cfpacs CFPACS December 7th Meeting (2 great gardens in Sarasota)

[Mike Evans]

It is that time of year for a great roundup of garden tours. Two beautiful gardens in the Sarasota area. Along with the plant auctions and sale.

YOU’RE INVITED!!!

Central Florida Palm and Cycad Society’s Annual

PALM GARDEN TOURS

CUBAN PIG ROAST

DEMONSTRATION: HOW TO CREATE

YOUR OWN RARE BONSAI PALM

PLANT AUCTION AND SALE

DECEMBER 7, 2013

10:30- 3:15

TOUR #1 – 2508 19TH St, Sarasota FL – garden of Gina Valentino and Nicholas Georgiades – You’ll think you’re in Hawaii when you see this private half acre of palms, bamboo, bromeliads, aroids, tropical and edible plants carefully planted by the enthusiastic owners. 10:30-NOON

TOUR #2 – 1315 38th St, Sarasota FL – One of Florida’s finest private gardens developed over the past 20 years by Rob Branch. Palms, bamboo, dozens of different kinds of bromeliads, rare tropical plants. Guided tour of the entire garden – NOON – 1:30

Bonsai Palms – Ken Johnson, pioneer in growing bonsai palms, will demonstrate how to create one of these rare specimens for your own home. 1:30-2:15

Lunch: Cuban Pig Roast, black beans and rice — CFPACS members eat free; non-members pay $6. Served from 1 o’clock-2 o’clock — Members asked to bring a side dish: salad, fruit, vegetable, salad or dessert. Soft drinks and water provided.

Plant Auction – 2:15-2:45

Plant Sale – 2:45-3:15

BOTH GARDEN TOURS ARE FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC – $6 for Cuban lunch if you’re not a member

Parking instructions and comment from Gina:

We have a circle drive and can fit several cars in there. Otherwise, there is a deadend street to the west (Chilk Ave) where people can park as well as the empty house directly across the street. After that it is on-street parking. Attached is a map and several pictures.

The property is half an acre. I moved into the house in late 2002 and the yard was mostly lawn. I wanted a jungle to remind me of Hawaii and have since mulched in the entire property. My introduction to PalmTalk fueled my palm obsession and taught me more than I could ever have imagined. When Nicholas moved in 2009 he brought his bamboo collection. We have lots of palms, bamboos, bromeliads, aroids, tropicals and edibles. We're looking forward to sharing our garden with the society!

[Mike Evans]

Rob & Susie always go up and beyond with their food spread. The Cuban Pork feast should be the best! Here are a few pics of Gina's & Nick's garden.

CFPACS December Meeting.pdf

[Mike Evans]

Here are some photos from the Palm tours. Whoever missed this Holiday meeting, missed the best CFPACS meeting in years. Two beautiful gardens to tour in a nice sunny 82F temperature. First stop is Gina's (JunglegGina) and Nick's garden. Lots of Palms, Bamboo, and everything else.

[Mike Evans]

CFPACS Board meeting adorning.

Gina(Left) Nick (middle) Christian and Lucinda, our President.

Raised Bali style green house. Very cool, or hot.

[Mike Evans]

A few more from Gina & Nicks. I took most pics before people showed up.

Carpoxylon macrospermum

Unfortunately I ran out of batteries in my camera & had to switch to cell phone. Something happened to some of the photos. Maybe someone else can post some.

[Mike Evans]

On to Rob & Susie's.

The Cuban Pig roast is the best I have ever tasted. Harry Blenker ( Lucinda's son) did the cooking from early in the morning (whole hog). This Pig Hog was crisp on the outside and sweet and moist on the inside. It was so good that you did not need any B-B-Q sauce. It was better w/o it. I made a pig out of myself. I forgot to get a pic of the Cuban pig roaster.

Here is Harry and helper. Many thanks to these Gods.

Now to chow down before the auction, plant sale and garden tour. We have our priorities set.

[Mike Evans]

Next is Ken Johnson's demonstration on how to Bonsai palms on limestone rock. Great learning experience. Thanks to Ken and Denise for making the trip from South FL.

