Palm Beach Palm & Cycad Society Spring Sale

[Caribbean Palms]

[Jeff Searle]

It's really too bad that this sale and the sale down at Fairchild's is being held on the same weekend. As a vendor, I wanted to bring some palms to both venues to sell, but this now seems to be impossible.

[Ken Johnson]

It's really too bad that this sale and the sale down at Fairchild's is being held on the same weekend. As a vendor, I wanted to bring some palms to both venues to sell, but this now seems to be impossible.

I'm surprised you even go to sales anymore since you are the King of weekend palm sales now.

[Tomw]

It is a bummer that both sales are on the same weekend! As for the Palm Beach Palm and Cycad spring sale is always the weekend of Palm Sunday and has been that way for the past 15 years. And now that we are having this at Mounts Botanical Garden it will always be the weekend of Palm Sunday. So next year (2016) our spring sale will be March 19^th & 20^th, 2016, and for 2017 our spring sale will be April 8^th & 9^th , 2017, and for 2018 our spring sale will be March 24^th & 25^th, 2018, and for 2019 our spring sale will be April 13^th & 14^th, 2019 and for 2020 our spring sale will be April 4^th & 5^th, 2020. I hope this helps elevate future questions about when our spring sale will be.

Our fall sale this year will be Oct 10^th & 11^th , 2015. The fall dates may vary depending on Mounts and there schedule, but we will try to be more proactive and post the dates here well in advance of the sale.

I hope this helps,

Tom

Edited March 9, 2015 by Tomw

[aztropic]

Palm Sunday weekend... Well that explains it.I like to attend this sale but it's always been hit or miss because the dates always move around and have never been published much in advance before.Thanks for the clarification.

aztropic

Mesa,Arizona

[Jeff Searle]

It's really too bad that this sale and the sale down at Fairchild's is being held on the same weekend. As a vendor, I wanted to bring some palms to both venues to sell, but this now seems to be impossible.

I'm surprised you even go to sales anymore since you are the King of weekend palm sales now.

Not sure on how to take that....

But I have...and always will do sales because I love not only the group of palms, but the interacting with other palm lovers. And I suppose some day when there is no Searle Brothers Nursery, I still might do sales as a backyard grower. Bring much less and much smaller palms. Because I love to!

But it is sad that both venues coincide on the same dates.

[Mandrew968]

It's really too bad that this sale and the sale down at Fairchild's is being held on the same weekend. As a vendor, I wanted to bring some palms to both venues to sell, but this now seems to be impossible.

I'm surprised you even go to sales anymore since you are the King of weekend palm sales now.

Not sure on how to take that....

But I have...and always will do sales because I love not only the group of palms, but the interacting with other palm lovers. And I suppose some day when there is no Searle Brothers Nursery, I still might do sales as a backyard grower. Bring much less and much smaller palms. Because I love to!

But it is sad that both venues coincide on the same dates.

So which will the king attend?

[Ken Johnson]

It's really too bad that this sale and the sale down at Fairchild's is being held on the same weekend. As a vendor, I wanted to bring some palms to both venues to sell, but this now seems to be impossible.

I'm surprised you even go to sales anymore since you are the King of weekend palm sales now.

Not sure on how to take that....

But I have...and always will do sales because I love not only the group of palms, but the interacting with other palm lovers. And I suppose some day when there is no Searle Brothers Nursery, I still might do sales as a backyard grower. Bring much less and much smaller palms. Because I love to!

But it is sad that both venues coincide on the same dates.

Take it as a statement of how private industry can often out perform non profit.

I would imagine the overlap is caused more by available dates than anything.

You are absolutely correct that the interaction with palm lovers is a great reason to either be a vendor or buyer at sales. They are a type of field trip in many ways and have offered buyers a chance to meet others with like interests and even to become good friends.

I sold at the CFPCS FIT sale last weekend and met several people that I had never met before and shared a LOT of information, both about plants and fishing....what else is there? LOL

[Moose]

Fairchild forced this date on the South Florida Palm Society, not sure if their agenda (Fairchild) is pure of heart. To have both sales on the same date hurts both vendors and the respective Society's bottom lines. Its a shame as I know palm enthusiasts have visited both venues in the past, now a choice of which one to attend rather than both.

