The 19th Spring 'Ganza - Palms & Tropical Plants Shine in S. Florida

[Dave-Vero]

An extravaganza of photos.  I was kept out first weekend by a bad cold and second by prep for travel.  

[Palmarum]

- 1:43PM - Making his debut at the Extravaganza, was nine-month old Carson A. Searle who was wearing his own red shirt while being held by father, Travis. He is a 'large caliber' baby and has skill when it comes to eating any food and pulling on beards.

- Not far away, older sister Kylie J. Searle was checking on the remaining clay pots.

- 1:45PM - I could not tell if the wind was inviting or deterring customers, but it was a busy Sunday afternoon. According to local weather reports, the chances of an afternoon rain event had increased.

- 1:57PM - No more three gallons... Customers who didn't want a seven gallon plant to begin with, now had to start with that size.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 2:07PM - In between tying palms to poles and bracing others with concrete block, I took a break to get another lunch. I took this photo while seated and wishing the wind to go away. The customer traffic gradually diminished as the afternoon hours came and went with the cloud cover. We still needed to wait on a few to leave before we could close.

- 2:09PM - I went out to the main road to answer some landscape plant questions and took the last photo of the day. It got too windy and busy to keep taking photos. The last two hours of the day went by smoothly until about 3:30PM when it started to first drizzle then rain hard enough to warrant the use of an umbrella. The rain didn't last long, but considering it was during the last thirty minutes of the first weekend, we considered ourselves lucky.

Ryan

...halfway through the four-day intermission, I shot and posted the request photos seen earlier in the sale topic...

[Palmarum]

Second Friday, March 10th...

The four day intermission between weekends was spent restocking and refurbishing the sales area. A few additional plant groups were pulled to replace those that had sold, others were moved around, switched, etc. The weather for the second weekend was supposed to be dryer, and a lot less windier.

- 10:52AM - What was normally the slowest day of the six, became busy for once, much to our surprise. It was not like the other days, but when we are usually lucky to have at least one customer at a time, this day was a far cry from that. A group made their way through the shadehouse picking up and grabbing various palms to fill their cart including...

- ... a robust, 25 gal. Arenga undulatifolia.

- Out in front of the holding area, Jeff describes growing habits and gives planting instructions to a customer getting a large order of plants.

- 11:16AM - Roses were definitely a popular group of plants throughout the Extravaganza. The 3 gal. 'Louis Philippe' cracker, or china tea roses were covered in blooms and were restocked more than once.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 11:18AM - Having a cut flower or bloom available for display can be ten-times better than any sign or card. One of the emerging blooms from the Jade Vine, Strongylodon macrobotrys, seen earlier in the topic from the first Friday 'Post Tour' -- was collected and brought to the nursery to showcase the plants for sale. It did its job multiple times as there was only one 3 gal. plant left.

- Given a few extra days, the bracts had opened... revealing more of that fantastic turquoise color.

- 11:24AM - I was taking a moment to photograph this cart as it was being loaded. As I was pressing the shutter release, I got bonked on the head by something...

- ... it was an aborted seed dropped by the nearby Syagrus amara that overlooks the side road. At least it wasn't a coconut.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 11:32AM - The Red Mussaenda, Mussaenda erythrophylla, is the rarest of the color forms to find in cultivation. It is frustratingly difficult to propagate, even under ideal conditions. These plants were put out as a surprise for the second weekend attendees, but mostly because we were low on material.

- 11:47AM - In a random spot along the side road, a landscape idea begins to take shape, via Candy's imagination.

- 11:56AM - I was watching the landscape idea take shape there on the right, when I noticed just how much shade was being provided by the Beccariophoenix alfredii on the left. It keeps growing larger and larger, with leaves that are now arching over the side road.

- 1:38PM - As I was eating lunch under the white tent, I noticed a old leaf base falling off from the Red Sealing Wax Palm specimen, revealing a newer, emerging inflorescence just above the older one. Perhaps this one will grow larger and be more productive than the first.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 1:47PM - Following along with the Jade Vine idea, a flushing specimen of Browneopsis ucayalina was brought out and placed near the smaller plants for sale.

