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Airing Date: September 19, 2026
Time: 10AM Pacific Time
About the Presenter
Brian Kemble is the Curator at the Ruth Bancroft Garden in Walnut Creek, California, where he has worked since 1980. He is also Vice President of the San Francisco Succulent & Cactus Society and a past board member of the Cactus & Succulent Society of America. In 2025, Brian was honored with the prestigious Liberty Hyde Bailey Award, by the American Horticultural Society, for his lifetime contributions to horticulture.
Brian has traveled extensively to observe succulent plants in habitat and has written hundreds of articles on cacti and succulents. He has also contributed photographs to numerous books, including the Timber Press Guide to Succulent Plants of the World.
At the Ruth Bancroft Garden, Brian has cultivated and studied a wide variety of unusual succulent plants, including more than a dozen species of Puya. His broad horticultural experience and particular interest in lesser-known succulent plants have given him a deep appreciation for the diversity of this fascinating genus. With nearly 50 years of dedication, Brian has played a pivotal role in expanding and preserving arid-climate plant collections, leading plant exploration efforts, and educating the public on water-wise gardening.
About the Webinar:
The Genus Puya
Join Brian Kemble for an exploration of Puya, a diverse genus in the bromeliad family that includes the largest species in the family. Most Puya species are native to the Andes, ranging from Chile and Argentina in the south to Colombia and Venezuela in the north.
With their sword-like, often sharply toothed leaves, Puya are distinctive spiny plants that frequently grow alongside cacti in arid habitats. Their impressive size and unusual appearance have made them popular in public gardens, including the Huntington Desert Garden and the Ruth Bancroft Garden, where Brian works and where more than a dozen species have been cultivated.
Although some species are familiar in horticulture, many remain relatively unknown. This presentation will highlight the remarkable diversity of the genus, with particular attention to its unusual flowers, striking colors, and the many species rarely seen in cultivation. Drawing on years of experience growing and observing Puya in gardens and collections, Brian will introduce this fascinating group of South American bromeliads.
Recordings
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