Leaderboard

Howdyall: A while back, I bared my 'puter travails, and got some good, sage advice, and a new computer back last September, with about 800 GB of memory, about 400 times the memory of my old 'puter. Whoa. 800-expetive times. Yike. So, it came with Windows 7, and well, it's been a few months. For sure, Windows 7 smokes smokily and moves so fast I gag sometimes. On the other hand, sometimes it fails to start, leaving the black screen, and forcing a reboot. And, it won't take my printers well. It airily refuses to acknowledge the existence of the trusty Brother 1440. And, it eats my pictures! (Saves them to a directory I can't find,which I know I can do something about but it's the principle of the thing . . . .) I will, at some point, partition the hard drive and install Linux, report to follow. One thing that is good, is that I haven't had to buy any new programs, which I'm really giving the arm to our 'puter lady at the office about. (Our office system! Slower than molasses in June in the Southern Hemisphere, and Congress, Parliament and the respective Diets in a series of dithers). Now that I'm the webmaster of the PSSC, that extra speed helps. (Dude! That horse cart ain't makin' it on the 101 . . .. )

This long awaited sale begins tomorrow, in a new location with a great selection of palms and cycads. After setting up for the sale during today and yesterday, I can say it is becoming quite the event. Thursday found us setting up amongst a few vendors who got to the center before us. It is always interesting when you are in a new location, since you have to start from scratch. All the former layouts, booth plans, and ideas all have to junked in exchange for all new ones. Friday was quite different, and I will post photos of the day's events. If you can make it down to this great garden, come by booth #57 and say hello. Jeff and I are always on the lookout for forum members. Ryan

Thats OK. There are some great photos by Ryan here that definitely were worth revisiting! Ron.

A warm welcome to you,my friend.... Love, kris

In the front yard beside the driveway: Latania lontaroides Red petioles. Gotta love 'em

Hi Ryan, I went to Montgomery Botanical Center the last time I was in Miami...it was just beautiful. Your palms are always a delight to see and thanks for the post. It makes me feel like I was there and part of the sale. Good luck to you, Peter

Danger Will Robinson! Possible collision course with Stumphead status! That sounds like a proper warning status.

Gileno, Fascinating! Thanks a lot for the update, had no idea! But then again, I don't really make it my business to keep up with these things! Would have been a nice touch if they could have just waited a few weeks and joined us in Rio next month for the Biennial! Bo-Göran

A Washie is a rodent?

Just be happy that yu can't hear me pronounce some of the latin names of palms. I'm always being corrected. At least he tries instead of using all the weird California "nick names" that we here in Florida roll our eyes about.

Dean - an interesting historical accounting of where the term "stumphead" derived from. Actually I have always been curious how that "classification" came about. Ron.

The Calyptrocalyx elegans will grow to about 8 ft. in height, while tolerating full sun, a rare and perfect choice for this particular use. The emergent red leaf will enhance our enjoyment of the plantings. Here they are, all in a low berm: Turns out, 18 little palms is all we can manage for the day. Phew! Time for a mai tai. A look at some of the native ohi'a trees on the property... Through a vivid green Clinostigma...

Is a "Stumphead" still a valid classification?

Yeah! Hope you enjoyed the photos. The last pictures: "Yellow Petra" Ron. *

"Waterfall"

"Van Buren"

"Twist and Point"

My favorite, "Tortoise Shell"

"Sweet Marie"

"Rudy Bachman"

"Red Eburneum"

"Norman Rockwell"

"Maximum" this is the Giant Leaf Form of Bender #2. Monster leaves on this cultivar.

"Kentucky"

"Eburneum"

"Dr. Frank Brown"

"Dayspring"

"Davis #7"

Next is "Charles Rutherford"

This is "Baron Rothschild"

Andy - I use Palm Special #7216 12-04-12 from AFEC, Atlantic Fertilizer & Chemical Company 18375 S.W. 260th Street Homestead, FL 33090-1488 You are in North Palm Beach. Try to Private Message pdleft. Her name is Betty and is the President of the Palm Beach Palm & Cycad Society. She is a friend and can recommend where to get a palm special fertilizer that is closer to you. You could also network with members up there that are familar with your growing conditions and can give you valuable tips. There are some great growers and Palm Beach Palm & Cycad Society members that are friends and will be very helpful to you. Best regards, Ron. <H3 style="FONT-SIZE: 20px"> </H3>