[Jeff Searle]

I had committed long ago to participate in the Palm Beach Spring sale. So I am looking forward to selling at Mounts and seeing many old friends and meet new ones. I will be heading north.......

[palmislandRandy]

I'm a member of Fairchild, but the $25 entry to SFPS sales has to turn quite a lot of potential impulse buyers away. The way I used to justify it was "it's only a couple of dollars a palm". Why does the SFPS continue to hold their sales there? Maybe hold the sales in the overflow parking lot & charge $5? Is it a symbiotic relationship? Mounts gets you for $10 & that's less than a dollar a palm!

-Randy

[palmislandRandy]

I had committed long ago to participate in the Palm Beach Spring sale. So I am looking forward to selling at Mounts and seeing many old friends and meet new ones. I will be heading north.......

I don't remember you having done Palm Beach before. I'll see you there.

-Randy

[Jeff Searle]

I had committed long ago to participate in the Palm Beach Spring sale. So I am looking forward to selling at Mounts and seeing many old friends and meet new ones. I will be heading north.......

I don't remember you having done Palm Beach before. I'll see you there.

-Randy

Randy....the last time I participated was approx. 18 years ago! The "welcome mat" from the board of directors is what really convinced me to come up.

[waykoolplantz]

Fairchild forced this date on the South Florida Palm Society, not sure if their agenda (Fairchild) is pure of heart. To have both sales on the same date hurts both vendors and the respective Society's bottom lines. Its a shame as I know palm enthusiasts have visited both venues in the past, now a choice of which one to attend rather than both.

Greg..DeDe & I will prob be at Fairchild Saturday morning....and I'll go see Dale and the Palm Beach folks Sunday.

[Caribbean Palms]

I'm a member of Fairchild, but the $25 entry to SFPS sales has to turn quite a lot of potential impulse buyers away. The way I used to justify it was "it's only a couple of dollars a palm". Why does the SFPS continue to hold their sales there? Maybe hold the sales in the overflow parking lot & charge $5? Is it a symbiotic relationship? Mounts gets you for $10 & that's less than a dollar a palm!

-Randy

Admission for our sale at Mounts Botanical Garden is FREE, with a Suggested Donation of $5.00 going to the Garden.

[Ken Johnson]

Fairchild forced this date on the South Florida Palm Society, not sure if their agenda (Fairchild) is pure of heart. To have both sales on the same date hurts both vendors and the respective Society's bottom lines. Its a shame as I know palm enthusiasts have visited both venues in the past, now a choice of which one to attend rather than both.

Greg..DeDe & I will prob be at Fairchild Saturday morning....and I'll go see Dale and the Palm Beach folks Sunday.

That sounds like a plan I may follow. Who has some free passes for FTBG?

[Caribbean Palms]

Paul Craft will be giving a guided tour of Mounts Botanical Garden at 10:00 am Saturday the 28th with special attention given to their palm collection.

A lecture by Paul will follow!!!

Don't miss it!!!

[Palmarum]

I had committed long ago to participate in the Palm Beach Spring sale. So I am looking forward to selling at Mounts and seeing many old friends and meet new ones. I will be heading north.......

I have made a modified Palm & Cycad sale list for what Jeff will be bringing to the Palm Beach sale. It is an approximate list, but more accurate than having no list. If you want a copy or just want to ask about a specific species, send me a private message through the Forum. I will bring copies to put out in Jeff's #57 booth, look for the tropical printed tablecloths and lavender tags. It will be interesting to do the sale again after visiting it over the past few years as a customer, and many many years since as a vendor. The Palm Beach sale has always had a diverse selection of Palms and especially Cycads, so it is definitely worthy of a visit.

Ryan

[Jeff Searle]

Fairchild forced this date on the South Florida Palm Society, not sure if their agenda (Fairchild) is pure of heart. To have both sales on the same date hurts both vendors and the respective Society's bottom lines. Its a shame as I know palm enthusiasts have visited both venues in the past, now a choice of which one to attend rather than both.

Greg..DeDe & I will prob be at Fairchild Saturday morning....and I'll go see Dale and the Palm Beach folks Sunday.

