18 replies to this topic

[tikitiki]

My wife said when she realized my fascination with palms that I could plant anything except one with spines. So here is my Aiphnes Minima it will stand out among the rest as being different the only one of its kind. Planted 8/15/06. Winderemere,FL.
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[cryptobionic]

I heard the bad news about Robert while in South Florida. Before returning home I picked up some Montgomery Palms to plant a gouping in his honor, after reading Sunny's post. It took two rewarding days of clearing, digging up and chopping stubborn tree roots and amending soil, now they are finally firmly planted. As the photo shows, the planting still looks rough. I'm leaving the surrounding brush till spring as protection for the upcoming winter.  Here you go, nine vulnerable Veitchia arecina, various sizes. Thanks for the knowledge, Bob, this one's for you...

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[bgl]

Time to revive this thread!! And I hope others will plant palms in Bob's memory as well. This has been on my mind ever since August and I was just waiting for the right moment. And today was the day!!
Jerry and Cindy Andersen gave me three Bentinckia condapanna in 1G pots about two years ago. I kept them in those pots until about a year ago, and then I moved them up into 2G pots. When Bob died back in August I knew I wanted to plant a few unusual palms in his honor, and even though we certainly never discussed this particular species when he was the Moderator, it seemed like the perfect choice. And these three palms were also ready to bust out of their 2G pots, so timing was perfect.
Here's the trio, still in pots, and full of anticipation!

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[bgl]

And 15 minutes later! Mission accomplished, with three little palms released into their natural environment (well, almost...!), and ready for take-off!

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[bgl]

And a close-up of the individual in the middle.

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[Zac in NC]

Thanks for sharing those Bo, and planted on your birthday as well.

Zac

[Kathy]

A wonderful tribute.  
And you made me learn something -- I actually had to look this one up.  First time I've read of wild elephant eating up a palm to extinction!

And I think the most fitting of ideas to give a gift on one's birthday.

[Diane Kirkland]

Bo, I'm so pleased that you will have something beautiful to make you think of Bob everytime you pass by that part of your garden.  

and even though we certainly never discussed this particular species when he was the Moderator

This is the hardest part, maybe for all of us, missing some of the most interesting conversations (whether online or in person) one has ever had with another human being.

Diane

[Zac in NC]

(Diane Kirkland @ Jan. 31 2007,11:18)

QUOTE

This is the hardest part, maybe for all of us, missing some of the most interesting conversations (whether online or in person) one has ever had with another human being.

Diane[/quote]
I agree. It has been very tough, especially going back to the Archives and reading a post, only to find one of Bob's posts and I get all sad and happy at the same time if that makes sense.

Zac

Zac  

Living to get back to Mexico


International Palm Society member since 2007


http://community.web...m/user/zacspics - My Webshots Gallery

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[Diane Kirkland]

only to find one of Bob's posts and I get all sad and happy at the same time if that makes sense.

I know what you mean.  I haven't been able to go back and read his messages yet.  Instead of getting easier, it seems to get more difficult.  I especially miss him now when I'm wanting to talk about new plants and unfamiliar plants.  We talked plants a lot....

[_Wal]

I think he rubbed off on me, in fact I'm sure of it and I'm sure to others as well. This is one of his big legacys. Every post I make has a touch of RLR.

Think I'll take up the palm planting honour very soon. Don't know what though. Love Bo's idea of something out of the ordinary because that reflects Mr Riffle to a T. Out of the ordinary.

[Diane Kirkland]

Wal, I know what you mean -- I am sort of waiting for something to present itself to me to plant in RLR's memory.  We'll both run across something right, I'm sure.  

D.

[bgl]

I have my rain gauge in the same general area, so I actually walk by these 3 Bentinckia condapanna every single morning, since I always check the rain gauge around 8 in the morning. It's a nice beginning of my day, especially since I'm almost always just done with my morning run or speedwalk and I feel very refreshed.

[Zac in NC]

(Diane Kirkland @ Jan. 31 2007,20:15)

QUOTE

[quote]only to find one of Bob's posts and I get all sad and happy at the same time if that makes sense.[/quote]

I know what you mean.  I haven't been able to go back and read his messages yet.  Instead of getting easier, it seems to get more difficult.  I especially miss him now when I'm wanting to talk about new plants and unfamiliar plants.  We talked plants a lot....[/quote]
It wasn't an intentional thing, but it sort of just popped up and it hit me like a ton of bricks.

Keep smiling Diane.

Zac

Zac  

Living to get back to Mexico


International Palm Society member since 2007


http://community.web...m/user/zacspics - My Webshots Gallery

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[Diane Kirkland]

Keep smiling Diane

I'm smiling -- I laugh out loud at least a few times every day thanks to my close circle of friends and family, all of whom are fun and funny.

I'm on the board of the group trying to save the garden at Heronswood Nursery and have been asked to help form a local chapter of the Mediterranean Plant Society so I'm surrounded by a lot of planty people, some of whom I've known for decades and others who are new and also interesting to me.

It's nice to have you in my corner, too.

[Walt]

Bob attended the Central Florida Palm and Cycad meeting and palm sale at my home/property in June of 2003.

Bob and I had taken some day trips looking at palms and discussing tropical trees, shrubs, plants, etc. prior to the CFPACS meeting and knew I was looking for various palms, trees, shrubs, etc., to plant here and there about my 5.60 acres.

So I was surprised when Bob brought me a small potted ear tree -- Enteroolobium sp? --. Bob told me this species (not sure if it's contortisliquum or cyclocarpum) was the most cold hardy of the genus (maybe someone can confirm).

Anyway, for some inexplicable reason, this small tree died back to its roots (in the pot). However, it resprouted and started to grow again (two leaders). Two years ago I planted the tree and today it is doing very well. It just recently flushed out with spring leaves.

I intend to one day have a wooden burnished sign made up (in Bob's honor, that he donated it to my garden, etc.) and place it at the base of this tree.

I miss Bob and wish he was still with us. I have so many more questions to ask him.

[Zac in NC]

So many questions I wanted to ask too, Walt. I am glad you had the opportunity to meet Bob. I really miss the guy, and I never met him. Thanks for sharing the pic.

Zac

[bgl]

An update: I planted these three Bentinckia condapanna exactly a year ago - on 28 Jan. 2007 - in memory of Bob Riffle. See post 4 above. Here's a photo of the trio, taken a little while ago.

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[bgl]

Since I've now found out that I can post photo attachments larger than 100KB I want to see the difference in quality, so here's the same photo with higher resolution (237KB).
Edit - that made quite a difference! Not going back to the smaller size now! :cool:

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