The first spring sale of the South Florida Palm Society at Montgomery Botanical Center, was a resounding success. I had a great time, so did many others. It was the first of many more wonderful palm events to take place at the center. The tour was the icing on the cake. To paraphrase Winston Churchill, never have so many palms, been shopped over and visted by so many, in so little time. Plans involving the fall society sale are still up in the air, so we will have to wait and see. For what ever is decided, I believe that Montgomery B. Center will always be on top of the list. Customers, vendors, and board members all had great ideas on how to improve the sale. With this much support, future society sales and events can only get better. The Friday night presale and members event was a fantastic idea. It was a pleasant, comfortable, and unique experience for myself, both as a vendor and as a customer. It should take place again, and it will definitely catch on with palm fanatics everywhere. Some sort of additional lighting would be beneficial, but then again, many of the die-hards had brought flashlights. The last four photos I took of the sale are below. I look forward to attending the next sale, it will be here in no time...as they always seem to do. - With the tour over, we all returned to the sales area, including our canine visitors. Patrick took on another load of customers, and was off again. When I walked towards the tour staging area, I noticed a familiar scene. An easel, complete with canvas and paint, set up to receive an artist's intent to recreate an image. This was a work-in-progress belonging to vendor #84, artist and Forum member Linda Apriletti (Linda Apriletti). She often paints at the sales, along with displaying and selling her artwork. The shot is focused on the painting, so don't strain your eyes. You can see the Sabal palm and tree in the distance posing for the artwork. - The form takes shape with several brush strokes, one right after another. Linda Apriletti puts brush to canvas as I photograph her in action. A few other customers had also gathered to watch her paint. I forgot to ask how much she had left to do, in order to complete it. - Time had now reached two minutes till 3:00 PM, and the sale was winding down. You could still hear customers making last minute decisions among the booths. When you see someone pull two plants to one side, then stand there staring at them, you know they have to make a tough choice. I went back to the food tent to get a drink, and stopped to snap a shot of SFPS Vice-President and Forum member John Demott (Redland). - Sale had been over for a few minutes now, and we had begun to break down the booth. Like many sales before, a well-planned 'ballet' of sorts ensues with the arrival of vendor trucks and vehicles. They come in single fashion, in order from booth to booth. This way we can all be packing up at almost the same time. We were grouping plants by size to get them ready for the truck and trailer. It is still amazing to me, after all these years, how fast these sales pass on by. The South Florida Palm Society will be holding another long anticipated Garden Tour this coming Saturday, April 7th. It will begin at 10:00 AM, and has been planned to allow people to visit excellent palm collections of Miami-Dade county. The tour will include lunch, and a selection of palms for auction. To sign up for the tour and/or get more information, please contact board member Jeff Chait. Send me a private message if you need his number. Ryan

- For a brief moment, I jumped off the golf cart to take a few photos. I noticed the abundantly full infructescences on the Gingerbread Palms, Hyphaene thebaica so I took a closer look. The area was being shaded by the nearby Bismarck Palms. Hyphaene species are underused in the South Florida landscape, since they add color and are easy to grow. They are a tad slow when small, and can not grow in a swampy, wet environment, but otherwise make great palms. - With the Hyphaene in the background, I walked around the golf cart to take a photo of everyone including our canine visitors. It just so happened that of all the dogs and their companions going for a tour, got onto the same cart. Our guide, MBC executive director M. Patrick Griffith, is at the wheel. It was his idea to take this photo and it came out well. I just about got all four dogs to look at the camera. - I got back on board, and we were on our way again. We took a short way around one of the palm rich areas and came across this very interesting species. This is Syagrus cearensis from Brazil, and it has the peculiar habit of clumping or dividing equally into either two, three or four stems. It always does this, and has a remarkable rate of growth. The one stem on the left is just loaded with fruit. - We continued our way through, and as we were moving I nabbed this shot of a shaded area that had quite a few species. There is a Rhapis sp. in the center, with a Livistona sp. in the back, towards the left. Ryan

