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- 1:50PM: Andrea, Jeff Searle and myself started to work our way out of Jeff Chait's amazing menagerie of tropical plants, by way of several continuing conversations. Jeff and Chris got into a staring contest while debating something about crotons. Andrea was trying to get Jeff's attention so we could leave and start our long trip back up north. - Before leaving, I took one more look around the front yard and captured them still talking about crotons. It was nice to see the Jeff Chait collection once again, but the cold damage was hard to take in. Many of the palms will survive and eventually recover, but it will take some time. This is true for all the gardens on the tour. The South Florida Palm Society does an excellent job and puts forth solid effort in promoting palms in and around South Florida. The society's board of directors spend a great deal of time and resources towards organizing their palm related events, including the Garden Tours. While I was talking with Jeff Chait today, who is responsible for much of the society's Garden Tours, he mentioned that the next tour will be sometime in the fall and to check the website for up to date info: Link: South Florida Palm Society The opportunity to see these collections was well worth the price of membership, especially those gardens you would otherwise never get in to see. I had photographed half of the days stops before, so for me it meant taking fewer photos of plants and focused more on the people. In the end I took a bit over 400 shots of the tour and posted the better three-quarters of them. The previous tour from two years ago included seven stops and I went crazy and took about 1300 photos in the same amount of time. To be finally able to see Jeff Blocks amazing garden for the first time was the highlight of the day for many, including me. They had originally planned to have his garden last, but he had a prior scheduling conflict with something involving a tennis tournament. If you are in the South Florida area, or plan to be in the fall, the next SFPS Garden Tour should be on your list of things to do. It is a blast to walk through such great collections with fellow palm nuts and to see every plant in person as the photos do not paint a complete 'picture'; as it is impossible to capture everything. I do try though. Ryan --<

That's what I thought at first, and that is what it is. I had to call Jeff Chait today to confirm and it turns out the tag belongs to a much smaller A. purpurea to the right, buried under that croton and in behind a Chambeyronia macrocarpa var. "Houailou" that I was too busy staring at to notice anything else. In the past, I have seen deep shade grown A. purpurea lose that color and gain that hue on the crownshaft. The collection has also been 'chemically modified' so there were some strange forms on a few palms and plants. To maintain his outstanding Rose collection, Jeff Chait uses a spectrum of different chemicals. Since his roses are scattered all over the yard, the combination of liquid fertilizers and growth enhancements are sprayed on everything creating some well boosted plants. When I called Jeff a little while ago, he was at a plant sale getting more add-ons to his collection. Pinecrest Gardens is having their spring sale this weekend, if anyone near the garden reads this in the next 2 hours. Ryan

Palms are so "macho"!

- 1:48PM: "Pffft... I have no idea..." On the right, Marie Nock gives Jeff Searle a puzzled look after she was asked to identify yet another unknown Croton nearby. Chris Mahue gets ready to lean on the Kentiopsis oliviformis while putting forth his two cents into the conversation. In behind the K. oliviformis are fan leaves belonging to another Kerriodoxa elegans, and those golden yellow culms to the right of the image are part of a larger clump of rare Sacred Bali Bamboo, Schizostachyum brachycladum. - I tried to show as little of the cold damage as possible, but I decided to show this additional view of the entryway to give an idea as to what certain South Florida collectors went through. The old Pelagodoxa henryana seen earlier is on the far left of the photo and you can see the damage on the different palms. The tall dead palm on the right 'was' a very nice Hydriastele costata. Palms that would have been in this shot include a well grown, tall combo of Verschaffeltia splendida and Phoenicophorium borsigianum. A featured tree no longer living in this garden was a record breaking Breadfruit Tree, Artocarpus altilis. It had a height of at least 40 feet (12m) and was annihilated by the cold. That tall and very skinny palm just to the right of center is an Actinorhytis calapparia, the Calappa Palm. - Across the driveway from the K. oliviformis seen above, was a very dense section of the yard complete with a burly Mt. Lewis King Palm, Archontophoenix purpurea. - Due to its size and stout nature, I thought it might have been one of the larger King Palms, like a shaded A. maxima, but when I got in closer, I spotted the faint hue of purple on the crownshaft. I also found a tag. Ryan

- 1:45PM: The front yard, as seen from the west. I had to walk clear across the neighbors driveway to capture everything in one shot. The tall palms on the left are a mix of Sunshine Palms, Veitchia arecina and Solitaire Palms, Ptychosperma elegans. - Zooming in further to show another angle of the Talipot Palm, Corypha umbraculifera. It was the key source of shade for the area around it. - 1:46PM: I walked back under the canopy to find the plant related discussions going non-stop. Collector Chris Mahue and FM. Jeff Searle were going back and forth over croton history and who knows what else. The bent Coconut Palm, seen earlier from the street, can be seen just above Chris's head. If you follow the trunk to the left, you can see just part of how far it goes. - 1:47PM: A recently planted Dypsis basilonga gets a prime spot, just off the driveway. Ryan