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Palm Beach Palm & Cycad Society Spring Sale


Caribbean Palms

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-11:40AM - A colorful specimen of Sabal mauritiiformis sat by itself off in one corner of the sales area.

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- It had one hell of a boot.

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- 11:49AM - Mike Harris continued to sell material throughout the afternoon.

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Ryan

South Florida

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- 2:28PM - Lunch time came and went, via a short drive up Military Trail to get some food near the airport. The afternoon was slow, but we found ways to amuse ourselves. Sale vendors and palm people in general can be creative to pass the time. With ninety minutes left in the sale for Saturday, a football presented itself. Jeff started throwing it back and forth with Travis, as Ron did the commentary.

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- I didn't hear what it was as a jet was flying over, but Ron said something that made Jeff laugh. He was laughing so hard that he couldn't throw the ball back.

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- After regaining his composure, Jeff tossed the ball back over to Travis...

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- ... who caught it. I knew how things were going to go here in the sales area, so I decided to take a look around the garden.

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Ryan

South Florida

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- 2:33PM - Mounts Botanical Garden spans 14 acres and encompasses a wide range of plant material spanning many plant families and groups. It originated as a 3 acre plot that was part of the nearby Palm Beach County Extension Office as a test facility for tropical fruit trees, starting shortly after the office was built in 1954. It has since grown into a lush botanical refuge for education and horticultural research. The Garden was actually designed and planted twice, as it was annihilated by the 2004 and 2005 Florida hurricane seasons, getting hit three times. The date marks ten years since then and its amazing the growth that has come back to the garden. In addition to Palms, the Garden specializes in bamboo, tropical foliage plants, tropical fruit trees and edible plants, natives, rare flowering trees, aquatics, arid region plants, and the southern most collection of many northern temperate zone trees.

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- 2:35PM - I found it! Actually I found a specimen of it. There was a plant put out for sale at this past Searle Extravaganza that I had no knowledge about, and I found it here in the Garden. Kangaroo Paws, Anigozanthos flavidus, in person. At least I know what it will look like as it grows.

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- A closer view of the blooms.

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- 2:37PM - A back lit Thai Mountain Giant, Caryota obtusa.

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Ryan

South Florida

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- 2:39PM - The Garden has many different sidewalks and other pathways that curve around in large and small loops, with almost no dead ends or breaks in direction. In one small area near the main pond, a large and impressive Arenga engleri takes up a large footprint.

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- Many stems and many, many leaves.

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- 2:41PM - One of several Chambeyronia macrocarpa that appear throughout the grounds.

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- This individual has a bit of the 'watermelon' mixed coloration and is mature.

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Ryan

South Florida

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- 2:47PM - Weird and strange was another group description within the Garden. This is Wercklea ferox, or Prickly Teaselmallow, and I was surprised to see it this far north. I was often told by those who grew it that it was quite cold sensitive, even by far South Florida standards. I see it sometimes at different plant sales, but never think to try it, but now I shall.

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- It is a Hibiscus relative and has some brightly colored blooms.

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- 2:50PM - Travis caught up to where I was in the Garden, shortly before we discovered this Mulberry, Morus sp. that was beginning its fruiting season. We were eating what we could find and they were good. I think Travis was getting a sugar rush.

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- The riverine planting bed was rather dry, waiting for the spring and summer rains to come and fill it. A lone Mauritia flexuosa waits for the water to return.

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Ryan

South Florida

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- 3:01PM - A flowering Macadamia Nut Tree, Macadamia integrifolia, growing in the fruit tree and edibles section. It must be an old tree.

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- 3:09PM - I came across this shiny, leafy ornamental once while visiting a nursery, but they only had small specimens. Now that I see what it turns into I should have gotten a few, this is a cool little plant. This is Giant Farfugium, Farfugium japonicum var. giganteum, an edible plant with thick, glossy round leaves that retain their position when brushed up against.

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- It forms a dense, heavy ground cover and produces tall, upright racemes which in turn support...

