South Florida Palm Society Spring Sale

[Palmarum]

Saturday Morning...

- 7:46AM: The award winner for Rarest Palm went to this Heterospathe cagayanensis entered by vendor #57, Jeff Searle. This species has a brilliant red inflorescence and the color extends to the petioles.

- 7:47AM: An actual light photo of how the sales area looked just after sunrise. We arrived at Montgomery a little after 7:15 hoping to get in early to do some browsing, but the gate was locked and we had to wait. Getting to a palm sale two hours early is normal for enthusiasts...

- Vendor #68 Ellis Brown brought a pair of nicely grown Snake Skin Palms, Caryota ophiopellis.

- 7:56AM: I noticed a new species of Pinanga on one of Ellis's tables, P. watanaiana. It had a great leaf shape to it and the characteristic leaf mottling found on some members of the genus.

Ryan

[elHoagie]

(Palmarum @ Mar. 19 2008,10:20)

QUOTE

- The judging began a little before 6:00PM and they reached Jeff Searle's entries to the show. Miami Herald Garden Editor Georgia Tasker

looks over a Pinanga sp. "Thai Mottled" along with SFPS Director Jeff Chait and a fellow judge.

Ryan - I'm pretty sure the "fellow judge" is Georgia's partner Sandy Schultz. I met both of them in Madagascar a couple years ago...

[Palmarum]

- 7:59AM: Every palm and cycad was tagged and awaiting the morning rush of collectors.

- A favorite of mine and of many on the Forum, a Licuala mattanensis var. mapu featured in Steve Stern's (#35) booth.

- It is much easier to sell small palms when you have a larger one for customers to see. This large and flowering Calyptrogyne ghiesbreghtiana subsp. glauca was surrounded by smaller, one gallon plants.

- When a palm is in flower it screams to be photographed. I still need a macro lens in the worst way, and a macro rail, etc...

Ryan

[Palmarum]

elHoagie · Posted on Mar. 25 2008,18:22

Ryan - I'm pretty sure the "fellow judge" is Georgia's partner Sandy Schultz. I met both of them in Madagascar a couple years ago...

Jack, thank you so much for her name; I didn't want to interrupt their judging to introduce myself so I ended up not getting her name. Now I can add the name to the photos.  

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 8:05AM: Many vendors have familiar icons that people use to spot their booths from a distance. Vendor #50 and Forum member Faith Bishock (budrot) has been known for having her large table out in front of her booth for years. As a collector myself, I will say that I must look through Faith's booth at least two times each sale, if not more. She always, always has the potential to have something I, or another collector, might want. Stopping by her booth over the years has taught me to always check the tag on a palm and to not assume the species.

- The palms and cycads are ready. All we need is some customers to show up in about an hour and a half.

- 8:07AM: A few Polyandrococos caudescens on display in Ron Croci's (#66) booth.

- Vendor #74 Buddy Poulsen had large blocks of several different palm species for sale. The silver individuals were Caranday Wax Palms, Copernicia alba.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 8:11AM: This sale was a great opportunity to add to one's own cycad collection. A good portion of vendors had at least a few cycads in their booth, but the display belonging to cycad biologist, vendor #91 and Forum member Jody Haynes (virtualpalm) had a large selection. One Zamia species of note was this newly described one. Jody authored the manuscript on Zamia hamannii after he found it on a small island in the Caribbean. I first saw small plants in his booth back during the SFPS Fall Sale last year, but it was labeled Zamia sp. "Orange Emergent".

- 8:14AM: The sun was rising to what would be a very warm day. The red new leaf belonged to a large Chambeyronia macrocarpa put out for sale by vendor #65 Leslie Veber.

- Looking back towards Jody Haynes' booth.

- A hefty cycad for those who don't want to wait for a small one to grow, Encephalartos altensteinii.

Ryan

[palmmermaid]

Ryan,

Thanks for posting all the pictures.  Betty and I had a great time at the sale and hope to be back next spring.  It was good to see everyone we had not seen in a while.