- Another surprise for the second weekend, Blue Twilight - Pseuderanthemum, Pseuderanthemum graciliflorum.

- 1:52PM - Parked along the main road out in front of the Bromeliads, Francis 'Pops' Searle greets customers as they make their way into the sales area.

- 1:53PM - Larry writes up an order as more and more customers arrive, surprising all of us as to how busy the second Friday had become.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 1:57PM - The Bromeliads were being restocked where possible, in anticipation for the second Saturday. As the benches within the Bromeliad shadehouse ran dry, some of the more interesting cultivars began making their way to the sales area.

- I didn't get the name on this one either, but it had a nice bloom.

- 3:00PM - Later in the day and with fewer customers walking about, Jeff was able to show customers around via a golf cart. It made for a speedy run of the sales area.

- 3:09PM - "It gets yea big." Now on foot, Jeff describes the over all shape and size of the Browneopsis ucayalina to the same customer. She spotted the emerging flush on the plant to the right, seen in the above post.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 3:42PM - Candy spent much of the late afternoon with the same customer, organizing and designing a landscape idea. She was bringing Bromeliads over to add to her ongoing design, taking shape in the road.

- 3:43PM - Who needs a tree dolly when Carlos is around. He hauls a 10 gal. Lady Palm, Rhapis excelsa, up to the front area to load onto a waiting trailer.

- When the design was just about finished, plants were loaded to a nearby series of trailers. Although plants kept coming over and getting added.

- With her arms full, Candy carries over a pair of her favorite Bromeliads, Portea cv. 'Candy'.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 3:58PM - A lot of different material in this one load, the plants were spread across two trailers. In center frame, the Alocasia cv. 'Regal Shields' were very popular throughout all six days of the Extravaganza. I lost count how many times they were restocked until we ran out.

- 4:08PM - On the right, Candy finishes any last minute details with the customer as Larry notices the camera and holds up his fingers.

- 4:18PM - The order makes its way through the checkout process. Just as Larry finishes writing up the receipt, I heard a loud series of noises and expletives coming from a landscape truck that had just pulled into the nursery...

- The truck and boisterous exclamations belong to a rather unique individual named Mike. He is an experienced and accomplished landscaper known for his design talents and 'body' of work. He is heavily tattooed, from head to toe and everything in between, complete with a charismatic personality to match. He is just one of the many varied people that can, may and do show up during an Extravaganza.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 4:19PM - "...'Scuse me while I whip this out." Mike's arrival takes everyone by surprise, as it usually does; more so as this was during the 'Ganza. Jeff began firing back with sarcasm as Mike was threatening to show everyone his latest tattoo...

- Jeff began with introductions as Mike made his rounds, explaining himself and parts of his 'back' story.

- 4:20PM - The sprinklers fire up in the far background, causing Mike to pause for a second, remembering what plants he came for in the first place. This whole situation was making Jeff and most everyone else laugh. It was like watching a car crash in slow motion. All in all, an interesting moment in the sale, even if it was during the last hour of the fourth day.

The end of the second Friday was spent on another, yet completely different, tangent. Many plant and butterfly people in S. Florida are familiar with the endangered Atala Butterfly, Eumaeus atala. Its plight from near extinction to its current flourishing has been noted repeatedly in journals, magazines and websites. A few borrowed photos showing an adult and the caterpillars in action:

Well, the Atala Butterfly's native host plant is the Coontie, Zamia integrifolia, but females tend to look for any Zamia. This has caused a growing conflict between cycad enthusiasts and butterfly fans -- as cycad people have been defending their often priceless plants from marauding caterpillars, often to the chagrin of endangered butterfly activists. I do not see an end anytime soon, as this incredible butterfly, once thought to be extinct, makes its way across S. Florida, including the nursery... in droves...

