South Florida Palm Society Holiday Party '06

[Palmarum]

South Florida Palm Society

Holiday Party 2006!

Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden

The Garden House Auditorium - 7:30 PM

General Meeting, Holiday Party & Elections

This really is the palm party everyone talks about in South Florida! Please come and join all the palm fanatics of South Florida for awesome food, great drink, and the largest auction of palm species you have ever seen! There is no cover charge, but please try to bring your favorite covered dish to add to our spread. Any plant donation, palm or otherwise, would also be greatly appreciated. Any type of plant may also show up in the auction, including very rare selections from Fairchild TB Garden's nursery. Montgomery Botanical Center has also been known to make some incredible seed donations.

- A group of photos taken at last year's Holiday Party. It was one of many I've had attended in my years, and just as spectacular. The auction had been going on for a while and the stage had been thinned out a bit. It began completely packed full of palms.

- The bidding was fast, you can't hesitate or you will lose out on that one palm you want. You really do not know when that super rare palm will come up. The selection is so packed together, there is no time to preview them all. I can remember a few shockingly rare ones that made Jeff and I spit our drink out after the name was read aloud.

- Forum member Ken Johnson [seated w/ mic] is the always entertaining auctioneer for the Holiday Party.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

South Florida Palm Society

Holiday Party 2006!

Last night, Monday, was a pure palm blast in the eyes of all who attended. The party was again one for the ages. Many people arrived for the event, and they brought their excitement for the auction with them. There were more plants that I could count for auction. They took up the entire stage of the Garden House auditorium. Thanks to the South Florida traffic, we arrived slightly late. We had to unload the palms Jeff donated, while looking through the selections at the same time. I managed to take a few photos in the chaos.

- The unending spread of food was being laid out in front of everyone. Many delights, including roast pork, sushi, caviar, imported pate', and many others were there for the taking. I was getting hungry just thinking of what else I was going to find.

- A certain selection of plants for auction, were set aside for silent bidding. Many members here, look over the selection and place their bids hoping to out-do everyone else.

- The stage area filled with hundreds of palms. Some species were represented by a group, while some very rare ones only had one specimen for auction.

- One healthy Gebang Palm, Corypha utan waiting for its turn to be bidded upon. It went for a mere $40, a steal for its size.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

South Florida Palm Society

Holiday Party 2006!

- A newly introduced species of Dypsis sp., that caught quite a bit of attention. It was grown from wild collected seed and has yet to be described.

- A colorful Dypsis tokoravina, showing its trademark red leaf bases growing in a 3 gallon (13.2l) pot.

- An eye-catching new emergent red leaf on a Calyptrocalyx albertisianus. It went for the highest price of any silent auction, $185.00.

- The first selection in the silent auction, a 7 gallon (30.8l) Old Man Palm, Coccothrinax crinita. In the left of the photo, one of many cases of alcohol used to stimulate the party.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

South Florida Palm Society

Holiday Party 2006!

- Two very popular palms, in small sizes. Perfect as stocking stuffers for the palm fanatic. Towards the left, Carpoxylon macrospermum in a 2 inch (5cm) conetainer, and Pelagodoxa henryana in a deep 4 inch (10cm) square half gallon.

- A freshly cut infructescence of Pseudophoenix sargentii used as a table centerpiece.

- The table I spent much of my time around, one of the dessert tables. Tis' the season for killing diets.

- The auction is underway with this fine specimen of Mauritiella armata donated by Claude Roatta [standing behind]. Bill Olson [on left] organized and managed the evening, along with being one of the auctioneers.

Ryan

[elHoagie]

Nice Ryan!  What was the price for that C. crinita?  I don't think I've ever seen one that large for sale in SoCal....  Also, were there any large Pseudophoenix actioned off?  And for how much?

[Palmarum]

South Florida Palm Society

Holiday Party 2006!

The holiday party was lots of fun, and they always are. There were many familiar faces, and it was a pleasure to see them all again. Some I had not seen since the biennial in October. Here are the last batch of photos I took from the evening. There was simply too many palms for auction to be photographed, so it really is an event to be seen in person. There is another holiday party in Palm Beach, for the Palm Beach Palm & Cycad Society next week on Wednesday. Jeff and myself should be there, along with many other people you all know well.

- Bill Olson auctions off a well-grown Roscheria melanochaetes to the eager crowd.

- The bidding continues well into the evening. Many people who have long rides ahead of them, including myself and Jeff, had to leave before the auction concluded. I am not sure when the auction actually ended. At this point, Claude Roatta shows off a Coccothrinax sp. 'Azul' to the crowd as Bill Olson auctions it off.

- In my opinion, this was the rarest palm for auction that evening. It is a Laccosperma opacum, a very rare rattan palm from Cameroon, West Africa. Members of this genus, and all of its close relatives have never made it to mainstream cultivation. This palm was donated by Fairchild TB Garden, from their nursery collection. I will let you guess who won it in the auction.

- Some of the more excited party goers that evening. SFPS Board Member Bill Sears dons his Santa hat, while sitting just behind his wife, Paulette. On the far left is Ray Gompf with his wife Theresa on the far right, just out of frame. These two couples should be familair from the biennial, as they both shared the experience with myself and others.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

(elHoagie @ Dec. 06 2006,13:05)

QUOTE

Nice Ryan!  What was the price for that C. crinita?  I don't think I've ever seen one that large for sale in SoCal....  Also, were there any large Pseudophoenix actioned off?  And for how much?

Hey Jack, the bidding on that Coccothrinax crinita was pretty fast paced, even for a silent auction. I was looking on the sheet throughout the evening, and I believe the final bid was $150.00. As for larger Pseudophoenix species, I think there were a few 3 gallon sized ones towards the back of the stage. They were P. sargentii, or even P. vinifera. They were packed in the back and didn't get a look at the tags. I left the meeting before the auction got to them, so I am not sure what they went for.

Ryan

[SubTropicRay]

Hi Ryan,

Did anything draw bids similar to what the Copernicia ekmanii did a few years back?  I think that one went for $1000?

Ray

[Palmarum]

Hi Ryan, Did anything draw bids similar to what the Copernicia ekmanii did a few years back?  I think that one went for $1000? Ray

Hey Ray, welcome back from down under. There was no bid that reached that high, not for the time I was there. That C. ekmanii went for $1300.  It will be a while before there is another palm to reach that amount. But, it really depends on how much someone wants it.

Ryan

[SubTropicRay]

Ryan,

Did you win the Laccosperma?  

Ray

[Palmarum]

No I didn't, Jeff did.

Ryan

[SubTropicRay]

Ryan,

I will be down there next Wednesday.  Still have a Sommieria left?

Ray

[Palmarum]

I will be down there next Wednesday.  Still have a Sommieria left?

I talked to Jeff just now, and he says there are a few available. In regards to the price you will need to contact him directly, I know they will be a bit expensive.

Ryan

[SubTropicRay]

Thanks Ryan.  I will talk to Jeff.