[Palmarum]

Kitty,

I had a great time as well, and it was a pleasure as always to see both you and Betty. I felt a general positive feeling by all who attended the sale and feel that hopefully they will return next spring along with the rest of us. I have photos of you and Betty coming up soon so get ready to be awe inspired.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 8:27AM: Jeff and I continue to browse among the many booths while more vendors and other volunteers arrive before the sale opens. Vendor #26 Susan Casey had arrived with one of her popular sale traditions... Donuts.

- Booth set-up goes beyond just plants. You need your necessities to make it comfortable for yourself and customers. Mostly for yourself.

- By way of Susan's hand, let there be donuts. Yum! There is something about palm sales and donuts; a fun connection between a sugary confection and horticulture that I will never be able to fully explain. On the left, Travis Searle (Paintball Guy) eyes one of the cream-filled delights while vendor #68 Rusty Brown gets first dibs on the coffee. This is a common desire among palm vendors, so don't think its just us who need to get our fill of donuts. Spotting a small palm on the ground, laden with cast-off powdered sugar has become a common sight these days.

- 8:44AM: Back in the booth, Jeff discusses Rhapis species with Vendors and Forum members Kitty Philips (palmmermaid) [ctr] and Betty Ahlborn (pdleft) (#46).

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 8:55AM: Art was well represented at this years Spring Palm Sale at Montgomery. Artist and vendor #10 Hal Moore readies his booth while talking with veteran member and vendor #29, Ziggy Mayotte.

- Hal had brought a huge array of palm artwork to fill his tent. Many of his popular prints can be seen in the homes of palm collectors and on the t-shirts of enthusiasts everywhere.

- With a beam of sunlight hitting him in the back of the head, vendor #74 Buddy Poulsen poses with his award-winning "Thatch in a Rock". His rock bound Thrinax radiata won the award for Most Unusual Palm during the previous night's festivities.

- There were plenty of Chambeyronia macrocarpa specimens in the sale that had a new red leaf. This one, featured in Ron Croci's (#66) booth, had a strong strawberry-red hue to it. I witnessed a few customers who had sought out this palm and tracked it down by looking for the new red leaf.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 9:01AM: Vendor #68 Ellis Brown volunteers to help get the sales area ready by pounding in the booth sign belonging to Faith.

- A group of Phoenicophorium borsigianum take up residence in Steve Stern's (#35) booth.

- The award for Best Palmate Palm went to vendor #46 Betty Ahlborn for her Variegated Lady Palm, Rhapis excelsa cv. 'variegated'.

- 9:11AM: The proud winner with his palm and his dad. Vendor #92 Scott Cohen gets close to his Best of Show winning Dwarf Betel Nut Palm, Areca catechu cv. "Dwarf", and his dad Eric.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 9:17AM: After Scott received his ribbon, I had to do the same photos all over again including this 'thumbs-up' shot.

- Veteran vendors Shirley & Dave Romney (#33) make their way down to their corner booth. Dave is carrying his trademark coconut business card holder. It's been in his booth as long as I can remember.

- 9:23AM: A crowd gathers near the entrance to the sales area. They have a few more minutes to wait until they can storm on in.

- I walk back to the booth awaiting the rush and cut through Tim McKernan's (#80) selection of plants; noticing a few rare items on his tables. In amongst the small palms, I saw this Iguanura wallichiana var. major producing a new, faded leaf. It is still rare to see any Iguanura species for sale.