Mike.....for your best selections, I would advise coming up to Palm Beach first on Saturday.

[waykoolplantz]

Recent discussions may have us going to Mounts Saturday after dropping off Fairchild acquisitions ...but too late for Pauls talk.

[Moose]

Wish I was there

[Palmarum]

Palm Beach Palm & Cycad Society

Spring Sale

Mounts Botanical Garden

March 28th & 29th - 2015

- Saturday, March 28th, 8:53AM - We are ready. The sales area for the spring palm and cycad sale was made ready for customers throughout the early morning. Vendors were in their booths and the society staff got the registers up and running. The 'gate' was never closed so customers that arrived early began to browse.

- 8:55AM - The Holding Area, denoted by the orange fence, was already serving its purpose before the sale opened... officially. One early collector looks through Jeff Searle's booth.

- "Brrr..." Did I mention it was cold? A late season cold front came through the day before and lowered temps a bit. For those of us coming up from the south, the brisk air and wind took us by surprise. The society table gets decked out with various books, t-shirts, fertilizer and society paraphernalia. The society has always (since the dawn of the organization) done a great job with supplying its members and customers with information, resources and gear associated with the world of palms.

- As a customer myself, I had to take time to peruse the different booths as soon as possible. I was in Mike Harris's booth when I looked over to see collector Steve Resh talking with vendor Jeff Searle and his son Travis.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 9:02AM - The sale was now officially open and customers began to swarm into the sales area.

- 9:04AM - As I was looking through the selection, I came across this bit of eye candy in the booth belonging to MB Palms. It is a 3 gal. Madagascar Foxtail, Dypsis marojejyi, the mythical 'Mad Fox' as it was once known. This was one of the largest specimens I had ever seen grown in a pot in Florida. The species does not like the heat of S. Florida, but it does seem to prefer the cooler temps found further north in the state.

- The palm was still supporting undivided leaves and had some time before they took on the trademark plumose form. It was working on a new spear that was going to open bright red in the near future. In addition to the dark brown colored scales on the rachises and petioles, the leaf bases had reached the stage where they had some of the characteristic tomentum, or fuzz. It was 'teddy bear' like to the touch.

- 9:08AM - The booth belonging to MB Palms was marked prominently by this large Licuala ramsayi.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 9:08AM - It had been eighteen years since Jeff Searle had been a vendor at a Palm Beach sale. As a vendor, the sale gave both Jeff and myself the opportunity to talk with people in the plant world that we have not seen in quite some while.

- 9:12AM - In addition to meeting new enthusiasts, we also got to see many Forum members.

- The morning crowd consisted of many collectors, enthusiasts and landscapers. Some of those in attendance were taking advantage of good deals and were stocking the holding area with low-priced plants.

- I did not have a chance to fully photograph the booth by this point, so I took a few minutes to do so. The booth location was small, but we made it work with a lot of pathways.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 9:13AM - The morning was filled with familiar faces. Travis and Jeff talk with long-time veteran grower Rick Kerns and local FM. Robin Crawford (PalmXTC).

- The sales area had plenty of open spaces for the full sun palms.

- Towards the back of the booth, the tables were set up under the Sea Grape canopy. The all-important box of donuts were a product of a quick trip to a local Dunkin' Donuts. It is not a palm sale until the donuts appear.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 9:15AM - The back part of the booth was going to be our event home for the next two days and already had that 'lived in' look.

- Photo worthy specimens were found throughout the sales area. I asked Vendor Ron Croci, Sr. to pose with a well-grown specimen of Heterospathe intermedia that was anchoring the tent in D'Asign Source's booth. It was mature and had recently sported a red new leaf.

- 9:17AM - Across the aisle, a robust Macrozamia moorei made a statement and had a large footprint in MB Palm's booth.

- It was flawless. It sold as a result.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 9:22AM - I was answering questions from inside the booth as I continued to photograph customers arriving and filling the sales area.

- The crowd was moving through vendor and FM. Betty Ahlborn's (pdleft) booth, stopping now and then to pick up a donut hole.