Over the days and weeks leading up to the Spring 'Ganza, I noticed a huge number of Atala Butterflies around the nursery. Dozens sometimes in one place. They have been making themselves at home on the selection of Zamia plants across the property and reproducing... also in droves... Jeff has been at a loss as to what to do, so he contacted the Broward County Butterfly Chapter (BCBC) of the North American Butterfly Association (NABA) and they sent out a member to examine the situation...

- 4:31PM - As soon as she arrived, the BCBC member noticed immediately how many Atala Butterflies were roaming about. She was surprised. Jeff guided her around and showed her a few key sites, including the landscaping near the shadehouse. One of the stops included a decimated Zamia integrifolia 'Palatka Giant' that had been growing behind the large Old Man Palm near the side road for a very long time. It is hard to see, but she had a shocked expression. I could not post a photo of the entire plant, as it is too graphic. It has been reduced to nothing and was covered with old cocoons. That fuzz along the right edge of the photo belongs to the Old Man Palm, Coccothrinax crinita.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 4:33PM - The tour continued into the seed house. We made our way to a bench holding a few flats of devoured Zamia inermis seedlings. Many of the caterpillars or 'cats' as she called them were still crawling about. We found them on other nearby benches looking for their next meal, along with a fair amount of adults flying around. 

- The BCBC member had only one solution. To collect as many adults and caterpillars as we could find and place them in the plastic container. We spent the rest of the day collecting butterflies and 'cats'. You can handle an adult safely after it lands and folds up its wings, you pinch your fingers together and grab it by the wing tips. The caterpillars are harmless to touch and you just scoop them up, if you can find them. She said to contact her or the chapter again if we wanted them out to collect more, which will probably happen.

Ryan

...from tattoos and butterflies, to crowds and bulls...

[Palmarum]

Second Saturday, March 11th...

- 9:40AM - What a Friday. The day before saw unprecedented action. It turned out to be the best second Friday ever, since the Extravaganza began spanning two weekends. We had no idea as to why. We knew that the calendar for this weekend was full of events in S. Florida and maybe people wanted to exploit the sale being open on a Friday to save the actual weekend for something else. I was thinking of what else it might have been while photographing one of the remaining orchids, before it vanished onto someones cart.

- 11:08AM - The second weekend is often on a skeleton crew when it comes to staffing, as it is tough for many of the volunteers to attend both weekends. We were surprised earlier in the morning to see both Jim and Judy Glock {obscured by Jim} walking into the sales area donning red shirts. Their plans had changed so they came all the way over to help out once again.

- 11:12AM - The traffic followed a typical Saturday morning pattern, slow at first then picking up speed as we got into the later morning hours. Jeff helps a customer as Travis passes by with a large cart...

- He was on route to help a customer upgrade to a larger cart. A common occurrence during the sale. All the 3 gal. Star Jasmine, Jasminum laurifolium and the 1 gal. Wax Jasmine, Jasminum simplicifolium would not fit on the smaller cart, along with the 3 gal. Variegated Flax Lily, Dianella tasmanica cv. 'variegata'.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 11:13AM - With the transfer complete, Travis continued to load the rest of the plants. There are only a few of those large, custom-made carts available and they do come in handy.

- 11:14AM - A minute later, he was up near the holding area, waiting on the customer and for the next spot in line for the checkout.

- 11:18AM - Amber helps out 'Pops' by relocating him to a shadier spot near the holding area. The average temperature for the day was moderate and the weather was again, looking to be perfect.

- 11:22AM - An order of Dwarf Fakahatchee Grass, Tripsacum floridana and Pink Diamond Cordylines, Cordyline 'Pink Diamond' gets written up by Amber as the morning moves towards the noon hour.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 11:22AM - Immediately following the order above, was a cart-load of palms and a pair of gingers. They were packed in there tight. From left to right in groups of three past the gingers: a 3 gal. Dypsis sp. (mystery one), a 3 gal. Hydriastele pleurocarpa (in behind, with stem), and a 1 gal. Areca vestiaria (w/ the orange). Next, near the center, a 1 gal. Drymophloeus sp. 'Patipi' (foreground), a 3 gal. Chamaedorea deckeriana (bifid leaves), and a 3 gal. Calyptrocalyx aff. fasciculatus (tall, obscured, in back). Lastly, near the front of the cart, a tall 5 gal. Coccothrinax borhidiana, a 3 gal. Chambeyronia macrocarpa (background), and either a 7 gal. Copernicia baileyana or a Copernicia yarey, can't tell. A fun selection of palms for any collection.