Ryan

[www.dadluvsu.com]

Awesome coverage Ryan...  Thank you sir.  I was not able to make it to this sale and judging by your photographs, it seems I should have forced the sale into my schedule.  I am eagerly awaiting the rest of the pics.  Stop Slackin' Buddy... POST THE PICS ALREADY!  :laugh:

[Palmarum]

The photos are coming, truthfully. I had to photograph a family member's wedding on Friday and have had extra relatives around this weekend. They all want to either see the wedding photos or want copies for themselves. When the chaos settles down I will get more sale photos posted.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 9:28AM: Here they come, ready your palms and cycads! SFPS Show Chairman Tim McKernan [far right, dark shirt] dropped the magic garden hose and then everyone went off at a good speed. They had been looking in the sale booklet for a while now, so many knew where they wanted to go first. Slightly to the left of center, collector and Forum member Mike Harris (waykoolplantz) takes the lead out of the starting block...

- The second wave of customers to enter the sale included Forum members Catherine Presley (Creekside) [left in lt. blue] and Tom Christian (tikitiki) [ctr. in white, pulling the yellow cart]. Both members had covered some considerable distance to attend the sale. Catherine had taken the trip on down from Sarasota, while Orlando is Tom's hometown.

- 9:34AM: In order to fit everything into the booth, Jeff and I had to pack everything close together. This made for some palm thick areas. We remembered where most of everything was, so a collector with a target species could be guided to their new plant rather quickly. Greg K. disappears into the center of the booth carrying a Licuala sp. "Wilailak".

- 9:43AM: Many carts became impromptu holding areas for some customers. Travis Searle (Paintball Guy) guards his cart which is holding the Licuala sp. "Wilailak" belonging to Greg K. and Mike Harris.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 9:49AM: I ambushed Forum member and IPS Director Ray Hernandez (Ray, Tampa) with my camera's flash again. He, along with many others, gambled with their lives against many miles of South Florida traffic to be with us at the sale.

- Ray looks over one of the smaller Livistona jenkinsiana.

- 9:57AM: The weather for the day was going to be hot. It was very warm already, and it was not even 10:00 AM yet. Vendor #16 and Forum member Mike Harris (Caribbean Palms) decided to set up his tent early to beat the heat.

- 10:01AM: The collectors had rushed through by now and were already going from booth to booth. More customers were still arriving, so Saturday morning was busy.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 10:01AM: I noticed many palm enthusiasts who brought with them, friends who were fans of other plant groups. I heard many discussions pertaining to describing how palms grow compared to other plant families.

- Some of the larger material left the booth in a hurry with collectors wanting to get them before someone else did. We only had one, maybe two of each of the larger specimens. The collector with the wheelbarrow said "Whoa" as Travis Searle and FM. Rob van der Borg (Borgy230) flew past him carrying a very large Licuala grandis. It was bound for another collector's cart.

- The collector in question carries his new Areca camarinensis to join his large Licuala grandis. This is when glare attacks.

- A tall Clinostigma sp. gets a ride to an awaiting cart with help from vendor #57 Jeff Searle and Dominique Shim.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 10:03AM: The flow of customers remained steady for much of the morning. Vendor #68 Rusty Brown flies past me helping a customer by carrying out their Licuala grandis.

- While looking over the sale booklet, collector and FM. Mike Harris (waykoolplantz) goes through his mental checklist of species with Jeff Searle and Rob van der Borg (Borgy230).

- The same collector made another run through. He had a great list of wanted species with him, I hope he found all of them.

- 10:13AM: Curator of Palms & Cycads for Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, Christy Jones holds a Voanioala gerardii while she browses the tables looking for what is new.

Ryan

[SubTropicRay]

Ryan,

My first photo has the "Are you talking to me?" look.

Ray

[Jeff in St Pete]

Ryan, your coverage of palm events is outstanding!  No one does it better than you.  Thanks for posting these.

[Jeff Searle]

(Ray, Tampa @ Apr. 03 2008,12:30)

QUOTE

Ryan,

My first photo has the "Are you talking to me?" look.

Ray

Ray,

    Hmmmm, wait until your down in Costa Rica, from sun-up til sundown. You'll be famous!

Jeff

[SubTropicRay]

Fame or infamy?

[Central Floridave]

Great shots!