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- ... a cluster of daisy-like yellow flowers. At first glance you would think the flowers belong to a separate plant, growing wild within the Farfugium, but that is what the plant produces. Interesting. I am not sure which part is edible and how to prepare, but I know its a popular edible in its native Japan.

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Ryan

South Florida

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- 3:13PM - We made an entire trip around most of the garden and started our way back to the sales area. On one side of the pond there was a grouping of different Beccariophoenix species, including this B. alfredii.

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- 3:15PM - The famous and popular Lipstick Tree, Bixa orellana.

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- 3:17PM - We missed this tree on our first pass, but found it on the way back. A bruised True Cinnamon, Cinnamomum verum, lies next to one of the fragrant and spice plant sections. It had several scars on the trunk, evidence of someone trying to get at the inner bark. It was not Travis that did that, but I did try to get him to bite it.

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- 3:42PM - We were back at the sales area, wrapping things up in the booth and getting ready for Sunday. I went over to count the bags of fertilizer and many sold, including that of the Nutricote. I like to use the amount of fertilizer sold as a gauge as to how successful the sale was for the day and the day went well. Now we wait for how Sunday will be.

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Ryan

South Florida

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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.

I dont mind the $20 contribution to the garden...but there was an ambush at the entrance requiring $5 a head to enter the sale

The Palm Mahal

Hollywood Fla

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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.

I dont mind the $20 contribution to the garden...but there was an ambush at the entrance requiring $5 a head to enter the sale

Mike, I agree they were quite rigid about the $5 and claimed there was always an entrance fee to the sale.....but is was nice to stop by.

Happy growing,

George Sparkman

Cycads-n-Palms.com

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I dont mind the $20 contribution to the garden...but there was an ambush at the entrance requiring $5 a head to enter the sale

Mike, I agree they were quite rigid about the $5 and claimed there was always an entrance fee to the sale.....but is was nice to stop by.

I too, was surprised by the required entrance fee. I had noticed the tent outside the sale entrance, but figured it was just for information set up by the Garden. I did not know they were collecting the fees until late Saturday and other vendors I talked to didn't know either. It is not as much as $25, but the fact it would be required should have been mentioned or advertised sooner. When I attended the spring sale a year prior, it was a suggested donation.

Ryan

South Florida

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- Sunday, March 29th, 9:10AM - The second day of the sale. The morning was colder but not as windy as the day before and the skies were perfectly clear. Jeff and I arrived around opening time along with other vendors. Society volunteers and crew had everything opened and set up by the time we arrived. For this sale, Jeff was using the big rig, the larger Ford landscape truck and white trailer. The other, smaller Mitsubishi truck was being used by his brother Larry for a bromeliad show. Finding adequate parking room for the rig was tricky. Trying to make a u-turn with it was even more fun. Jeff was re-arranging stuff in the truck bed while exchanging morning greetings with Don Bittle.

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- 9:12AM - Jeff climbs out as we were joined by vendor Mike Harris. For palm vendors who like coffee, having it on a cold morning is an absolute must. I have seen what happens when they don't get it.

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- 9:39AM - Slow morning. The early part of the sale on Sunday was slow going, as it is with most plant sales. I was in the booth and set up an actual focal length shot as a jetliner flew over, showing how high the aircraft were as they flew over the Garden. A 'plane break' occurs when this happens, causing conversations to take a pause until the plane reaches a higher altitude and the engine roar subsides.

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- 9:40AM - Customers were in the sales area, not many but a few. Some were friends of the vendors so the morning consisted of drinking morning beverages and idle plant talk.

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Ryan

South Florida

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- 9:40AM - The 'B' in MB Palms, Becky helps an early customer by carrying a few palms to the checkout. A 1 gal. Cyphosperma sp. and a Hydriastele pinangoides.

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- 9:42AM - The sale was full of Forum members. I got to talk with many of them but I knew others were in attendance that I had missed. Visiting from California, FM. George Sparkman (George Sparkman) in the denim ensemble in center right, was talking to Jeff.

