jp29 - James Pickering

[Minime8484]

On March 30, 2022, we lost a great man and devoted cactophile - James Pickering - otherwise known here on this forum as jp29.

We started communicating over 10 years ago about Brazilian cacti from this forum.
Over the years, we visited each other often and chatted for many hours at a time. I'd often pick him up and take him to visit his collection at Bach's (his mobility being reduced in the later years). He always was eager to share his passion and knowledge. Few were so generous. I can only hope to aspire to his kindness and generosity.

He will be missed greatly in our community and in my heart.
Rest in peace.

https://www.tributearchive.com/obituari ... lon-chapel

(Picture by our own KW [not pictured] when he and James visited my garden in 2015)

James & Me in My Yard (2015-Apr12)SMALL.jpg (127.56 KiB) Viewed 1077 times

[Aiko]

That's sad to hear.

[DWDogwood]

RIP James.
I always think when a longtime cactus grower passes, especially when it’s someone I learned a lot from, or just knew enough about their passion, that I aspire to be the old-timer that I looked up to when I was younger and on a quest.
The list is long.

[DaveW]

I suspected the worst since we had not heard from him for a long time and he was not well. James started off as a British cactophile a little earlier than I did since I only joined the British Society in the 1960's. However we never met as I would only have been 8 when he moved to the USA. But we remembered the same things from our early collecting in the UK such as "Buxbaum's Health Salts" for cacti.

He could certainly grow the Melocactus and other tropical cacti something I can only envy in our cooler climate.

Dave Whiteley (DaveW)

[keith]

RIP JP29

I've seen many of my favorite growers pass away over the years. I grew cactus in the 1960s but didn't really get into the hobby until the early 1990's with the discovery of Abby Gardens and that's long gone. From Abbey Gardens I learned about Mesa Gardens . All different now with the internet.

Oro valley AZ is a nice place to end up