I luv coming on this forum early weekend mornings and sip coffee and view the photos and commentary.  Thanks!  It really inspires me to bust out the door and plant more palms!  (the coffee helps also)  

[Palmarum]

Central Floridave • Posted on Apr. 05 2008,07:09

... Thanks!  It really inspires me to bust out the door and plant more palms!  (the coffee helps also)  

It is amazing how a little caffeine can lead to a bigger palm collection.  This is a common reason behind the planting of large numbers of species in a short amount of time.

- 10:25AM: Forum member and collector Mike Harris (waykoolplantz) tallies his ongoing haul before making his way to the register tent.

- 10:30AM: SFPS member Lenny Goldstein [red shirt] instructs a large group of customers in the ways of germinating different species of palm seeds.

- Long time previous vendor of the South Florida palm sales, De Hull [yellow] made an appearance on Saturday morning.

- An impromptu pre-sale holding area was spontaneously created next to the register tent. A few customers needed to add to their pile bit by bit as the day went by.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 10:37AM: There were plenty of helpful volunteers working the register tent. Some were either cutting tags off of plants or working the cash registers themselves.

- Two lines were set up to serve cash, check or credit card paying customers. Even when there was a line, customers did not have to wait long to get on through.

- I have an ongoing quest to capture a specific, signature photo of a convertible stuffed to the brim with palms hanging out the back. That single Pigafetta filaris is not entirely what I had in mind, but it is closer than anything I've gotten so far.

- Push! A customer gets help pushing his new Chambeyronia macrocarpa up a mulch bed to his vehicle.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 10:41AM: SFPS Show Chairman, vendor #80 and Forum member Tim McKernan (Tim McKernan) discusses palms and the sale with collector and FM. Rick Leitner (TikiRick).

- Jeff Searle helps a customer by carrying a pair of Lytocaryum weddellianum to the register tent.

- Forum member Catherine Presley (Creekside) came by the booth to say hello to Jeff before she left for the long ride home.

- 11:15AM: Forum member Kevin Donohue (Kevin) came down from West Palm Beach to join in on the palm sale festivities. By this time, it was already 90º F (32ºC) and getting warmer.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 11:35AM: On its way to a great collection in Orlando, a Pelagodoxa henryana is held up by its new owner, collector and Forum member Tom Christian (tikitiki). Tom has grown, known cold-sensitive palms in his collection with great success.

- 1:04PM: "How am I going to get all this in my car!"

- The welcome table had an almost unlimited supply of free seed to hand out to customers and members. SFPS member Lenny Goldstein

talks with vendor #71 and Forum member Bob Johnson (Bob Johnson) while SFPS Corresponding Secretary Lou Sguros readies a batch of labels.

- The seed selection came from a few different sources and included some of the best palm and cycad species for South Florida.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 1:13PM: Nice cone for a 7 gallon (31l) Dioon edule is it not? This display of ingenuity made a few cycad people scratch their heads. Jeff and I added this cone to the pot to catch cycad biologists off guard. It worked. One such cycad researcher, John Harshaw, was not fooled by it and proceeded to grab it; only to be stopped by an overly protective cycad biologist screaming "Don't touch it!" Ah, fun was had by all.

- 1:38PM: The scent of BBQ went far with the breeze and made all of us hungry. Vendor #68 Rusty Brown helps dish out the food along with SFPS Board member Jeff Chait.

- 1:42PM: Customers kept coming throughout the day. The front section of the parking lot was full right up to closing.

- 1:56PM: With renewed energy gained after lunch, collectors went back into the sales area to find more palms.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 1:56PM: A Licuala peltata var. sumawongii gets a ride to an awaiting cart. With a little more than two hours left in the sale on Saturday, customer traffic and sales kept steady.

- 2:39PM: The food tent saw more than its fair share of patrons this day. Many of the customers seated on the left were waiting for the next tour to begin.