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Ryan

South Florida

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- 9:58AM - While maneuvering for a photo, I almost stepped on a butterfly. A White Peacock butterfly, Anartia jatrophae, seemed to be happy resting on a blade of grass in the main thoroughfare. Reminded of the 'butterfly effect', I made sure not to bother it.

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- 10:40AM - Since it was slow, I went back over to MB Palms' booth to photograph their exquisite specimen of Lanonia dasyantha. They had a grouping of different sizes, but the large individual stole the show. The palm was filling out the pot quite well and was working on a few suckers.

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- The palm was also in the act of flowering, profusely.

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- Inflorescences are a pain to photograph, but I was trying to show the open flowers along the different branches of the rachis.

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Ryan

South Florida

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- 10:42AM - A view under one of the newer leaves, showing the wide pleated segments and unmistakable mottling. A newly emerging inflorescence was following the leaf.

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- 10:45AM - Being in a pot and up on a table made the palm easy to photograph. I kept turning it, looking for different angles, with one last shot showing the inner crown and leaf bases.

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- 10:51AM - Customers were coming and going, with a bit of activity at the two hour mark into the sale. The Holding Area had a few stashes as a customer brought their car up for loading.

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- 10:52AM - Mike Harris sold a group of palms and was assisting in their loading. It was one of those 'will they all fit' scenarios.

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Ryan

South Florida

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- 10:53AM - The back of the white car had a passenger that had to come out, a red Poodle. Her spot was given up for palms.

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- The load consisted of several Seashore Palms, Allagoptera arenaria, in different sizes. They were bound for a house in the Florida Keys.

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- With years of experience and practiced hands, Mike loads each palm one at a time and fits them in like a game of Tetris.

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- 10:55AM - Within a few minutes, they were all loaded with room to spare to close the hatchback door.

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Ryan

South Florida

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- 10:56AM - With no room in the back, the poodle gets a temporary seat up front.

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- 10:58AM - After all those palms sold, Mike's booth looked a bit thin.

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- 11:00AM - Whether a customer buys a super rare exotic or a common native, the Society offers insight and help with every purchase. A 3 gal. Coontie, Zamia integrifolia, gets bagged up for the customer.

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- 12:53PM - The long midday stretch came and went, with lunch, fly overs and palm talk. With the sale ending at 3:00PM, the remaining two hours flew by, as vendors readied their booths for loading. An afternoon customer picks up a few palms as the sales area saw decent activity until closing.

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Ryan

South Florida

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- 12:57PM - There was a palm in the Garden that deserved a second look. From the sales area, you can see the upper crown of this female Borassus flabellifer as it pokes through the surrounding canopy. The sun was directly overhead so it was hard to photograph.

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- 12:59PM - As I was walking around to get a better view, I noticed this Calyptronoma rivalis growing along the riverine section.

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- 1:00PM - While balancing the sunlight and trying to find an unobstructed view, I kept changing angles to find the best shots to feature this magnificent, massive palm.

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- The Borassus was part of a duo. There was another one, slightly shorter, planted not far away. I tried to get both in one photo.

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Ryan

South Florida

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- 1:02PM - I needed a overall view of the palm so I started getting further and further away. This palm was the showcase item of this part of the Garden. I decided to cross over to the far side of the pond to see the palm from that vantage point.

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- 1:03PM - As I was taking the path around, this grouping of Bismarck Palms, Bismarckia nobilis, asked to be photographed.

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- 1:06PM - On the far side of the pond, one can experience the full size of the Borassus. Mounts Botanical Garden has a vast selection of palms and plants to view and I barely scratched the surface with my photos. If you are ever in the Palm Beach area, you should pay a visit the Garden. Follow the link below to their website for more information.

Link: Mounts Botanical Garden http://mounts.org/

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- 1:08PM - As I was walking back to the sales area, I noticed this Red Mussaenda, Mussaenda erythrophylla, in bloom. Whenever I see this plant it always grabs my attention. The red color variety has a history of rarity going back at least to the 80's and 90's. I remember back then when many enthusiasts would do anything to get one. The more common color forms, the pink, dark pink and white, were always around, but the red form was very difficult to propagate. I never knew why, as those who knew how to propagate it kept the method a guarded secret.