- The cart passed by me and made to Amber, who proceeded to collect tag ends and add everything up.

- 11:27AM - One of the larger carts was pressed into service to bring a big load to the holding area. The stash included a variety of plants, including a few White Birds of Paradise, Strelitzia nicolai, and a flowering Yellow Tabebuia, Tabebuia aurea. 

- Just outside the holding area, a customer was receiving assistance from two incredible sources. She was being helped by both volunteers Crafton Clift and Derek Burch, who came out on the second Saturday to lend a hand. It could easily be said... her questions got answered.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 11:29AM - Time to start lunch for the crew. Usually, what remains of the hamburgers and hotdogs are BBQ'd for the crew on the second weekend. Sometimes we have to go buy more just to have some for us to eat. Travis fires up the center grill as Jim pokes his head in to get his attention, making him laugh in the process.

- 11:44AM - While waiting on lunch, I took a walk through the shadehouse, trimming plants, spacing out groups, etc. I came across a few palms with a red emergent leaf, including this 7 gal. Heterospathe brevicaulis. It had already begun to fade.

- It is not the reddest of new leaves, but it is still showy among the acaulescent species of Heterospathe.

- 11:45AM - Not far down the sidewalk, was the grouping of Chambeyronia macrocarpa, which now included this 7 gal. double specimen. When I was walking through early in the morning, I had noticed the new red leaf waving at me from behind the caution tape. The palm was pulled and placed in the group, showcasing the bright color. If you look closely, the other half of the duo also had a new spear coming out, just as long as the open leaf. There were almost two red leaves at once.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 11:44AM - Another view of that amazing leaf, a leaf that set sail a few three gallon plants for new homes.

- 12:05PM - Lunch time. With Travis at the controls, lunch was ready around noon. I took my ample share of food back to the white tent, to eat and answer questions if needed.

- 12:12PM - So... I am sitting under the white tent, eating my lunch when I happened to look over my right shoulder. I was looking down the sidewalk and out of the side shadehouse entrance, when I noticed a large, half-ton, black bull munching on the plants across the main road. Needless to say, I was rather surprised. With a mouth full of food, I jumped up, grabbed my camera and ran out of the shadehouse in pursuit and got this photo as the bull vanished into the field grown palms. I went down the main road to find Jeff and report it, he was not amused. Apparently, this wayward bull has done this before. He is from the property next door and has found different ways through the fence.

Jeff and Travis jumped on a golf cart and chased after the bull, cowboy style, hoping he would find his own way back. The photo of which, didn't come out well. The bull ran off and they gave chase, eventually losing him during the pursuit. I went back to my spot under the tent and finished my lunch while talking to customers, thinking I saw the last of the bull.

- 1:57PM - "Moooo..." Almost two hours of sale activity went by and we got a report that someone saw the bull near the extreme back part of the nursery property. Worried he might find his way back to the sales area or into one of the shadehouses, Travis and I went looking for him; while Jeff contacted the farm next door. After a few minutes of tracking hoof prints and flattened weeds, contact... we got cow...

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 1:58PM - "Shhh... we're hunting wabbits, I mean bulls..." We found the bull at the far back of one field, not far from the fence. Travis wanted to sneak up on him, but it didn't work. I told him to jump onto his back, but he didn't want to.

- 2:00PM - Domesticated Cow, Bos taurus. Travis provides scale as we tried to maneuver the bull to the corner of the property, but he wasn't cooperating. The bull decided to venture further into the property, leaving us behind. Without more people, there wasn't much we could do, but wait for the trained personnel to arrive.