- 2:56PM: One of the 'end of the day' routines as a vendor includes making sure your plants stay moist. Vendor #82 and Forum member Christian Faulkner (cfkingfish) drags a few lengths of water hose to his booth to start watering his plants.

- 4:33PM: The first day of the sale was over by this point. Every vendor and customer seemed to have a good time, I sure did. This is part of the society's free seed batch, some Livistona sp. seed. I should turn this photo into a jigsaw puzzle for some lengthy fun.

Ryan

[Jeff Searle]

Ryan,

    A jigsaw puzzle?? Lets say you did, BUT don't. Were talking days here on that one.

Jeff

[Palmarum]

Jeff Searle • Posted on Apr. 09 2008,12:57

...Were talking days here on that one.

Jeff

I was thinking about 5000 pieces just so it will be weeks instead of days.

- 4:35PM: Another species for free distribution were these Hyphaene compressa seeds. It was nice to see such an unusual seed for sale patrons.

Sunday photos are on deck...

Ryan

[Palmarum]

Sunday morning...

- 9:04AM: Every morning at a palm sale is unique. It has it's own feeling and setting.

- 9:11AM: Forum member and vendor #71 Bob Johnson (Bob Johnson) poses next to his Dioon angustifolium which won Best Cycad.

- 9:16AM: The other major art exhibit of the sale belonged to vendor #84 Linda Apriletti which included her vast collection of paintings.

- Linda stands next to one of her more recent palm paintings.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 9:34AM: Vendor Claude Roatta (#67) put this interesting variegated Pritchardia pacifica out on display. It had great color and looks like it will be an excellent specimen when older.

- Claude also had this rare representative of the Calyptronoma genus out for sale, C. occidentalis.

- A nice grouping of Chambeyronia macrocarpa var. "Houailou" was on display in Ron Croci's (#66) booth. This emergent leaf belonged to the largest one in the batch.

- Across the path from where the palm above was located, Ron had a varied selection of Buccaneer Palms, Pseudophoenix sargentii.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 9:48AM: The sale was open and there were a few collectors who trickled in, but nothing like Saturday morning. I took the time to catch up on a few photos I wanted to get. Vendor #46 and Forum member Betty Ahlborn (pdleft) gets in close with her award-winning Variegated Lady Palm, Rhapis excelsa. It won the award for Best Palmate Palm.

- The award for Best Native was given to vendor Steve Stern (#35) for his entry of this giant Buccaneer Palm, Pseudophoenix sargentii.

- 9:57AM: Vendors Carol Graff (#25) [blue hat] and Leslie Veber (#65) [sunglasses] help a newly arriving family find what palms they want or need.

- 10:04AM: It was time for the traditional Sunday morning vendors meeting by the food tent. Tim McKernan thanked everyone again for their hard work and touched on a few points, including Saturday's sales and the upcoming plant festival at Fairchild. From left to right: vendors William Olson (#4), Bob Johnson (#71), Chuck Grieneisen (#13), Steve Stern (#35), Jody Haynes (#91), George Zammas (#44), Tim McKernan (#80), Ron Croci (#66) [seated] and Ellis Brown (#68). The other vendors were towards the left and behind.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 10:12AM: Near the end of the meeting, we were surprised to learn it was SFPS member Lenny Goldstein's birthday. We decided to embarrass him properly by singing happy birthday to him.

- Linda was gracious enough to magically produce a very tasty birthday cake for the occasion. After Lenny got the first piece, the rest of us got in line to get our cake and eat it too.

- 11:02AM: Back in the sales area, the activity began to slowly pick up a bit. The late Sunday morning, pre-lunch flow of customers had begun.

- Turning back to make sure he had not forgot anything, Forum member Bill Sears (Bill Sears) asks his wife to carry some of his new purchases to the register.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 11:47AM: I enjoy having the opportunity to introduce Forum members to each other at sales and events. FM. Christian Faulkner (cfkingfish)

meets one of his online customers for the first time, FM. Doug (redant).

