Anyone been to MB Palms open house sale in Orlando?

[Palmpalm900]

I live a few hours away and was wondering if it’s worth the drive. Also curious if the prices are closer to wholesale or if they’re adjusted for the crowds. Would love to pick up a few palms at a good price. 

[Johnny Palmseed]

From what I have seen at plant sales/shows, their prices are mostly fair but I wouldn’t expect any bargains per se. Pricing on plants is subjective anyway. You will certainly have the chance to buy things that are not available in Jacksonville. But be cautious because it is easy to overbuy when going to places like this. I did that when I lived in Jacksonville. Then it became difficult to protect plants that were not suitable for the climate.

[RainforestCafe]

I can't speak for the open house, but I did buy a few plants from them at the Leu Gardens plant sale a couple weeks ago. As Johnny Palmseed said, their prices were definitely fair, and they had very healthy plants. But they were not the same prices listed on their wholesale page (understandably). I want to say the prices were about double wholesale prices.  Just for an idea, 3g palms like archontophoenix, lytocarium weddelianum, satakentia, etc. were $25-$40/ea, depending on the species. He also had alot of really young plants for fairly cheap prices. 4" pots for ~$15/each of alot of species that are fairly hard to find, and aren't listed on their plant list online.

[Palmarum]

13 hours ago, Palmpalm900 said:

I live a few hours away and was wondering if it’s worth the drive. Also curious if the prices are closer to wholesale or if they’re adjusted for the crowds. Would love to pick up a few palms at a good price. 

An open house type sale would typically be the best chance to see the lower prices and deals. In that situation, selling 'at home' means they don't need to give a percentage or a booth fee to a society, garden or sale host. They also do not need to spend time and gas money transporting plants. They can easily have anything for sale, as they are not limited to trailer space in what they can bring. 

Ryan

[D. Morrowii]

I went last year and as others have said the prices were fair. There were a lot of palms in a lot of sizes too. If I wasn’t busting at the seams I’d be going again but I’m only an hour from there. 

[FlaPalmLover]

Just don’t get your hopes up that Lukas Nursery will be anything special if you decide to stop by there as well. Their palms seemed extremely rough and inconsistent in terms of quality when I recently went by there. I’d go to Lowe’s over them. 

[Bkue]

7 hours ago, FlaPalmLover said:

Just don’t get your hopes up that Lukas Nursery will be anything special if you decide to stop by there as well. Their palms seemed extremely rough and inconsistent in terms of quality when I recently went by there. I’d go to Lowe’s over them. 

They are decent but you will pay retail + at Lukas. 

[Merlyn]

Here's last year's price lists, with my sharpie notes on species I was interested in getting.  I bought about 10 palms last year.

[OC2Texaspalmlvr]

@Merlyn Am i reading that right 100gal Licuala ? Considering the size which I have no idea what to compare that too. I also know that I'm over planting larger then 15g palms in my gumbo clay. The prices seem more then fair ! 

T J 

[Merlyn]

@OC2Texaspalmlvr yeah Licuala Spinosa in 100 gallon...absolutely monstrous pots!  He probably had 20 pots that size, if I recall correctly one pot would pretty much fill up my van.  It was a pot about this size, just maybe 6 to 8 feet tall instead of 15 plus...

https://www.palmpedia.net/wiki/File:Licuala_spinosa_P150_H18_Y2005_N1634.JPG

 

[redbeard917]

When is the open house?

[Fishinsteeg234]

MB Open house is April 13-14 this year. I was there last year and was blown away with the selection, quantities, and overall operation. I’m planning on getting there Saturday around noon if anyone wants to meet up. Also, MB supplies Lukas Nursery with all their exotic palms. 

[Hurricanepalms]

His prices are very fair, plants are well grown, and some are quite large for the size pot they are in. 

[Hardypalms]

On 3/26/2024 at 5:51 PM, FlaPalmLover said:

Just don’t get your hopes up that Lukas Nursery will be anything special if you decide to stop by there as well. Their palms seemed extremely rough and inconsistent in terms of quality when I recently went by there. I’d go to Lowe’s over them. 

What can be found at Lowes in Orlando that can fit in a car?

Thxs

 

Pat

[RedRabbit]

19 hours ago, Merlyn said:

Here's last year's price lists, with my sharpie notes on species I was interested in getting.  I bought about 10 palms last year.

Impressive list! Too bad he basically told me over the phone he didn’t want my business. I don’t know if he’s come around to working with collectors now, but I know I’ll never personally attend one of his sales. 

[kinzyjr]

1 hour ago, RedRabbit said:

Impressive list! Too bad he basically told me over the phone he didn’t want my business. I don’t know if he’s come around to working with collectors now, but I know I’ll never personally attend one of his sales. 

Same.  Rather than re-hash the whole conversation from last year, this thread sums it up for anyone wondering why:

https://www.palmtalk.org/forum/topic/79336-mb-palms-open-to-public-april-15-16/

[redbeard917]

So we might get turned away? Or you can tour the place but not buy anything?

[kinzyjr]

16 minutes ago, redbeard917 said:

So we might get turned away? Or you can tour the place but not buy anything?