- Directly to the left of the Serenoa repens, was this grouping of Gingerbread Palms, Hyphaene thebaica. I have always liked Hyphaene species, they have such interesting growing habits, and unique details. One of the plants on the right was in full fruit. - We moved off again, and made our way down this one grassy knoll bordered by palms, the "Palm Walk". Many of the photos I took were taken as the cart was moving. It made for some quick decisions and last-minute framing of the shot. I still managed to get some great photos. Including this one of a rather robust Phoenix sp., possibly a Phoenix canariensis. - Our cart comes to rest at another location, while another one passes by. This cart was the tour just ahead of ours and they were on their way back. Behind the cart is a batch of a large Sabal sp. - One of the highlights of the tour was definitely the viewing of this one, ultra-rare palm, Corypha taliera. This species of Corypha is extinct in the wild and is survived by only twelve plants left in the world. Eleven of these plants are at the Montgomery Botanical Center, with an additional one at the Indian Botanic Gardens in Bengal, India. There have been reports of an old specimen of a Corypha species growing at the Dhaka University campus in Bangladesh; that might be C. taliera. But this has yet to be confirmed. The conservation status of "Extinct in the wild" will stay unchanged. It is hard to think that the survival of this one species is solely based on these few plants' ability to flower, and then die. An interesting dilemma. I took this photo as we were driving off, as the other cart continued its way back. Ryan

- At 11:39 AM, customers were continuing to pour in, enjoying the lack of an admittance fee and the thrill of seeing the center for the first time. The pace had slowed a bit by this point, but palm enthusiasts were still finding collectible species to add to their carts. Pushing a cart up the center aisle, vendor #99 Rick Johnson, had borrowed it to ferry some palms to the register tent. - A hub of activity surrounds the register tent, as customers pay for their plants, food tickets, or tours of the center. On returning from the tour, many customers spoke of how much they didn't know about the center. The size of the grounds, the palms in the collection, or even the history were some of the things that were new to many. - Speaking of the tour, I wanted to make sure I had my turn before the day was over. After buying my ticket, I made my way to the staging area by the food tent. I took a seat waiting for one of the large golf carts to return. Next to me was this very happy Weimaraner who was taking the tour as well. The golf cart I would eventually take, would become more canine influenced... but more on that later. - At 1:53 PM, my tour of the center began. I do not remember how many carts they had running in sequence, but I did not have to wait long for the next one. Those of us who took the same cart, were lucky to have the executive director of Montgomery B. Center, M. Patrick Griffith, as our tour guide. As you would imagine, he was immensely knowledgeable about everything involving the center. The first area of the center we came to was a large open area filled with an array of palm species. This first section had a healthy population of Saw Palmetto Palms, Serenoa repens. Ryan

- While I was looking among Scott Cohen's plants, I looked across the aisle and noticed that SFPS Show Chairman and vendor #80 Tim McKernan was in his booth at the moment. I had been trying all weekend to get a photo of him next to his award winning Pseudophoenix vinifera. With all the duties of a show chairman, he was quite busy most of the weekend. His palm won Most Unusual Palm, and why I wasn't sure why it was so unusual, it was still a well grown palm in all respects. - An additional angle including the entire palm. It was for sale as well, if anyone was interested. - I went back into Scott Cohen's (#88) booth to photograph this one remaining Coccothrinax macroglossa. It had excellent leaf base fiber and glaucous leaf undersides. The palm was very large for the pot it was in, so it was more than ready to go into the ground. It was old enough to begin flowering, an amazing feat for any species of containerized Coccothrinax sp. - A larger view, showing the entire palm and pot. It was the perfect "grab 'n go" size for collectors. By the end of the day, I do remember it leaving on someone's cart. Ryan

Saturday afternoon begins to wind down to a close, as customers begin to grab their last minute choices. This is the last group of photos from Saturday. At this point, almost halfway through the weekend, I call this sale a success. It had already passed the monetary requirements for two days, in the span of one. Many questions were raised towards where the fall sale will be, from all the parties involved. This created some interesting conversations for Saturday evening into Sunday morning. We will have to see what happens until then. - Plant valet Travis Searle moves a large Bottle Palm, Hyophorbe lagenicaulis, back towards the aisle where his cart lies in wait. Jeff Searle supervises the move. - After heaving the palm onto his cart, Travis follows the soon to be owner of the palm, Forum member Brad Evers (flskimmer) [red stripes] down the aisle. Brad talks with vendor #91 Jody Haynes [center-left, ponytail] about the palm he just got from him. Adding in on the conversation, is vendor Chuck Grieneisen (#13) [far-left]. Late Saturday afternoon is always a relaxed time at the sales. Many vendors take this time to shop some more in other vendors' booths. - It is now 4:11 PM, and the honor of being in the last photograph of Saturday goes to Forum member Dave Martin (Dave-Vero). He drove most of the day to get to the sale a bit late, but he still got what he came for. He is holding a 3 gallon Rhapis laosensis he had on his shopping list. We still had a few left in the booth. It was the second time seeing him in person, and Jeff and I were glad he came to the sale. Including Dave, I had an unofficial count of Forum members numbering about 13 or so who were at the sale this day. Ryan

