Schedule of Events*
| Day 1 – Wednesday, April 23 | ||
| 3:00pm – 6:00pm | Early Registration | Rio Vista Grand Foyer |
| 6:00pm – 9:00pm | Meet and Greet | Hotel Bar / Lobby |
| Day 2 – Thursday, April 24 | ||
| 7:00am – 6:00pm | Registration | Rio Vista Grand Foyer |
| 7:30am – 5:20pm | Field Trips – Busses leave from front entrance of Marriott – Please arrive 15 minutes BEFORE departure | |
| 7:30am – 5:05pm | Anza Borrego and Agua Caliente BBQ | |
| 7:45am – 5:15pm | Safari Park | |
| 8:00am – 4:15pm | North Country Gardens | |
| 8:15am – 3:30pm | San Diego Gardens | |
| 8:45am – 5:20pm | Nurseries West | |
| 9:00am – 3:50pm | Nurseries East | |
| 8:00am – 4:00pm | Vendor Set-up | West Lawn and Balboa 1-2 |
| 6:30pm – 10:00pm | Convention Attendees Only – Special Event | Various |
| 6:30pm – 8:30pm | Welcome Reception with Cash Bar | Rio Vista Grand Foyer |
| 8:00pm – 10:00pm | Plant Sales Open to Convention Attendees ONLY | West Lawn |
| Pottery, Art, Seeds, and CSSA Book Sales Open to Convention Attendees ONLY | Balboa 1-2 | |
| San Diego C&SS Book and Gift Sales Open to Convention Attendees ONLY | Santa Fe 3-4 | |
| Day 3 – Friday, April 25 | ||
| 7:00am – 5:00pm | Registration | Rio Vista Grand Foyer |
| Plant Sales – Open to Public | West Lawn | |
| Pottery, Art, Seeds, and CSSA Book Sales – Open to Public | Balboa 1-2 | |
| San Diego C&SS Book and Gift Sales – Open to Public | Santa Fe 3-4 | |
| Packing Area and Plant Hotel – Convention Attendees Only | Rio Vista Salon H | |
| 8:00am – 8:30am | Welcome and Opening Comments | Rio Vista Salon |
| 8:30am – 9:20am | Julia Etter & Martin Kristen – Exploring the Sierra Gorda of Queretaro, Mexico | Rio Vista Salon |
| 9:25am – 10:15am | Brian Kemble – From Mega to Ankober: Looking for Succulents in Ethiopia | Rio Vista Salon |
| 10:15am – 10:35am | Break | |
| 10:35am – 11:25am | Elisabeth Sarnes – Flowering Southern Patagonia | Rio Vista Salon |
| 11:30am – 12:00pm | Attila Kapitany – Australian Bulbous Succulent Plants | Rio Vista Salon |
| 12:00pm – 1:30pm | Lunch on Your Own | |
| 1:30pm – 2:00pm | Andry Petignat – Uncarina: the Mousetrap Tree | Rio Vista Salon |
| 2:05pm – 2:35pm | Andrew Hankey – South African Indigenous Garden Plants (book) | Rio Vista Salon |
| 2:35pm – 3:00pm | Break | |
| 3:00pm – 3:50pm | Jeremy Spath – Scouring the Earth for Exceptional, Rare, and New Agaves | Rio Vista Salon |
| 4:00pm – 5:00pm | Conservation Forum | Rio Vista Salon |
| 4:00pm – 4:50pm | Attila Kapitany – The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly – Some Infamous Australians | Rio Vista Salons F-G |
| 5:00pm – 5:30pm | Andrew W. Vandegrift (US Department of Agriculture) – Permit Application Process | Rio Vista Salons F-G |
| 5:00pm – 6:00pm | Affiliates Meeting | Rio Vista Salon |
| 6:00pm – 7:30pm | Dinner on Your Own | |
| 7:30pm – 9:30pm | Rare Plant and Book Auction and Cash Bar – Open to the Public | Rio Vista Salon |
| Day 4 – Saturday, April 26 | ||
| 7:00am – 5:00pm | Registration | Rio Vista Grand Foyer |