- 9:31AM - Jeff spent time talking with plantsman Mark Clay as FM. Meg Price (PalmatierMeg) checks out the palms at the front of the booth.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 9:31AM - A half hour in, and the morning was shaping up to be a great time for the palm people in attendance.

- Every booth had customers within... with more on their way in from the parking lot.

- 9:38AM - The area in and around MB Palm's booth saw a lot of early traffic, including a visit by FM. Randy (Palmaceae) in the blue Hawaiian shirt on the right.

- The tables under the tents held a lot of the rare material and was a huge draw to get collectors into the booth.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 9:38AM - Decisions. Once you determine that you want that species, then you got to pick the plant you want from the group.

- 9:39AM - Betty's daughter was on the hunt for a Red Sealing Wax Palm, Cyrtostachys renda, and found one she liked within Jeff's booth.

- 9:44AM - Betty moves a plant or two around her booth to fill in new spaces as plants sell -- as an impromptu meeting takes place in behind, between Mark, Robin, Rick and the morning's tour guide, IPS Director and FM. Paul Craft (Licuala).

- A group of Mike Harris's palms with the light blue tags get carted out. They appear to be a Dictyosperma album var. conjugatum 7 gallon with a few 3 gal. Chamaedorea oblongata.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 9:47AM - The area out in front of Jeff's booth became a temp holding area of sorts, as people pulled out palms they wanted to check out; away from the crowded selection. A 7 gal. Euterpe sp. 'Orange Crownshaft' sits by itself for a few minutes before going to the regular holding area.

- 9:52AM - The compact nature of the booth made movement within a bit tricky. We spaced out the booth quite a bit, with evenly spaced rows and pathways -- but one still had to move through carefully, as this customer is doing while carrying a 3 gal. Licuala rumphii.

- 9:55AM - Good times.

- Seeing all these familiar faces all together was giving me flashbacks from the early 1990s. Rick Kerns talks with veteran collectors and FMs. Theresa and Ray Gompf (Ray G).

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 9:56AM - Vendor, Forum member and starter of this topic, Mike Harris (Caribbean Palms) points out the different plants in his booth.

- 9:59AM - Photographing from the back of the booth, as I went for another donut. I heard rustling in the sea grape leaves to my left so I turned...

- "Don!" I surprised Don Bittle, Vice-President of the Society, as he was looking through one of the tables. He was looking at the Welfia regia and their red leaves near the end of the table.

- 10:19AM - This had to be one of the bigger surprises for me at the show. I have not seen this palm in... well... forever. As soon as I spotted it I knew what it was and the shock made me stand fast for a second. For me personally, I had not seen a specimen of Wendlandiella polyclada at a sale in at least 20 years. The species has since been included within W. gracilis as a variety. I remember the palm appearing as potted divisions at palm sales in the mid 1990s for a lot of money. Since the species is dioecious, most plants are one sex or another, making propagation an extremely slow proposition. This individual was in bloom, but I have no idea as to how to key out the genders through inflorescence alone. Checking the flowers was not going to work as they hadn't appeared yet.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 10:19AM - The palm had been in the pot for a long time. The top layer was just oak leaves and other leaf litter, which it enjoyed. The species is known for being ultra slow growing. The nodes along the stems were decorated with budding inflorescences of different ages, as it was flowering in its unique and bizarre method. Man, that was a heavy pot... -yoink-

- 10:25AM - Jeff assists a customer by carrying a pair of 7 gallon Calyptrocalyx sp. 'Sanumb' ...

- ... to the Holding Area. At least it was a short trip.

- 10:34AM - The registers saw constant usage throughout the morning. The society accepted all forms of payment and the volunteers made things run smoothly.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 10:35AM - Books! The Society always brings a great selection of palm books to sales.

- It took almost two hours, but that Dypsis marojejyi found its way onto a cart.

- 10:39AM - Mike carts over another batch of palms for the holding area, as part of one large sale.

- 10:42AM - Vendor Elizabeth Sperry of D'Asign Source carries a 7 gal. Caryota obtusa, Thai Mountain Giant, to the registers as the customer trails behind her doing the same.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 10:43AM - Palms and cycads were on the move. Mike carts over another batch of palms, this time it was a group of 3 gal. Chamaedorea ernesti-augusti.

