stories is the opportunity to meet and talk to people who are really passionate and knowledgeable about one species of plant. Generally they have fallen in love with it, so bought more, then studied them, then sought out other people who know and love them so they can learn from them and when you put all that together - it’s a joy. And over and over again their passion and fascination with the plant is infectious and suddenly I see that plant in a whole different light.

Jared Margulies’ story in this week’s episode is a little different but he has definitely ended up loving these plants. He had to leave behind the collection he had amassed in the UK when he returned to the States but now he has a new collection on the shelf in his office and a dream of a greenhouse to keep them in when he achieves tenure at Alabama University.

What’s the plant - cacti! It started with an article about cacti being stolen and that led him, as a researcher, to look for more information and when he found there was very little he realised that there were questions to be asked - that is what researchers do. So he sought out societies and went to conventions, he talked to growers and botanists, he met law enforcers and travelled across the world to work out where the cacti were being taken. The end result is his book: The Cactus Hunters. Talking to him was fascinating, let’s be honest cacti are often neglected, perched on a shelf (I saw a very sad one in a shop window yesterday) stuck with the adage - don’t worry you can’t kill them. Suddenly I am seeing them in a whole new light. Theirs is one of the most threatened species. It’s not just theft but climate change and loss of habitat that threatens them. Suddenly its not just a plant in a little pot, sold for a few pounds, but an extraordinary, intriguing plant that has survived and evolved over millions of years. Yet when it was being stolen in huge quantities, from the cliffs on the coast of California no one, for a long time, even noticed. I hope you will take a listen and see if you too find yourself looking at cacti with fresh eyes.

In other news I am going to be taking a short summer break so if I don’t appear in your inbox for a couple of weeks, you’ll know why. Thank you so much for opening and reading these blogs each week, it’s lovely feeling that I have plant story folk with whom I can share the progress of the podcast. But these blogs have another crucial role. A few months back, a reader told me about Hill Close Gardens in Warwick and said I should take a look. So I did and you’ll be able to hear what I found in an episode that will publish on Tuesday 6 August. If you live anywhere near the gardens or happen to be passing that way over the Summer, I would urge you to pop in, they are very special. Part of that lies in their history and the Victorian gardeners who first took ownership of the detached garden plots that were on offer here, over 170 years ago.

Plot 22 boasts a Peasgood’s nonsuch apple tree which those of you who have been here for a while, will recognise. (Do click the link and listen if you missed this one!)

I am not going to lie, I was very excited this week to receive more news about the Peasgood’s nonsuch - left in the episode page comments, by a listener in New Zealand!

In New Zealand, Papers Past, the digital newspaper collection, references Peasgood's Nonsuch apple in 1880, at Ellerslie, Auckland. Between 1880-1890 it appears to be grown in most provinces throughout the country, with trees sold as Peasgood's Nonsuch or Peasgood Nonsuch. In the Lincoln University (NZ) National Nursery Catalogue collection, Edward Morrison of Red Bluff Nurseries, Warkworth, north of Auckland, listed about 142 apple varieties including Peasgood's Nonsuch. Morrison had four acres of orchard by 1877 and in 1888 the orchards were described by a visitor as growing 200 apple varieties (along with other fruit trees). The descendants continue to produce fruit from Warkworth - their current heritage orchard tilled with horse drawn plough and planted with trees sourced from the original orchard. We have a Peasgood Nonsuch apple in our heritage orchard at the historic Halfway House, Glenside, north of Wellington. Thank you for the great interview! Claire Bibby, Heritage Gardener, Glenside, Wellington, NZ.

Suddenly these plant stories are connecting us across continents and across the centuries. I love reading and following up on your suggestions and comments. Who knows what direction they may take us next.

Have a lovely couple of weeks and see you back here soon.

Sally

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