WHERE & WHEN | VISITOR TIPS | SHOW-ENTRY RULES

What?

A two-day plant show and plant sale. Free and open to the public — bring a friend and a box! Spectacular plants on display will compete for your votes, while a wide variety of cacti and succulents, along with handcrafted pottery and assorted accessories, will be up for sale.

Featuring

• Exceptional plants on display for our plant show. See a stunning variety of plants carefully combined with pottery that makes them look their best!
• Rarities. Plant vendors selling unusual and rare species of succulents & cacti you can’t buy in stores.
• Hand-made pottery selection. Local vandors will be selling their beautiful and ever-evolving handcrafted work.
• Expert growing advice. The vendors who raised the plants from seeds and pups will be there to answer your questions and provide suggestions.
• Plant Hotel. Save your arms, and drop your full boxes off with us until you're ready to check out.
• A worthy cause. Proceeds support the Cactus and Succulent Society of San Jose’s monthly programs and further our mission of community, education, conservation and propagation.

Where and When?

The Place

The Show and Sale will take place at the Peterson Middle School in Sunnyvale. (See Visitor Tips, below, for notes on additional parking.)

The Times

• Early Admission (members only):
• 10-11am Saturday, April 18th.

• General Admission:
  • 11am–7pm on Saturday, April 18th
  • 10am–3pm on Sunday, April 19th.

Visitor Tips

• Saturday mornings tend to be extremely busy! If If you don’t like crowds, you might want to wait until after 2pm, or Sunday.
• The doors will not open early.
• Bring your own boxes — while we will have some on-site, bringing your own will spare you from having to hunt for the one that's “just right”.
• You may want to take advantage of our Plant Hotel (see its information page) to hold your plants while you continue shopping. Be sure to hang on to the numbered tags you're given, so you can retrieve your plants.
• Pets, in particular dogs, are not allowed. (Sorry. It’s not that we don’t love them. It’s just that it’s safer for everyone if they stay home, and in any case, school rules forbid .)
• To make shopping safer and more pleasant, the aisles will be wider than in pre-pandemic days.
• The wider aisles notwithstanding, while you’re welcome to bring your cart to help transport all of your purchases, please keep said cart out of the aisles themselves.
• For faster checkout, please plan to pay by debit or credit card. Our systems support contactless payment, including Apple Pay and Google Pay. Unfortunately, we are unable to take checks. Cash is acceptable.
• You can sign up for CSSSJ membership at the Show and Sale, as well as online.
• In addition to the small parking lot, you can use the large overflow lot adjacent to the gym.

What Are The Rules For Entering The Show?

For the complete and official set, see the PDF version. Note that you can pre-register on-line, thereby sparing yourself having to manually fill out the tags. Division tables omitted, the show rules are as follows:

Exhibitor Classifications

• Novice: You have not won a total of 50 first-place ribbons in previous CSSA-affiliated shows, and have been a member of the CSSSJ for less than 5 years, or are under 18.
• Advanced: You have won more than 50 blue ribbons, and are not a large commercial seller.
• Open: You have won 100 or more blue ribbons or are a commercial seller of Cacti or Succulents, earning a substantial income from the sale of plants.

Set-up and Take-out

• Plant Entry is Saturday, April 18th, from 7am to 11am.
• The show will be open from 11am–7pm on Saturday, April 18th, and 9am–2pm on Sunday, April 19th. There will be a ½-hour period on Saturday night when it will be closed for judging.
• Plant take-out time is Sunday, April 19th, from 1:30pm to 3pm. Doors close to the public at 2pm, so unless you are a vendor or helping with tear-down, come between 1:30 and 2:00.

Divisions

1. Cacti
2. Succulents
3. Arrangements, Displays, & Allied Interests

Awards

• First-, second- and third-place ribbons will be awarded in each division from 1 to 3.