About rarecactus.com

June and I didn’t expect any of this, but one plant (a lithops) turned into a shelf, the shelf turned into a greenhouse, and somewhere along the way the hobby rearranged how we think about time.

My daughter June is part of this too. She has a better eye for a good flower than most people I know, and she turns up the moment something starts throwing a flower or a pup. Potting days are her favorite. She picks the pots, she picks the position, she tells me if a plant looks lonely, and she likes to tuck a rock in beside it so it has something to lean on when times get tough. A lot of the staging on the table is her work, not mine.

There is something about putting your hands in soil that resets a day. The garden keeps its own pace, and tending to it pulls you back into that pace whether you were ready or not.

This site exists to help more people get into slow growing plants and to preserve them for the next generation after us. Many of these species are endangered in habitat, and a few are already effectively extinct in the wild. Learning where they come from and how to care for them properly is part of keeping them around.

About Brian
Brian is a cactus and succulent hobbyist of many years, focusing on plants endemic to the areas between Big Bend, Texas and as far south as San Luis Potosí, Mexico. He is a long-standing member of the Cactus and Succulent Society of America, as well as local cactus and succulent societies in the southern California region.
Brian Kealer, who grows the plants documented on rarecactus.com
Brian & June