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Ryan

South Florida

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- 1:30PM - Back at the sales area, there were a few customers walking through and shopping. There was that 'sixth sense' that the vendors and society crew were getting ready for the eventual pack, stack and rack that marks the end of the sale. At the back of Betty Ahlborn's booth, Betty describes cycads to the customer on the left.

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- 1:38PM - Betty's descriptions and advice pan out as usual, as the customer leaves the booth with his hands full of cycads. He is wearing one of the Society's palm t-shirts.

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- 1:44PM - A palm sale on a Sunday afternoon is as casual as possible. Vendors Elizabeth and Jeff chat out in front of Jeff's booth. One of the topics of conversation dealt with the later loading and parking order during the breaking down of the sales area. A method is usually discussed and executed as to which vendors' vehicles enters the sales area and at what time, so everyone can get to their booths to load at around the same time.

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- 1:55PM - Some of the jet aircraft seem to sound louder than others, even between similar aircraft models. This was one of Southwest Airlines many Boeing 737-700 airliners. The Palm Beach Airport seemed to be a hub for the airline as they seemed to be taking off quite regularly.

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Ryan

South Florida

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- 2:01PM - Smaller propeller-driven aircraft were taking off from a runway more towards the north, as they flew over the Garden almost directly overhead... and much lower.

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- 2:20PM - A group, including myself, were gathered in the sales area watching the action as we noticed the customer in blue. She was carefully leading Vendor Ron Croci, Sr. all around the area asking him questions.

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- She was very enthusiastic and Ron kept up with her range of questions.

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- It was interesting to watch Ron's reactions as the customer showed no signs of slowing down.

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Ryan

South Florida

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- 2:23PM - Vendors Mike, Jeff and Ron get together to discuss the loading order. They come up with an plan as the sale was coming to a close. It is usually not this organized, as it can be total chaos at some sales.

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- 2:58PM - One vendor, with help from Don, uses elbow grease to pull their trailer to their booth.

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- In the closing minutes of the sale, Betty Ahlborn brought out her decorative sterile Double Coconut, Lodoicea maldivica, and placed it on her table. She has a great story behind the seed. Betty found it at a flea market where the seller had no idea what it was. She bought it for just $2.00. Betty would have displayed it sooner, but she was worried as she said "Men tend to fondle it a bit much."

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- Before I took the photos, Don came over with a roll of tags for Betty. Don placed the roll right on the sweet spot while he and Betty were laughing and discussing the seed. The vehicles and trucks began to flow into the sales area so I went over to pack. I just now noticed the label company misspelled cycad as "cyad". Oops.

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---<

The Spring Sale of the Palm Beach Palm & Cycad Society was a big success from my point of view. It was excellent to be a part of the sale once again after many years. The Society has more events planned in the near future.

They have their regular meetings at Mounts during the first Wednesday evening of every month. I know they are putting together and planning a Tour in Broward County for some time in early May. Last I heard, the tour would include a large palm collection in Broward, but as to my knowledge it is not official yet. They are also planning their Annual Picnic and Giant Auction for late May, early June. I am sure when any event is finalized the board will post it here on the Forum and on their website:

Link: http://www.palmbeachpalmcycadsociety.com/index.html

Ryan

South Florida

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First class photos and narration Ryan, Thank You!!! It was good seeing you and Jeff there and hope to see ya'll in the fall.

Mike Harris

Caribbean Palms Nursery

Loxahatchee, Florida USA

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Ryan.....excellent coverage on the sale. Not only was the selection of palms for sale very good, there were also some nice specimens planted throughout the garden to enjoy. Ryan and I had a good time up there and really enjoyed talking with so many palm enthusiast. The society did a great job I thought and had plenty of volunteers throughout the weekend to run it smoothly. I look forward to coming back in the fall.

Jeff

Searle Brothers Nursery Inc.

and The Rainforest Collection.

Southwest Ranches,Fl.

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