Our great friend from Down Under

Last month, my family and I had the chance to travel back to one of our favorite overseas destinations, Australia. The last time we were there together was in 1998, and our youngest, Basti, wasn’t born then. The trip turned out to be one of our most enjoyable and memorable.

One of the many lasting memories for me was my visit with our great friend from Down Under, Ian Hay. Ian had been one of the true pillars of the Cactus and Succulent Society of the Philippines when he was in Manila. He is currently the president of the Cactus and Succulent Society of New South Wales and has had that position for the last three years now. A recent feature on notable succulent collectors by Gardening Australia had this to say about Ian: "Ian Hay has had a passion for succulents since he was about 10 years old, and admits to being obsessive about many things in life, and these are no exception. Collecting them is compulsive. He has lived in a variety of places where he has grown succulents from cold Canberra to the hot, wet climate of the Philippines, but had to resist growing them while he was there. Now that he is living in Sydney, he feels that it is the best climate that he has ever grown cacti and succulents."

I first heard about Ian when I joined the Cactus and Succulent Society of the Philippines in 1997. Ian was no longer physically with the Society at that time (although he is one of only a few accorded a lifetime membership), having returned to Australia after spending 17 years (1977 to 1994) in the country, mainly as a high-ranking officer of the Asian Development Bank. But during this time, Ian had built strong friendships with many of the Society’s members. Many still remember that last plant sale Ian conducted in his home in Valle Verde just before he left for Australia. Because of the very strict (and I mean really strict) rules on importation of plants into Australia, Ian had to sell his entire Manila collection. I am told Ian had built a tremendous collection of euphorbias, haworthias, caudiciforms, and other rare African succulents while in Manila. While his love for succulents transcended these genera to include cacti as well, Ian desisted from growing cacti and other succulent groups like echeverias and crassulas because these just didn’t do well in Metro Manila, and specifically in his microenvironment in Valle Verde. This last plant sale was conducted in auction fashion. Even today, many of Ian’s original plants and propagations can be found in the collections of many of the members. Ian has been sorely missed since he left the country in 1994.

I had the chance to meet Ian in person for the first time when he was invited back to the country in early 1998 as the guest of honor in the huge Florikultura plant and garden event in Pampanga. Besides giving excellent lectures on various succulent topics, Ian also discussed his trip to the US where he had the chance to visit numerous well-known west coast succulent nurseries in the US, from Grigsby’s Cactus Gardens in California to Miles to Go and Mesa Garden in Arizona. I remember being astounded at the pictures he took from this US visit. Somehow, I just knew this wouldn’t be my last encounter with Ian.

In June, 1998 (our summer, Ian’s winter), my family and I (without our yet unborn youngest) traveled to Sydney and I had a chance to see Ian again, but this time in his new element. Back then, Ian had built a very impressive collection of cacti and succulents which he housed in a huge tunnel greenhouse at Arizona Cacti which was located about an hour’s drive away from the central business district. Ian, in fact, used to help out with the day-to-day chores of the nursery. I remember seeing many specimen-sized ariocarpus and other rare Mexican globular cacti in his collection at that time. Sadly, Ian was burglarized a few years ago. Many of his valuable specimen plants, including all his specimen ariocarpus, were stolen. Now, can you imagine something like that happening in Australia!

Since then, Ian has rebuilt his collection into one of the most beautiful private collections I have ever seen. Seeing his wonderfully grown specimens in his new greenhouse located at Hamilton’s World of Cacti in Llandilo (a suburb a little over an hour away from the Sydney CBD, toward the famous Blue Mountains), you wouldn’t think that he had suffered a devastating theft only a few years before. Hamilton’s World of Cacti is the leading supplier of cacti and succulents to the supermarkets and grocery stores across New South Wales. I will write more about them in a future article.

Ian’s collection is truly a sight to behold – his plants, all well arranged by genera and disposition, were extremely healthy, well-rooted and with excellent color. From the breathtaking lithops and conophytums in full bloom, to some of my passions which include haworthias (of course) and the copiapoas from Chile, Ian’s expert care has produced plants one can only dream about here in Manila. Ian is also a walking encyclopedia when it comes to succulents and succulent care. His knowledge of a wide spectrum of cacti and succulent genera, including their nuances and intricacies, will truly amaze any succulent enthusiast. I will be writing more about Ian’s cultural regimen in my next article. His observations will be of particular interest to us growers here in Metro Manila, as he has had the benefit of growing succulents here in our "constrained" climate, too.

When I first arrived in Sydney and finished getting settled into our hotel, I made it a point to take my family to a visit at the Royal Botanical Gardens which were just a few blocks away from our hotel and just across from where Ian lives in the high end and exclusive Wooloomaloo (I hope I spelled this right) district of the city. By the way, the Sydney RBG has to be one of the best Botanical Gardens in the world. The Cactus and Succulent exhibit there is quite extensive and impressive. While I was there, I saw a sign referring to the Cactus and Succulent Society of New South Wales’ annual show and display which, unfortunately, I had missed by just one day. Once each year, in the glass pyramid within the RBG, the NSW Society members’ show plants are on display and the experts demonstrate potting and grafting techniques. Ian, the Society president, mentioned that "there are tricks of the trade that growers use to get the best growth and flowering from their cacti. We’ll be teaching these techniques and conducting question and answer sessions." Under Ian’s active leadership, the NSW Society has done very well. It was only too bad I missed that important event.

I spent a wonderful day with Ian and his good friend Bill Anderson, one of Sydney’s most successful businessmen who has a growing passion for cacti and succulents. The visit also included a wonderful steak lunch hosted by Bill at Australia’s oldest surviving hotel located in the town of Windsor. Ian even brought with him the Philippine Society’s member directory, and he was very interested to learn how his old friends over here were doing. I think my visit with Ian was quite timely, not just for me to catch up with him but, more importantly, for me to get to update the rest of the Philippine membership on how our great friend from Down Under is doing. Many thanks for that great day, Ian, and I’m sure I will visit you again sometime soon.