An American, Harry Johnson of Johnson's Cacti & Succulent Gardens [1937-1968] successfully cross-pollinated many cacti, which are still traded among friends, and found in nurseries and gardens alike. Alas! these are frequently without names. Months of research through every Johnson catalog ever published plus articles and charts created by others have aided me in preparing a historical look at the Johnson's C&S Nursery for this web-page. Permission to copy and use material from these un-copyrighted catalogs was received from Harry Johnson's son, Hal, who also contributed to the Johnson Paramount Hybrids at the nursery. Unfortunately, records of the actual parentage of the Johnson's hybrids cannot be found, because Johnson did not keep careful records. Some hints, though are sometimes mentioned in catalog descriptions. It has also proven difficult to obtain plants or photographs of many of these wonderful hybrids to include here, despite generous help and offsets from members of an E-mail chat group . Any confirmed name and description I've been able to locate will eventually be listed after the photo entries.

During the past thirty years Robert Schick has continued to work on hybridizing Echinopsis. Careful records were kept. Johnson's Paramount hybrid stock, as well as other species, were used in Schick's work. Schick hybrids have been offered for sale by the Huntington Botanical Gardens since 1997 and demonstrate hybridization carried to fine art. Some photos of Schick Hybrids will be found on these pages, but a much larger selection is offered on the Huntington Gardens ISI site.

Other lesser known cultivators have also contributed to the horticultural improvement of hybrid cacti forms. Where possible, they are listed here along with named or numbered hybrids attributed to them. Another form of hybrid is the "field" or "greenhouse" hybrid. These occur naturally in the wild or by accidental cross-breeding among flowers in an open greenhouse or garden. On at least one occassion that I know about, a lovely greenhouse hybrid was given a name by the nurseryman.

This is very much a work in progress. Corrections and additional information about hybrids and their designers would be appreciated. I've chosen the topic of Echinopsis & their Hybrids because almost every collector has at least a few un-named hybrids of this type on their benches. They are fairly cold tolerant, and often bloom with huge, fragrant flowers. And those who grow from their own plants' seed may come up with a greenhouse hybrid of their own.