Mr Cactus

As you head north-west from the central NSW city of Dubbo the highway becomes straighter and flatter every kilometre. Stunted bushland gives way to hectares and hectares of wheat-fields, and the red dirt seems to get even redder. The town of Gilgandra emerges in the distance, almost obscured by a mirage hovering over the baking hot highway. It’s a “blink-and-you’ll-miss-it” kind of town. Unless you happen to like cactus.

Unassuming Gilgandra is home to Orana Cactus World, a spiky goldmine of over 1000 different species of cactus and succulents owned by Lester Meyers, a retired carpet layer and passionate plant collector.

Lester’s penchant for cactus began way back in 1948 when he was a young boy. He used to deliver milk before school and a couple of his customers had cactus collections. Something about the plants caught his eye and he asked if he could have some cuttings. They obliged and the rest is history! He started off as a keen collector but his collection soon morphed into an obsession and lifelong passion.

The turning point was in 1969, after an overseas trip. He says, “I visited many botanic gardens in Europe and was amazed at how well the cactus grew under such cold conditions. I knew I had plants that didn’t tolerate frost and thought, ‘If they can do it, so can I’”. On his return he bought land with the intention of building a 15-metre-long greenhouse for the collection, but this soon morphed into one of 30 metres. Lester says, “If I had 50 years left I would put another extension on, too. There are many hundreds of species I don’t have yet!”

Lester’s plant obsession has led him all over the world – especially to the Americas, home of all things spiky. Seeing plants in their native habitats has helped him understand how to best care for them. And with cactus, this often means the opposite to what we usually think about plant care – no water. For years. Yep, some of the larger cactus plants in Lester’s collection haven’t been watered for the last two years! Low maintenance or what?

While most cactus plants are very hardy once established, as seedlings they’re extremely needy. Lester doesn’t germinate seeds at the nursery, but rather at his home, “so I can be there for them” he says. In the wild, the seeds germinate after rain but if they don’t receive any more rain after sprouting, most of them will die. Lester suggests that only one out of every 10 000 seeds will survive and grow to maturity in the wild. “My plants are spoilt here!” he says.

Of the thousands of his pampered plants, Lester has no favourites. Some are more temperamental than others, but according to Lester, that’s just par for the course: “Temperamentality seems to come in all walks of life – plants and people.”

It’s hard not to be blown away by Lester Meyer’s Orana Cactus World, set behind a tall chain wire fence on the edge of the Newell Highway in Gilgandra. His passion for cactus is phenomenal, and his collection of plants is seriously impressive. His perspective on life is rather nice too: “Plants are amazing things. If you think you know everything about them, you have your head in the clouds. I’ll go on learning until the day I die. That’s what life is about.” I think Lester is on to something.

Orana Cactus World
29 Newell Highway
Gilgandra, NSW