- Time to assemble the large order. Plants get moved from the Holding Area to in front of the tent, for counting and tag cutting.

- Don cuts the end off a tag belonging to one of the Caryota obtusa.

- 10:46AM - The order grows larger by the minute, as more plants are added as the count progresses.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 10:46AM - As the large order grows and takes over the front of the sales area, other customers move around and ahead of it.

- The checkout at the tent became an assembly line, as volunteers cut tags, moved plants, added totals and accepted payment, over and over again.

- 10:48AM - Don is buried by palms as he counts and cuts tags.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 10:48AM - A robust Copernicia ekmanii sits alone in the holding area, waiting for its new owner to come back and collect it.

- 10:57AM - I wandered over to the meeting room at the front of the garden to inquire about the planned tour/lecture. I did not see anyone so I figured they started the tour. I shot one of the Teddy Bear Palms, Dypsis leptocheilos, that reside near the meeting room.

- This long established triple Spindle Palm, Hyophorbe verschaffeltii, stands watch at the first main intersection of the sidewalk as you enter from the old garden entrance.

- It marks the point where you either head straight into the garden, or turn right towards the sales area seen in the distance.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 10:59AM - Time to load. The large order was compiled, counted and processed and it was time to load... some of it.

- The truck was going to hold only part of the order at a time, so multiple trips and delivery options were going to be used.

- Society volunteers load the heavy stuff last.

- 11:00AM - Shade cloth gets placed over the load, protecting the more shade loving and fragile plants.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 11:00AM - This load was ready. The group head out on their first trip home before returning.

- 11:01AM - Vendor Ron Croci, Sr. spends his time by not only selling his well grown plants, but by also entertaining and informing customers with his many anecdotes, stories and years of interesting experiences. He will gladly spend the time describing his trials and tribulations with growing different species in addition to telling one of his many travel adventures.

- The sale was an hour from high noon and the activity began to subside. Customers continued to arrive throughout the day, but the frequency began to decline as the day approached lunch time, as both hungry vendor and customer had to leave to find food, if they didn't bring it.

- 11:08AM - "What a large tour group." Is what I thought when I went back over to check on the meeting room, to find all these people walking around, seemingly following Paul Craft on the right. It was actually two groups that happen to meet up at this one spot.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 11:08AM - "Paul smile..." Paul's tour group was the smaller of the two and were heading westward, into the garden. The group would grow in size as people arrived late and joined the tour in progress. As they moved on, I was approached by two individuals asking about the tour and I pointed them in Paul's direction.

- The other group of people seemed to be another organized gathering set to tour the garden.

- 11:10AM - Inside the meeting room, the outer ring of tables were decorated with different palm-related artifacts. I assumed they were part of the lecture. They ran the spectrum of the palm world, including a Sugar Palm, Arenga pinnata, inflorescence and a section of armed trunk from an Aiphanes specimen. The display also represented the different world-wide uses of palms.

- Photographing through the screen enclosure, I tried to ascertain what the other group was about, or what they were doing. They seemed really excited about being in the garden.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 11:11AM - After listening in for a short while, I deduced they were knowledgeable, enthusiastic and well-organized. There were leaders keeping the group together, some were wearing custom made shirts but I could not make out any name or organization. It looked like plant related fun, whatever they were doing.

- 11:15AM - Back outside the meeting room, the tour had taken a loop through one area and made it back to the sidewalk. Paul was describing this double Gaussia maya to the group as I took one last photo of the tour before heading back to the sales area.

- 11:32AM - It was status quo back in the sales area. The conversations between vendors increased as those with customers decreased. Vendor and FM. Mike Harris (Caribbean Palms) chats with FM. Pete 'Pedro' Broberg (sur4z) out in front of his booth. It was still windy throughout the day as the front was still pushing through but the weather was otherwise perfect for a sale; cool with low humidity. Palms that kept falling over were left in the horizontal for longer than usual.

- 11:39AM - I found another unusual species in amongst the selection. This is Bactris brongniartii, a palm I had not seen at sales before. It is a shadow of what it could become. The nearly entire juvenile leaves caught my eye.

Ryan