- 11:52AM: Vendor #16 and FM. Mike Harris (Caribbean Palms) explains the requirements needed to grow some of the palms in his exhibit.

- Travis transports an Old Man Palm, Coccothrinax crinita to the register tent for a happy customer.

- 12:19AM: Vendor #31 Al Livingston uses his favorite toy to load a Bismarck Palm, Bismarckia nobilis into a customer's truck.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 12:20PM: Al Livingston is just like a kid with his favorite sandbox toy. It always seems he is having a great old time driving his backhoe around.

- The Old Man Palm Travis was carting around, made it through the registers and to the back of the customer's car. With a little time, they both figured out how to get it in.

- Al loads a Red Latan Palm, Latania lontaroides into the back of his landscape truck bound for a delivery.

- 12:38PM: SFPS Director Jeff Chait describes how much more trunk one of his palms has compared to what a customer has on theirs. Collecting palms can be competitive.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 12:46PM: Palm biologist Dr. Scott Zona looks over the Carpoxylon macrospermum we had in the booth prior to giving his walking tour on Ptychosperma. I was not able to attend the tour, but I heard it was very informative. Montgomery B. Center has a small collection of Ptychosperma species, but the tour basically covered every palm they saw along the way.

- 12:54PM: Vendor #33 Dave Romney volunteers some of his time at the register tent by cutting tags.

- 2:14PM: During one of my trips through the sales area, Linda mentioned a peculiar effect that happens on the roof of her tent when the sun was shinning. It took a few attempts and some time, but I was able to capture the eerie spectacle.

- Tim McKernan takes a moment to water some of his palms that were out in full sun for much of the day.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 3:15PM: After Three in the afternoon, the sale began to slow down a bit. This is the golden hour where vendors begin to consider trades and other possible deals.

- 3:38PM: If a vendor knows a customer is looking for a specific species they do not have, we have no problem guiding them to each others' booths in search of a palm. It is better to have a collector leave happy with what they were looking for, than to have them leave empty-handed. Christian leads a pair of Licuala collectors over to our booth to look at a few different species. The Licuala peekelii caught their eye.

- 3:52PM: Jody's booth was the source for all-things cycad during the sale. He had a few community pots that many of the vendors took a second look at during the closing hours of the sale.

- 4:12PM: Jeff Searle asks Craig Morrell, director of Pinecrest Gardens, on what he plans to do with his new Rhapis multifida.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 5:23PM: Thus ends another great Spring Palm & Cycad Sale hosted by the South Florida Palm Society. A few last minute customers struggled to take their last few purchases through the registers before they were closed down for good. When the word was given, box trucks and trailers began to fill in the sales area. This photo was taken about a half an hour after that occurred and just after we took down the white tent. The majority of plants had been loaded by now creating a somewhat blank spot again.

- 5:32PM: Larry Searle pushes the next cart full of plants to be loaded. He drove the large landscape truck down to Montgomery to pick up the trailer and then the plants. This is the usual arrangement set up for palm sales and it has worked out well for years. It allows us to leave the trailer at the sale site.

- 7:26PM: During the ride back up north, we reach a few points where we head west. On one such westerly jaunt, the sun began to set right along the road. It gave the impression that we were chasing the sun.

- The sun went down fast as it always does and a brief while later it acquired a full, fiery red hue.

For the second year in a row, the South Florida Palm Society succeeded at setting up and executing a great spring sale at Montgomery Botanical Center. The Friday Night Members Party was wonderfully received by all those who attended. It can only grow in popularity. We will look back at these early years and remember how few people there were compared to what is bound to come in the future. For what I witnessed, the sale had more patrons this year compared to last spring. Tim, other vendors and Forum members who attended should comment on that fact as well. The booth layout had been improved upon this sale and I believed it worked perfectly for both vendors and customers. It will be interesting to see what will change or be added next spring.

Ryan