- Volunteering his time in the holding area, vendor #66 Ron Croci acts as a security guard. Not holding the bulk of excitement, but this post is still important to the sale. Many customers take numerous trips to and from the holding area. There is only so much room on a cart. - Across from the holding area, I had gotten Steve Stern (#35) to pose next to his collection of Kerriodoxa elegans. One of his larger Red Sealing Wax Palms, Cyrtostachys renda, can be seen in the far right of the photo. - A large specimen of Lytocaryum weddellianum is used to sell the smaller ones beneath it. The larger one is holding a single seed on its inflorescence. The camera's flash shines on the silvery underside, a feature commonly gone unnoticed. - SFPS President, vendor #4, and Forum member Bill Olson (Bill Olson) rests for a second talking with plant valet Travis Searle. Ryan

- An all wrapped and ready-to-go Blue Latan Palm, Latania loddigesii. All you need is a way to get it home, and some help in moving it. - At 1:56 PM, a steady crowd moves through the sale, going to and fro the different booths. The weather was absolutely perfect, the entire day and weekend. The setting of the sale was memorable. - Using his favorite toy to load palms on a trailer, vendor #31 Albert Livingston demonstrates his high aptitude for using a backhoe. He uses this machine constantly, even if just to move one small tree. He has had it as long as I have known him, and he rents his services to customers who need work done. These two triple Cuban Royals, Roystonea regia, were just purchased and on their way to a homeowners' landscape. - Albert gives a thumbs-up as he turns his backhoe to pick up another palm. He loaded that trailer with a few more plants before he was done. Ryan

- After talking with Chuck Grieneisen for a short while, I continued around the bend in the aisle and came to his neighbor, vendors #66 Ronnie & Ron Croci. They have been in the business for a while now, even though I can still remember their first sale years ago. Every year, their selection gets better and larger. They have one of the "must visit" booths of the sale when it comes to early morning shopping. - I took a quick second shot to show the Pseudophoenix vinifera, Ron Croci was sitting in front of. You can see their booth had thinned out a bit. It was full just a few hours earlier. - After receiving the ribbon for his award-winning Wallichia densiflora, vendor #71 and Forum member Bob Johnson (Bob Johnson) poses again in front of my camera. It had won the award for Best Grown Palm, and it was flawless. Another newer vendor, Rick Johnson (#99) can be seen in the background towards the left. - One of the original all-time vendors, #25 Carol Graf works on her inventory list while seated in front of her booth. She was lucky to get one of the first booths near the entrance to the sale. Ryan

Hey Brad, welcome to the Forum and glad all your palms made the trip back in great shape. They look very well for such a long trip. It was a pleasure to have met you, and hope to see you at future events. Ryan

Ryan, Thank you so much for all these pictures. I am always so busy running around making sure things are working that I never get to see the people enjoying the sale as it is happening. You are absolutely right about this sale exceeding expectations. I was predicting about half the number of people we got, and about 60% of of final sales totals. What a nice surprise to see that we could make this as good as any other sale on the very first try in MBC. If this becomes an annual event I promise it will get better. Bill Olson

- Many of the early bird customers, who had searched the sales area in the morning, had begun to compile their palms together. One such customer had retained the services of transporter Travis Searle (Paintball Guy) to get them to the cash register, then onto their car. - The flow of customers had increased by this point, and passes even my expectations for this sale. I was relieved and surprised to see the amount of people coming to visit the center. Arriving at the sale at 10:11 AM, for which he is a vendor at, is vendor #88 Scott Cohen stopping by the booth to talk with Jeff Searle and myself. - The booth got particularly crowded at this point so I shot across the tent to capture customers perusing the smaller palms on the tables. - During the Friday-night pre-sale, five awards were handed out to vendors who had put palms in the show. Two of those awards went to Jeff Searle, for both of the palms he entered. The palm on the left, Licuala sp. 'Togu Budo' won Rarest Palm and the award of Best Overall went to the Dypsis onilahensis. Ryan