| Plant Sales | West Lawn | |
| Pottery, Art, Seeds, and CSSA Book Sales | Balboa 1-2 | |
| San Diego C&SS Book and Gift Sales | Santa Fe 3-4 | |
| Packing Area and Plant Hotel – Convention Attendees Only | Rio Vista Salon H | |
| 8:00am – 8:30am | Opening Announcements | Rio Vista Salon |
| 8:30am – 9:20am | Joe Stead – My Journey with Operculicarya | Rio Vista Salon |
| 9:25am – 10:15am | Michelle Cloud-Hughes – A Decade Amongst the Retrorse Barbs: Recent Adventures and Advances in Cylindropuntia Research | Rio Vista Salon |
| 10:15am – 10:35am | Break | |
| 10:35am – 11:25am | Guillermo Rivera – Argentina Cacti: the Importance of Habitat Knowledge in Taxonomy | Rio Vista Salon |
| 11:30am – 12:00pm | Julia Etter and Martin Kristen – Agavaceae and Crassulaceae: New, Recent and Still Undescribed New Species | Rio Vista Salon |
| 12:00pm – 1:30pm | Lunch On Your Own | |
| 1:30pm – 2:20pm | Tom McCoy – Saudi Arabian Aloes | Rio Vista Salon |
| 2:25pm – 2:55pm | Kelly Griffin – Making New Aloe Hybrids: Painting with Natures Palette | Rio Vista Salon |
| 2:55pm – 3:30pm | Break | |
| 3:30pm – 4:00pm | Pieter Van Wyk – Background of the Gariep Centers of Endemism | Rio Vista Salon |
| 5:00pm – 6:00pm | Cash Bar | Rio Vista Grand Foyer |
| 6:00pm – 10:00pm | Banquet and Awards – Keynote Address by Steven Hammer | Rio Vista Salon |
| Day 5 – Sunday, April 27 | ||
| 7:00am – 9:00am | Registration | Rio Vista Grand Foyer |
| 7:00am – 3:00pm | Plant Sales | West Lawn |
| Pottery, Art, Seeds, and CSSA Book Sales | Balboa 1-2 | |
| San Diego C&SS Book and Gift Sales | Santa Fe 3-4 | |
| Packing Area and Plant Hotel – Convention Attendees ONLY | Rio Vista Salon H | |
| 8:00am – 8:30am | Announcements | Rio Vista Salon |
| 8:30am – 9:20am | Pieter Van Wyk – Background on the Richtersveld Desert Botanical Garden | Rio Vista Salon |
| 9:25am – 10:15am | Andry Petignat – Stapelianthus of Madagascar | Rio Vista Salon |
| 10:15am – 10:35am | Break | |
| 10:35am – 11:25am | Andrew Hankey – Exploring the Mpumalanga Province Escarpment: The New South African Ledebouria Species and Insights from the Field | Rio Vista Salon |
| 11:30am – 12:00pm | Elisabeth Sarnes – Maihueniopsis in Chile | Rio Vista Salon |
| 12:00pm – 1:30pm | Lunch On Your Own | |
| 1:30pm – 2:20pm | Attila Kapitany – Iconically Australian: Cycads along with other Spinescent and Xerophytic Succulent Plants | Rio Vista Salon |
| 2:25pm – 3:15pm | Kelly Griffin – Dudleyas: Unveiling Living Art on the cliffs, the New, the Beautiful and a few of the Strange | Rio Vista Salon |
| 3:20pm – 3:50pm | Brian Kemble – A Closer Look at Mangaves | Rio Vista Salon |
| 3:55pm – 4:25pm | Guillermo Rivera – Socotra: The Forgotten Island | Rio Vista Salon |
| 4:25pm – 4:30pm | Closing Remarks | Rio Vista Salon |
| All Times Pacific |
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Join the CSSA Biennial Convention in San Diego this April 2025! Open to all CSSA members, this event is perfect for enthusiasts at every level. Become a member today and don’t miss out!