Cuban Pig Roaster behind Ken.

Rob helping Ken wrap the bonsai in plastic.

[Mike Evans]

On to the Auction. There were lots of great deals to be had. Great turnout for the donations. Rick Nale (Palmboi) was Auctioneer.

[Mike Evans]

A few more pics of Rob & Susie's garden. Sorry, I was having too good of time to take pics. I missed a lot of things.

Ken & Denise.

Sarasota Alex hiding in the pathways.

[Steve the palmreader]

Thanks to Rob and Susie ,and Gina and Nick . Great food , gardens and friends !

[Palmarum]

Nice photos and a great turnout at two stellar gardens. It looks like fun was had by all. I wouldn't mind having some of the spread, including that roast pig. Many familiar faces I haven't seen in a while and it looks like Ken had everyone's attention during the presentation. What was the most sought-after item in the auction?

Ryan

[_Keith]

Looks like it was a great time. One year it is gonna work out that I can actually make one of these. And I can't wait.

[Cindy Adair]

It must have been great fun! Hi Lucinda! You are doing a great job!

[Mike Evans]

Nice photos and a great turnout at two stellar gardens. It looks like fun was had by all. I wouldn't mind having some of the spread, including that roast pig. Many familiar faces I haven't seen in a while and it looks like Ken had everyone's attention during the presentation. What was the most sought-after item in the auction?

Ryan

I picked up a Phritchardia munroi that I was very happy to get. We did not have any big expensive items like you did in SFPS, just alot of smaller items.

[Lucinda]

CFP&CS's December party topped a year of viewing great gardens here in Central Florida, every one of which gave us a chance to visit places not open to the public. In March, we were privileged to see beautiful 50 year old trees that survived everything Mother Nature could throw at them on Orchid Island (Earring Point) overlooking the Indian River lagoon. That same day we enjoyed lunch and a tour of Ron Edwards' remarkable -- and totally planted out-- three acres on Goat Creek/Valkyria.

Walt Darnall is a one-man park department and his place, which he opened to us in June, looks like a state park and as if it should have its own ranger station. He proved to be especially inspirational because he constantly challenges the vagaries of the less than ideal climate around Lake Placid.

We hit two places in October: Faith Bishock's in Hidden River (where all the roadways are runways) first, then over to Catherine (Creekside) and Joe Presley's wonderful farm about 10 minutes away. The Presleys treated all of us to a real Caribbean barbecue and first-hand view of Old Florida; giant oaks dripping with moss, every single palm native to the state, plus a lot more they added.

As you can see, our standards for gardens worthy of seeing are very high, a necessity when you realize that some of our members drive three hours one way to get there. Endless thanks go to all of our hosts for allowing a bunch of palm/cycad crazies to tromp around their precious grounds.

As for the auction: most of the offerings were seedlings, albeit relatively uncommon and I think the most expensive one went for about $60. I bought a Daemonorops augustifolia and plan to tuck it next to taller palms where it can climb unfettered.

[Lucinda]

This is my first effort at loading pix to Palm Talk;

First up is Jungle Gina's Christmas tree -- she decorated a grouping of Adonidia merrillii that were the first palm seeds I'd ever germinated:

She started her garden in 2002 when it was little more than a cracker house surrounded by half an acre of grass. Here's what it looks like now:

[Lucinda]

A match made in heaven: Gina started her garden 12 years ago when it was just a cracker house and half an acre of grass. Then along came Nick with his wealth of bamboo plants. The result is Jungle Gina's Hawaiian paradise

The garden is five or six miles inland and can see below freezing nights during December and/or January. But this resourceful couple has an app for that:

Strategically placed tiki canisters and lanterns prove sufficient heat to keep tender plants warm. Tikis are set into wells of paver blocks; the flame warms the blocks creating radiant heat; then the heat rises to the canopy. About 30 of these are sufficient to protect the garden.

[Lucinda]

Can you tell this is the first time I've loaded pix to Palm Talk?

Gina and Nick are serious about Hawaii.