- 2:01PM - "Moo... moooooo." Over the fence next door, the cows watched our failed attempt to corral the beast.

- 2:20PM - We returned to the sales area to find everything as expected, sans bull. Customers continued to enter the nursery, in different waves of activity, from busy to slow and then back to busy. 'Pops' resides on the golf cart with Judy, as Jim and Jeff relax over to the right.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 2:38PM - Customer traffic began to wane once again as we got to mid-afternoon. They came solo and often in groups. It seemed many of the groups consisted of at least one plant enthusiast and the others were friends or fellow plant people.

- 3:11PM - We got word that the wranglers were on their way to secure the wayward bull, so Travis and I headed back to find him once again... and find him we did, right near the fence munching on the sawgrass.

- 3:23PM - "Here they come." Travis spotted the trio approach from across the field. They found a suitable spot along the fence to dislodge the chain link and create a path across, both for them and for the bull.

- 3:28PM - Now for the fun part. With five of us spread out across the back part of the nursery, we slowly confined the animal to a smaller and smaller space. He did break through once and vanished again, heading for the second shadehouse. The thought of a 'bull in a china shop' made me think of stampeded small palms throughout the shadehouse, so gladly he never made it that far. He doubled back to the old paintball field when we reacquired him, next to an old bunker.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 3:33PM - With the other wranglers pushing through and making noises, the bull made his way back around to the edge of the property near the fence. Travis was one part of the containment effort, holding his hands up and making noises... "Move it, ya dumb cow."

- "Excuse me, I am a bull." It was at this moment, that Travis realized that he may be wearing the wrong colored shirt...

- 3:34PM - With some additional yelling and prodding, the bull slowly made his way to the hole in the fence. After he jumped through, the wranglers patched up the fence. Mission complete.

- 4:10PM - With the whole bullshit ordeal behind us, the sale continued on through the last hour of the day. A few late day collectors came through, looking for a specific palm or a member of a favorite genus. A cart goes by with a 10 gal. double Archontophoenix myolensis and a 3 gal. Gaussia gomez-pompae.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 4:12PM - We did have several repeat customers from the first weekend. Often, after you install a lot of material you find out you still have room left to fill, so you need more plants. A trailer gets packed full of three gallon material, just for one future landscape project.

- 4:15PM - The one early blooming Agapanthus got propped up and was featured prominently in the middle of the three gallon block of plants. This one colorful bloom sold a lot.

- 4:18PM - This was the scene for the rest of the day. Customers continued to trickle in until closing while we gathered up front near the checkout. Jeff talks with Travis and the rest of the crew up by the tent as another wave of customers make their way to the sales area.

Ryan

... five days down, one to go...

[Palmarum]

Second Sunday, March 12th...

- 9:09AM - Ahh, Sunday. The last day of the Spring Extravaganza started with an unusual occurrence, a crowd. There were customers entering the nursery shortly after we opened at Nine in the morning. In addition to assisting the attendees where needed, crew continued the morning procedure of restocking, where and however possible. We ran around and pulled more palms, focusing on the smaller one and three-gallon sized plants. After returning from one run, we placed a few Areca vestiaria one-gallon plants around the larger specimen across from the tables.

- 9:13PM - After dropping off the plants, the golf cart didn't get far. Jeff was receiving and answering questions before he could take off once again.

- 9:42AM - Busy. The morning continued to see a fair share of traffic, considering it was the last morning of the event. The weather was cool, but not cold. As I was taking the photo, someone mentioned "Uh oh, it looks like rain."... So I turned around...

- There were a few clouds around, nothing to worry about. The forecast for the day was very good, in spite of what we were seeing.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 11:59AM - The morning quickly passed by, and it was noon before we knew it. Earlier in the morning, Jeff mentioned I had to photograph something in the landscape spot behind the BBQ area. As I was waiting on lunch, I went behind the wall and found this planted Calyptrocalyx sp. 'Boalak' with a full infructescence.

- The fruit were bright, cherry red and slightly soft to the touch, perfectly ripe and ready to go. I do not think there is a more attractive sight to a palm grower or collector.

