Anatoly Balabashchenko tells about the history of Odessa cacti & succulents club and its present activities.

Tatyana Tyuschenko's report about cacti show dedicated to the 30-year anniversary of Odessa cactophyles' club "Aztekium-72"

Chris Hynes tells about curiosities from his collection – a Gymnocalycium mesopotamicum  with unusual flower structure and a cristate specimen of Welwitschia mirabilis .

The article tells about Nikitsky Botanical Garden, situated in Crimean Peninsula, near the town of Yalta (Ukraine). The common plants collection totals with more than 28,000 species; the cactus collection has 600 species, varieties and forms.

This garden was built by one of the schools in a heartland region of Russia.

The photo gallery of variegated Gymnocalycium presented by Koichi Murohashi

We present the section with Gymnocalyciums of the site 'Tronds Photalbum'.

Starting with the current issue we begin to publish photo galleries of cultivars, united by genera. The first genus to be presented is Gymnocalycium. If you possess photos on the subject please send them to us. We would appreciate your help very much.

Friends, colleagues, enthusiasts of cacti and other succulents! We invite you to send us photographs of your plants (with or without names), especially of colored and flowering cultivars. Your stories about cultivars from your collection are enthusiastically welcome! The most interesting information and photos will be published in the next issues of our magazine. There are many puzzles in this amazing world of cultivars which are yet to be solved and your photos and stories may be a valuable contribution to the studies of these astonishing plants.

You may read about the problems of defining the species of cultivars and their names in the article "Problematic cultivars'.

We heartily thank all the readers who sent us stories and photos of interesting plants from their collections. You are always welcome!

Valery Kalishev, Editor-in-Chief