About me

It all started somewhere in 2003 with some Lithops on a window sill.

My fascination for the genus Lithops was clearly triggered by my father in law, K.J. Brussee, who was a knowledgeable field botanist and who owned a little Cactus collection with some Conophytums and Lithops.

I got fascinated by the way those little plants are adapted to survive the most severe South African drought conditions, and the pretty daisy type flowers in a time of the year that hardly anything else is flowering.

Slowly my interest got extended to South Africa’s geophytes as well, with a special interest in the genus Massonia, also known as the Hedgehog Lily. Throughout the years I have been collecting seeds from local South African nurseries and other growers in the world. In the meantime I grow over 120 species/locations/accessions of this striking genus.

Bert Zaalberg