- Anyone remember the Dominican Republic? Well if you do, and you know the star palm of that trip, you know this palm species. Steve Stern, vendor #35, brought a pair of Pseudophoenix ekmanii to the sale. You had two sizes to choose from, but only one of each. On the right side of the photo, a petiole from a Snake Skin Palm (Caryota ophiopellis) can be seen as well. - Directly across from Steve Stern's booth, was this robust cycad sitting out near the aisle. It is a very old, Encephalartos eugene-marasii, and had an even price of $3000.00. - My tour of cycads continue into vendor #91 Jody Haynes' booth. He had plenty of large specimens including this recently-flushing Encephalartos hildebrandtii. He mentioned that many of this Encephalartos species are faster than people realize. - On closer examination, you can see the bright color on the new fronds as they are emerging. With a little backlight from the sun, it is a very nice color. E. hildebrandtii has been in cultivation for some time, and it is easy to see why. Ryan

- A spread of cream coloration for any fans of variegated palms. Staying in Ellis Brown's (#68) booth, I found this incredible example of variegation on a Majesty Palm, Ravenea rivularis. This is just one leaf, and most of it was showing great coloration. - A view of the entire palm, with the morning sun bouncing off of it. Cream colored leaflets were found on every leaf, and the rachis and petioles had brilliant stripes. The flagging tape ment it was entered in the show, but it did not win an award. It was given a surprisingly great price, so it did not last long into the morning. If it had lasted a little longer, with a second thought, I would have nabbed it myself. - I thought the coloration on the petioles needed a second look, so here is a zoomed view of the leaf bases. Some of those stripes are very broad. - Following the path around towards the exit, I noticed this variegated Lady Palm 'Kannonchiku' in the booth of Steve Stern (#35). It was an estabilished cultivar, named "Ayanishiki"which means "Figured Brocade". Ryan

So thats where that spider went...hmm...lol Well I am glad you got home in one piece, with you and the Dypsis intact. Generators for lighting is a great idea, we should have done that this time. Another comment for the note page for the next sale... Ryan

- At this point, it had been a few hours into the pre-sale event and the sun was going down fast. Members were shopping while some vendors were setting up their booths. - It didn't take long, but daylight had left in a hurry. The main areas had lighting, but some die-hards were shopping by flashlight. One in particular, Ray Gompf, can be seen in the lower right corner looking over seedlings, flashlight in hand. With such a dark background, I couldn't resist a flash photo of the Kerriodoxa elegans. The leaf undersides just glow. - Working my way back to the crowd, I spotted these Dictyosperma album var. furfuraceum in vendor #16, Mike Harris's booth. Those persistent reins connecting the leaflets together are quite unique. - Getting that one last palm before leaving for the evening was Forum member William DeBoe (PiousPalms). He took home one of the first Dypsis sp. 'Pink Crownshaft' 3 gallons we had in the booth. He is quite the enthusiast and it was great to had met him. Ryan

- The sun begins to go down at this point, and decided to do a little shopping of my own. Across the aisle held this great looking group of Copernicia ekmanii. - Two of the most noticable of palm people, collector Ray Gompf and vendor #33 Dave Romney. - For what was a good idea at the moment; vendor (#16) and Forum member Mike Harris (Caribbean Palms) tries to pound a wooden stake into the solid rock pathway of the original Old Cutler road. He didn't make much headway. - Artist and vendor #84 Linda Apriletti gets in some shopping time just as the evenings' festivities began. Ryan

Ryan, Livingston's Bottle palms are bodacious. Are those field grown and then transplanted!

- The last batch of photos from Thursday just before we left to get ready for Friday. I took this photo to show this interesting path in the middle of the sales area. Most people do not know, but this unmarked dirt road is actually the original Old Cutler Road. Col. Montgomery did not like the traffic going by just in front of his house, so he moved the road about 30 yards to the west one day and its been there ever since. - The back gate of Montgomery B. Center where the sales area is located. It has since been covered with signs and was found quite easily by customers Friday night and Saturday. Ryan