ABOVE: Derek Bowdery of Eau Brink Cacti Nursery – a veritable wonderland of cacti and succulents
Derek’s enduring passion for all things spiky They’re the most distinctive plants on the planet, and Derek Bowdery knows more than most people about them. Charlotte Thorneycroft visits his nursery outside King’s Lynn. Pictures: Sue Payne
C
acti are one of the most unique plant forms on the planet and are commonly appreciated in England as an ornamental species. Native to the Americas, evidence of cactus-like plants dates back to the time of the Aztecs, although the first introduction of cacti to Britain was by Christopher Columbus. It’s thought their popularity rapidly grew because they were so unusual, and unlike any other plant seen before in Europe. All Cacti come from North and South America but they don’t grow in deserts as many believe. They’ve adapted to grow in other
KLmagazine June 2011
countries after being selectively placed there by man rather than nature. Derek Bowdery is the owner of Eau Brink Cacti Nursery just outside King’s Lynn and has been collecting succulent plants for over 50 years. He has literally thousands of plants on his 1.5 acre site. “There are around 2,000 different types of cacti but only a handful of these are the type of plants which most people would recognise as the cacti kept as houseplants,” he says. “If you include succulents – cacti are a type of succulent but not all succulents are cacti – there are some interesting species
that don’t even look like plants. For instance, the Lithops genus, which are known as ‘living stones’ for obvious reasons.” Succulents are so called because they store water within themselves, having adapted to live in dry, arid conditions. The most notable feature of succulents is their plump, swollen appearance, which is due to this water retention. Most succulents (and all cacti) have spiny or hairy surfaces to lessen air movement around the surface of the plant and consequently reduce water loss. The spines have evolved from what would once have 25