The Society was founded in 1964 and is dedicated to promoting the understanding, cultivation and conservation of cacti and succulents to growers in South Australia. We currently have in excess of 150 members of all ages, ranging from beginners to experts.

We hold several shows and are represented at the Festival of Flowers and Mt Pleasant Spring Garden Festival each year. Our members display a wonderful range of plants which they have grown, and offer many beautiful plants for sale to gardeners and collectors. Visitors to our shows often leave with boxes full of useful additions to their collections and gardens, together with expert advice about cultivation.

We also have an extensive library of specialist books available on loan to members and we are constantly adding new titles. Should the time come when you would like to try your hand at growing from seed, we sometimes have a selection which we offer free to members.

We participate in national conventions held in different cities around Australia every 2 years, with some of our members being called on as speakers. These conventions are a wonderful opportunity to meet growers in other States, and to learn more about our hobby in a friendly and relaxing environment.

Our members regularly give talks at other South Australian garden societies and social clubs to promote an interest in Cacti and Succulents. 

We issue a monthly illustrated newsletter to members, and an annual journal. Newsletters can be received by post or by email. Collectors unable to attend meetings are not forgotten;

Our website www.csssa.org.au 

Visit our Facebook page www.facebook.com/CactusSucculentSocietyOfSouthAustralia/

Visit our Instagram page www.instagram.com/cactus_sa/

Our members can also join our Facebook group www.facebook.com/groups/CactusSucculentSocietyOfSouthAustralia

Sophie Thompson is an avid gardener, media presenter on ABC TV's Gardening Australia and contributor to the Gardening Australia magazine, author of a number of books, public speaker and owner of Sophie's Patch – a three-acre property in the Adelaide Hills, where she lives with with husband Richard, five children under 18 and a menagerie of animals.

Sophie Thomson’s love affair with the environment and gardening was inherited from her plant loving parents whilst growing up and working at the family nursery in the Adelaide Hills.

What started out as a necessity eventually became a key driver in her life as she steadily acquired in-depth knowledge of the nursery’s large collection of rare and distinctive plant varieties.

With over 35 years hands on experience, Sophie now believes that aside from the obvious environmental benefits, gardening improves our physical, mental and emotional wellbeing as well as that of the broader community.

She describes herself as an “obsessive-compulsive gardener” who, were it not for the demands of her career and family, would spend every day in the garden.

Sophie is a lover of Succulents and has quite a collection, which can be seen proudly on display at her home.  You can visit her home at one of the numerous open garden events hosted each year. 

Sophie has been a member of our society and our patron for many, many years. 

You can visit Sophie's website here sophiespatch.com.au/home/aboutsophie/