Santa Barbara Cactus and Succulent Society
responsible collection, culture, study and conservation of succulent plants
Wednesday, December 17th, 2025
Set up will begin at 5:30pm, Potluck begins at 6:30pm
Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church (909 N. La Cumbre Rd)
We will be hearing from Kalie Grubb of Arcadia Studio on succulent plant garden designs. Please bring an item to share for 8-10 people. The club will be providing turkey and tri-tip.
RSVP and sign up for a food or beverage item using the link below. Or, email president@sbcactus.org to secure your spot.
Please RSVP no later than Friday, December 12th.
If you would like to purchase a SBCSS t-shirt, please use the link below for payment. They are $20 each and we have two colors available (light blue and tan). Once you submit your payment, please email Nollie at treasurer@sbcactus.org with your requested color, size, and date paid.
Shirts are only available for pick up at a club meeting.
There will be no July meeting but we will have our annual July picnic again this year! Please RSVP by July 5th. The club will be providing BBQ chicken and tri-tip.
Where: Tucker’s Grove Park Area 1
(4800 Cathedral Oaks Rd Santa Barbara, CA 93111)
When: Saturday, July 12th, 11:30am
Set up will begin at 10:30am
Please bring an item to share for 6-8 people.
If your LAST NAME begins with:
A-G: bring a side dish
H-N: bring a salad
O-T: bring beverages and a cooler with ice
(beer and wine allowed)
U-Z: bring a dessert
Questions? Contact us at: sbcactussucculentsociety@gmail.com
When: Saturday, May 17th 10AM (Carpools leave by 8AM from Santa Barbara)
Where: Cal Poly – San Luis Obispo Campus
Lunch: Bring it packed!
The primary mission of the Cal Poly Plant Conservatory is to maintain a diverse, well-documented, and accurately labeled living plant collection supporting and enhancing teaching and research for the faculty and students of Cal Poly. The Leaning Pine Arboretum represents a collection of class projects, laboratory exercises and senior projects that have evolved over the past 50 years into the Mediterranean climate garden visitors experience today. We will be guided by Gage Wiley, the Curator of the Cal Poly Plant Conservatory and future speaker at our April meeting.
We are limited to a maximum of 35 people on the tour. Carpools will meet at Trinity Lutheran Church by 8AM. Participants must be a member of SBCSS to attend.
For more information visit:
Plant Conservatory: https://plantconservatory.calpoly.edu/
Leaning Pine Arboretum: https://plantsciences.calpoly.edu/LPA
We are switching meeting locations back Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church (909 N La Cumbre Road). All future meetings will be held there on the 3rd Wednesday of the month.
2024 Meeting dates through the end of the year:
SBCSS is seeking volunteers to assist with club business. Our club cannot function without the help of our volunteer-run board, plant sale, and garden tour committees. Please consider volunteering your time to help our community organization. Help spread the word with your friends and family!
We are seeking volunteers for the following positions:
Raffle Caller Team (3-4 people)- Attends monthly SBCSS meetings and calls raffle tickets at the end of the meeting.
A/V Coordinator – sets up laptop, projector, and microphone/speaker at each monthly meeting. Troubleshoots technical difficulties and stores A/V equipment between meetings.
Garden Tour Committee (2-3 people) – works with the SBCSS President to plant 2-3 garden tours per year. Identifies and contacts community members to host tours. Writes tour descriptions for the SBCSS newsletter.
Plant Show and Sale Committee (4-5 people) – works with the SBCSS President to plan the annual show and sale and buying trip. Oversees volunteers and coordinates the show area, silent auction, and outside vendors.
If you or someone you know is interested in volunteering please contact Anna Bower at president@sbcactus.org for more information.
The SBCSS has a rather extensive collection of cactus and succulent related books and journals. To view a complete list of our library holdings, click here.
For members wanting to reserve a book or journal, please send an email that includes the book#, title and author to library@sbcactus.org.
Current and past newsletters are available on-line or on our Facebook page.