Meeting - Central FLA Palm & Cycad Society

[Bob Johnson]

Central Florida Palm & Cycad Society Quarterly Meeting

Date: Saturday, March 8

Location 1: Leu Gardens, 1920 N. Forest Ave., Orlando, FL 32803

Time: 10:00 am

Tour of palm and cycad collection led by Eric Schmidt (Eric and Orlando on this board). According to Eric, they have approximately 375 species of palms and 65 species of cycads in the collection. About 125 species have been planted in the last 5 years or so. Since the last CFPACS meeting in January 2003 they haven't been below freezing until this year, January 3, 2008, it was down to 31F . The last CFPACS meeting at Leu in January 2003 was when it got down to 27F.

Some palms that have begun flowering at Leu Gardens include; Acrocomia aculeata, Aiphanes horrida, Areca triandra, Arenga engleri, Astrocaryum mexicana, Bactris mexicana, Bismarckia nobilis, Calamus erectus, Caryota gigas, Chuniophoenix hainanensis, Copernicia alba, Cryosophila warscewiczii, Geonoma schottiana, Hyphaene coriacea,  Lytocaryum weddellianum, Normanbya Normandy, Phoenix caulks, Phoenix rupicola, Pinanga coronet, Sabal mauritiiformis, Sabal miamiensis Saluki wallichiana,  Syagrus x Costa, Wallichia densiflora, Wallichia disticha, Zombi antiserum

Cost: Leu Gardens admission is free for CFPACS members, $5 for non-members (society membership is only $15 a year if you want to join on the spot and skip the admission charge).

Location 2: Gordon & Pat Smith, 1 Eastwind Ln., Maitland, FL 32751

Time: 1 pm

Tour of the Smith’s garden (plantings over 40 years old), auction and plant sale.

All are invited. In addition to looking at palms and cycads we always have a great time conversing with fellow palm enthusuasts at our meetings. We would enjoy meeting some of the members of this board that we do not yet know. Hope to see you there.

Bob Johnson

CFPACS president

[Bob Johnson]

Leu Gardens: Copernicia hospita, C. baileyana, Bismarckia nobilis (green)

[Bob Johnson]

Leu Gardens: Various cycads including Lepidozamia perrofskiana, Strangeria eriopus and Cycas hainanensis

[Bob Johnson]

Leu Gardens: Wallichia densiflora

[Bob Johnson]

Leu Gardens: Beccariophoenix madagascariensis

[Bob Johnson]

Leu Gardens: Sabal miamiensis

[Bob Johnson]

Leu Gardens: Attalea rostrata

[Bob Johnson]

Leu Gardens: various palms, including Archontophoenix myolensis and Dypsis madagascariensis

[Bob Johnson]

Leu Gardens: Copernicias and Bismarckias

[Bob Johnson]

For directions and more details please see:

CFPACS March Meeting

Also - Eric Schmidt's handle on this board is "Eric in Orlando"

(Sorry, I was unable to edit the typo's in my first post)

[SunnyFl]

That myolensis is a beauty - isn't it supposed to be a bit cold-hardier than other archontos?  How long has it been at Leu.  The beccariophoenix is another looker.

Nice to see the photo of the miamiensis - love that palm.

Sounds like a great CFPACS meeting.

[Eric in Orlando]

(Bob Johnson @ Feb. 10 2008,07:31)

QUOTE

Leu Gardens: Various cycads including Lepidozamia perrofskiana, Strangeria eriopus and Cycas hainanensis

That is actually Lepidozamia hopei.

[Eric in Orlando]

(SunnyFl @ Feb. 14 2008,23:03)

QUOTE

That myolensis is a beauty - isn't it supposed to be a bit cold-hardier than other archontos?  How long has it been at Leu.  The beccariophoenix is another looker.

Nice to see the photo of the miamiensis - love that palm.

Sounds like a great CFPACS meeting.

Its been in the ground for several years. The coldest it has been too is 31F this past Jan. but it is in a protected spot.

[Bob Johnson]

hopei, . . . well, that's what I get for not reading the label. I thought that hopei was more tender, glad to see that it is growing quite nicely here.

[Mike Evans]

Looking forward to being there.  Its been a while since I have been to Orlando.  Lew Gardens is beautiful!

[Dave-Vero]

It was a fine meeting despite a chilly wind that made the big bamboos sound pretty scary.  We could watch Spanish moss flying from the big live oaks!  

Eric is a great tour guide, as if everyone doesn't already know from his photo expeditions here at PalmTalk.

[tank]

(Dave-Vero @ Mar. 09 2008,00:19)

QUOTE

Eric is a great tour guide, as if everyone doesn't already know from his photo expeditions here at PalmTalk.

Eric's tour was great and the garden was wonderful.

The cracking bamboo during the many wind gusts was definitely exciting.

[tank]

While I didn't take many pictures, I took one of a really nice Reinhardtia gracilis.

This was my first time at Lue gardens and I was impressed.

[Central Floridave]

Thanks Eric-in-Orlando.  Leu is definitely has improved the palm collection!

More photos:

http://www.2ndlight.com/fusetal....hread=y

[Eric in Orlando]

Great photos, thanks for posting them!

I thought it was a good meeting despite the cold wind. It was nice to met/seen everyone. Glad to hear that the tour was enjoyed!

[Central Floridave]

"cold wind"

I prefer to call it free air conditioning!  

It is definitely impressive on the tropical palms that are growing there.  Do you guys use any supplemental heat or have the option to pump in heat into the palm garden area?    ...cause, you know...its only a matter of time!

[Eric in Orlando]

No, nothing is protected or given extra heat, everything is on its own. It is a nice microclimate; SE side of the lake and a good live oak canopy and bamboo to help break the wind and frost. Some suprises have been found. The big Attalea rostrata and a Arenga pinnata (not the one in the photos) were planted in 1973 survived the 3 big freezes in the 1980s while most Phoenix roebelenii and  Syagrus romanzoffiana were killed and Acoelorrhaphe wrightii, Rhapis excelsa,  and  Phoenix reclinata froze to the roots. The original A. pinnata flowered and died several years ago. The big one you saw was only planted in 2000. There is also a Coccothrinax (most likely C. argentata) that was planted in 1985 and survived the 12/89 freeze. Hopefully we won't see those1980's type freezes again for awhile.

[Eric in Orlando]

I am posting some photos taken in Jan. 1990, a month after the big 12/89 freeze, in the main discussion. Just to see how Leu Gardens looked then!

[SW_FL_Palms]

Great Meeting CFPACS

Eric,

Enjoyed the personal tour.

It was great.