I don't think you'll get turned away at an open house or a plant sale, but when I called to buy some stuff off cycle, he turned me (and others) away and did sell to others in my circle.  Message sent, message received.  In my case, that means that business goes on my do-not-use list.  If others are treated better, and according to at least a few of my contacts, they are; then they should make the decision for themselves as to whether to buy from this vendor.  No hard feelings from me if you choose to do so. 

[Hardypalms]

I was coming to Orlando for a long week-end, contacted them  to arrange a visit, per their guidelines.

Never got an answer.  I bought from Lukas nursery and Lowes.

Pat

[donalt]

selection , quality and diversity of palms is outstanding. pricing is quite reasonable (especially for the quality you get). worth the visit; like being a kid in a candy store! Beccario alfredii, dypsis pembana and licuala ramsayii all from MB Palms. 

[Hardypalms]

5 hours ago, donalt said:

selection , quality and diversity of palms is outstanding. pricing is quite reasonable (especially for the quality you get). worth the visit; like being a kid in a candy store! Beccario alfredii, dypsis pembana and licuala ramsayii all from MB Palms. 

I was coming to Orlando for a long week-end, contacted them  to arrange a visit, per their guidelines.

Outstanding palms. Below are the ones I got there 

 

[Merlyn]

@donalt that Alfredii looks a wee bit close to the wall to me, but maybe it's just the angle of the photo.  You are aware that the trunks get *really* big, right?

I'm pretty sure that's @sonoranfans' beast above.  4 feet diameter at ground level is not unusual.

[FlaPalmLover]

Anyone go?

I went and got a couple of things - not because I approve of the way he's treated some on here, as I don't, but just to check things out for myself, and because I had a couple of things I wanted that it was more convenient to get there than anywhere else that supplies them, with it being in Central Florida. Some of his bigger palms, in the 100 G pots, I'm not sure how one would install/haul off without some sort of trailer or a van and multiple fairly strong people moving them. Overall, he was nice to me, if a bit hands off, but it bothers me that he has not been nice to people on here who are enthusiasts that would happily hand him money in what would surely be fairly painless business transactions for him. I think some of the issue is that if you open up the doors at all to retail customers, and make it seem like you're open to selling to them on promotional materials, and then also try to mostly have the attitude that the wholesale nurseries do, it is a bad look. That said, the operation he has is pretty impressive for Central Florida, at least from what I've seen of nurseries in the area. I doubt there are many nurseries that do as good of a job outside of South Florida.

[Merlyn]

@FlaPalmLover I went down on Saturday afternoon.  Oddly enough I didn't get any palms, but picked up a Cycas Debaoensis, a couple of rare Encephalartos and two big 15G pots of Bambusa Textilis "Gracilis" at wholesale prices. 

[FlaPalmLover]

58 minutes ago, Merlyn said:

@FlaPalmLover I went down on Saturday afternoon.  Oddly enough I didn't get any palms, but picked up a Cycas Debaoensis, a couple of rare Encephalartos and two big 15G pots of Bambusa Textilis "Gracilis" at wholesale prices. 

Interesting. I was particularly struck by the syagrus schizopylla he had there. The way the fronds curve, and their dark green tint, is really beautiful, in my opinion. I don't know if those are high maintenance or what, but I'm surprised they aren't more popular on here. Maybe it's because they don't get very tall (a plus to me, personally).

I got an alfie and some areca palms. After seeing how cheap the alfies were on here I just figured it'd be the easiest way to get one at a decent size. 

[Merlyn]

3 hours ago, FlaPalmLover said:

Interesting. I was particularly struck by the syagrus schizopylla he had there. The way the fronds curve, and their dark green tint, is really beautiful, in my opinion. I don't know if those are high maintenance or what, but I'm surprised they aren't more popular on here. Maybe it's because they don't get very tall (a plus to me, personally).

I got an alfie and some areca palms. After seeing how cheap the alfies were on here I just figured it'd be the easiest way to get one at a decent size. 

I must have just walked right past the Schizophylla...durrrr.  I picked up a "Coco Queen" Schizophylla x Romanzoffiana last year, and @kinzyjr and I were just talking about Schizophylla showing up at the box stores.  Personally I think that the other Syagrus are much more interesting than Queens.  But a nursery can grow a Queen to a big 3 gallon selling size really, really fast.  The same can't be said for the others, and any hybrids take extra labor to make.

[FlaPalmLover]

1 hour ago, Merlyn said:

I must have just walked right past the Schizophylla...durrrr.  I picked up a "Coco Queen" Schizophylla x Romanzoffiana last year, and @kinzyjr and I were just talking about Schizophylla showing up at the box stores.  Personally I think that the other Syagrus are much more interesting than Queens.  But a nursery can grow a Queen to a big 3 gallon selling size really, really fast.  The same can't be said for the others, and any hybrids take extra labor to make.

I didn't realize that was in the queen genus until now, but I can see a little resemblance. Yeah, he had it back behind the greenhouse. Not sure if you went back there and walked that area. Your explanation of why they're less talked about/abundant definitely makes sense. I saw they're hardy to 9b, which is nice. I'll post a picture I took of one of them! There were a few of them but this one photographed particularly well.

[donalt]

You are correct, Merlyn, that palm was definitely planted too close to the wall. When I bought the palm a few years back, I really didn't have a lot of faith that it would become much of anything. I found that spot and figured I'd see what happened. Apparently, the palm loves that spot and has grown so well there. I never wanted to mess with it.