- The palm itself was very full and thick, with numerous suckers in the clump. It was difficult to photograph the entire palm, as the spot is crowded with plants, (as some of you may know) and my back was right up against the concrete wall of the BBQ area.

- 12:03PM - I collected the seed after the photos were taken. As I went to deliver them to Jeff, I found him upfront, writing receipts and helping customers.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 12:05PM - As Jeff finished with the customers seen above, another takes off down the main road with their new charges, including a White Shrimp Plant, Justicia betonica and a 7 gal. Brownea macrophylla.

- 12:37PM - A new garden idea takes shape on a cart near the landscape plants. A 3 gal. Pink Clusia, Clusia orthoneura resides at the front of the cart on the left, sharing it with various Bromeliads, other plants, and a 7 gal. Dombeya cv. 'Seminole Pink'.

- 12:44PM - I took another set of photos of the emergent Chambeyronia macrocarpa leaf, to show a comparison. It had been almost 24-hours since I took the photos seen a few posts above.

- The leaflets are more spread out and the leaf had emerged a hair more. The color was still deep red, with a slight difference at the tips.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 12:45PM - Not far from the Chambeyronia, I noticed a new leaf just beginning to open on a large Mealybug Palm, Dypsis mananjarensis. The color is not too dramatic when compared to others, but when mixed with the unmistakable 'mealybug-like' markings, it becomes quite unique.

- An up close view of the lower petiole of the emerging leaf seen above. It maintains a rosy-amber color for some time, and of course, is marked with freshly made 'mealybug' markings or ligules. There was another spear just behind this one, working its way skyward.

- 12:48PM - Attendance was steady throughout the day, with a noticeable drop around lunchtime. A group of customers enters the shadehouse via the side entrance, and proceed along the tables. 

- They made their way from plant-to-plant down the tables, before making a turn at the white tent.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 1:07PM - The second Sunday of the Spring Extravaganza was continuing to see activity throughout the afternoon. It was busy up until closing time. Usually, if it was very slow or dead, I would go around and collect all the signs in the last hour of the day. I didn't have a chance to do so. Customers occupied the sales area and were shopping up until the gates closed at 4:00. At a point after 1:00, I went around and started a cursory poll of how each section performed and of what were the most or least popular plants. The tables are always a concentrated hot spot during the sale. The gallons and smaller plants were picked through over and over again as it is often the first place the collectors begin their hunt. A lone small palm sitting along the sidewalk is sometimes placed up onto a table.

- 1:09PM - The Aroids and foliage plant section was picked through with fervor. We kept collapsing empty tables and bringing other ones forward to make the section smaller and smaller, until it was a fraction of what it was to begin with. The few plants left were spaced out with huge gaps between them.

- Although it was smaller to begin with compared with last fall, the Croton section was thinned out. With no more plants left with to restock, the section saw its most empty state in years. As long as Palms, Flowering Trees and other large plant groups remain popular, Crotons will be right there with them to fill the spaces underneath.

- 1:14PM - This palm caught my eye as I was walking around doing my survey. Not as much for its looks or rarity, but for its size. There are quite a few years, numerous in fact, behind this 7 gal. Nephrosperma van-houtteanum, making it one of the largest specimens that I can remember seeing for sale.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 1:14PM - It is not the fastest of the 'Seychelles' Six' species grown in cultivation, but it is still quite unique. I do not think the spines keep the collectors at bay, as more heavily armed palms sold easier.

- 1:17PM - The walking survey guided me upfront to the holding area, where I got an idea for the last photo of the 'Ganza. I was checking out the Tropical Fruit Tree section when I noticed Dumbo, (Dumbo-two, actually) up on Travis's lap getting a good scratching. She knows a good spot when she sees it. I took the photo just before Jeff crossed over in front of me from the left. The pace of the last afternoon was slow and relaxed, as we pondered what palm-related activity was coming up next.

Ryan

... the spring 'Ganza concluded as one of the best in years, with a few records broken along the way...

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