Chuck Greisenen, our secretary is checking to make sure his car is legally parked.

[Lucinda]

Canopy is so dense, it would be impossible to spot the house from Google's satellite.

Mike and Marg Evans, our hostess and Christian Faulkner can hardly be seen through the trees even though they're only a few feet away

Here's a closer view of the Bali greenhouse. It is elevated about six steps and loaded with goodies

[Lucinda]

And now on to Rob and Susie's place about 10 minutes way.

Harry and "helper" -- his name is Steve Sutton -- have taken the pig out of the roasting box and are getting ready to carve.

Harry owns Blenker Boatworks and Marina, thought to be the oldest marina in SW Florida, if not on the entire gulf coast. It was founded in 1926 and still has its original pecky cypress boathouse. All the coconuts were long gone, however, so we replanted a dozen more hauled up by Ken Johnson from South Florida. All you boaters and anglers plying Sarasota and Tampa Bay, Anna Maria Sound, etc., are welcome to stop in, say hi and find out where the fish are biting. The marina is south of the Manatee River mouth and has a direct view of the Sunshine Skyway.

We all know Ken Johnson is The Master at relocating big palms, but he is also pretty good with the small stuff. He has developed a technique for growing palms on coral rock and achieving the bonsai look ... and shared his knowledge with us Saturday. He showed us how to mount a Syagrus coronate , then turned around and put the ensemble in our auction.

[Lucinda]

It's a huge job getting a garden ready for visitors, especially discerning ones such as our members. CFP&CS likes to recognize the gracious hospitality with a present. Here, Gina and Nick, and Rob are all smiles as they accept Satakentias for their respective yards. Satakentias are cold sensitive, so we expect the Hawaiian wannabes will have to break out their flaming tikis once in a while this coming winter. Mike grew these in his St Petersburg nursery

[Lucinda]

Waiting in the food line are Denise Johnson and Seed Bank Coordinator Dottie Kellogg

[Lucinda]

And now on to the serious stuff: THE AUCTION

Plants in the front of this picture -- 21 of them -- came from Leu Gardens, courtesy of Eric Schmidt. Rick Nale (palmboi), with his big booming voice and delicious sense of humor had us all laughing as we reached for our checkbooks. Rick is a major factor in the care and expansion of Gisela Kopsick Palm Arboretum in St Petersburg.

Our treasurer, Maryann Krisovitch, standing right in the bright yellow CFP&CS tee shirt, tallied the sales.

The bearded giant in the red shirt looking to see who outbid him is Buckaneer37, known elsewhere as Wayne Smith.

Yes, it was a very good gathering, in deed.

[buccaneers37]

I don’t know about a giant……but my height does come in handy when it’s time to trim my palms . I had a fantastic time. Thanks again to Gina & Nick and Rob & Susie. The hospitality & food were GREAT. I didn’t do any good at the auction, but I did get a Dendrocalamus asper from Gina’s place and bought a Zamia amblyphyllidia from the plant sale. Coming away from both of those places just makes me wish I had more space! Hope to see many of the people that were there at my Palm Party next year, which will have to be pushed to June or July due to my trip to Ireland in May (Lucinda asked about it).

Wayne

[Ken Johnson]

Here is the bonsai demonstration!

[spockvr6]

Great video Ken!

[Mkrisovitch]

What a fantastic meeting! Two wonderful gardens and a great Cuban pig roast. Can't wait for the 2014 meetings!

[JungleGina]

Nice photos and a great turnout at two stellar gardens. It looks like fun was had by all. I wouldn't mind having some of the spread, including that roast pig. Many familiar faces I haven't seen in a while and it looks like Ken had everyone's attention during the presentation. What was the most sought-after item in the auction?

Ryan

I immediately had my eye on one of the smallest things in the auction, a diminutive but super cute Coccothrinax 'azul'. Of course, it was nearly the last thing that came up for auction. I got it for $40.

Thanks everyone for the nice feedback. We enjoyed sharing with you! The spread at Rob and Suzie's house was awesome as always!