The Fall '16 'Ganza - Damn the Hurricane, Full Speed Ahead!

[Palmarum]

The 18th Annual Fall...

Plant Extravaganza!

Searle Brothers Nursery, Inc. & The Rainforest Collection^®

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SW. Ranches, S. Florida

October 7th, 8th, 9th - 14th, 15th, 16th - 2016

 

"Damn the hurricane, full speed ahead!" - _{unknown, spoken in the chaos of Friday morning}

"Well, that's life livin' in the cone of death." - _{Paul Castronovo}

Hurricanes... Hurricanes and tropical storms in general have always had a background effect on activities in and around S. Florida. One can never predict exactly when (or if) they may pose a threat so we are always under the gun, sorta speak. After experiencing many-a-plant sales & events spread over a couple decades, it was always a thought in the back of my mind of what would happen if a storm was bearing down on a botanical event. What would be the procedure? If there was one. I found out you basically make it up as you go, as there is nothing on paper to prepare you. Tropical Storm Matthew was named on September 28th in the southeastern Caribbean and at first it was ignored by most of us in the southern part of the state. At most, the reply you got from a local was "Ehh.. it ain't nothing." It quickly became a hurricane and strengthened in almost record time to a Cat. 4, then peaked at a Cat. 5 on September 30th, shattering the estimates. It maintained potency as October arrived and was forecast to make a significant northerly turn in our direction, "Oh crap." became the new reply...

 

Saturday, October 1st...

Watching the weather became the daily routine. The forecast cone was still hazy in concern to S. Florida. Preparation for the Extravaganza continued as normal. The primary and secondary plant selection and pulling was underway. We were actually ahead of schedule at this point. I was out early, as the local forecast included some extra non-storm related rain leading up to the first weekend and I wanted to get further ahead if possible. We left the nursery that day with optimism.

 

Monday, October 3rd...

Ooh. After an extra day of watching the forecast 'cone of death' change back and forth we started to think ahead in case we had to make plans. It was the first day of major prep for the 'Ganza, the remaining plant groups got arranged, placed, tagged, etc. and the materials and equipment get retrieved from storage and placed; tents, tables, signs, carts, etc. The day continued as normal. I was ahead of schedule, while getting the shadehouse organized and prepped. We watched the forecast updates as they came out and the picture looked better for S. Florida by the end of the day. By the time we left the nursery, the cone had shifted away from Florida as Matthew had set it sights on Cuba and Haiti.

 

Tuesday, October 4th...

We woke up Tuesday morning with Matthew beginning his assault on Haiti with Cuba to follow. We also had a change in the cone and it looked like it was going to be too close to call. Prep for the 'Ganza continued with certain exceptions, as in nothing tall or that can fly away on its own. Trying to determine how much wind the nursery would actually see was up for debate. Certain signage was put out but later collected and put away. The doubt had arrived way ahead of the storm. The day ended with the 2:00 pm advisory showing a bleaker picture for S. Florida, so it was decided to shift priority to hurricane prep than sale prep.

 

Wednesday, October 5th...

Never made it to the nursery. The forecast cone had shifted overnight and Broward county went straight to a Hurricane Warning. Jeff Searle and crew secured the sales area and nursery in the morning before they took off to take care of their own storm prep. I spent the day tearing down my own shadehouse and putting a few hundred plants and quite a few unhappy lizards and insects into my garage. You never know how many pots you have until you have to move them all at once. Shutters and plant barricades were next, the day was oh so long for many. The storm panic was out and about, infecting all who fell prey.

 

Thursday, October 6th...

H-Day was upon us. Prep continued all morning as the weather never changed much for my area. By midday, it was apparent Matthew had picked up some speed and continued on a direct, northerly course. Some were worried about a possible, last minute, north-west turn that would have brought hurricane-force winds to Broward. The eye of Matthew was going to be due east of me and much of Broward by 7 to 8:00pm. I got a few winds gusts and a couple of rain bands, not much more. I ended up making more of a mess than the storm did. I trimmed everything 'with haste' before packing plants into the garage to save space and cut down on water usage. The nursery is further west than where I am, so I knew everything should be fine and the sale will be open on Friday as planned. As I waited out the rest of the storm, I began to think of what we would need to do the following morning.

Ryan