Palms at Tropiflora - A Debut in Sarasota

[Palmarum]

- 1:10PM - The curious and enthusiastic continued to explore the palms and plants within the booth for the rest of the day. Customers knew when the sale was over and showed a bit more urgency during the afternoon hours. A few customers did return throughout the weekend. I could think of two or three that were looking through the booth all three days.

- 1:12PM - The stash occupying the chair had expanded and was moved to a cart, which was promptly filled. Joining the group, was that 7 gal. Lanonia dasyantha seen earlier in the topic. (B) Tucked in behind was a 3 gal. Red Sealing Wax Palm, Cyrtostachys renda, and a 3 gal. Coccothrinax borhidiana, which was also added; sitting at the front-right corner.

- 1:17PM - Getting in closer, here is another view of the 3 gal. Coccothrinax borhidiana and the other plants in the order. Each time the Areca macrocalyx var. 'Mariae' shed a leaf base, it gained more and more red. (B) With no more room left in the cart, the customer departs from the booth with their new plants in tow.

- 2:00PM - It was getting closer to the end of the sale day and many volunteers and nursery staff members were making their rounds checking on the vendors, chatting, seeing how the sale went and so on. On the center-right, Dennis Cathcart came through the back area to hang out and talk with vendors. Many customers who have attended Tropiflora's events for years are quite familiar with him and like to say hello and greet him as they go by.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 2:00PM - 2:15PM - The parting conversations began and continued right up until we left the nursery. I personally had an incredible experience and it was a wonderful plant sale and Fall Festival. At center, Darryl and Larry were hanging out and discussing future plant events at the Naples Zoo as I took my last photos from the sales area. Darryl was extremely helpful and stayed after the sale was over and helped us load up. (B) A 7 gal. Dypsis pembana gets pulled from the booth as part of an order, one of the last palms to be sold. Immediately after this photo was taken, it was decided to switch to load mode. We began with the basic procedures, by gathering the signs, clips and stakes and it went on from there...

Bonus Forum Member: In the first photo, on the left in the black top was longtime palm enthusiast, notable grower and FM. Catherine Presley (Creekside) and her family. Tropiflora is in her 'neck of the woods' so it was a short trip for her and her family to attend. Jeff and I had not seen her in some time. We kept trying to figure out when that last time was, probably at one of the South Florida Palm Society's fall sales, years ago. We spent a good time talking and it was great to reconnect with her after so long.

- 2:45PM - 4:00PM - "A chaotic tornado of moving plants."

A favorite quote from years past, spoken by a sales chairman who was describing the sales area as vendors were competing to load their plants the fastest, while fighting over who goes first. The loading at the end of the Fall Festival was not that hectic, as we figured out how to do it quickly. We parked the truck and trailer right in front of the booth, near the tent, as close to the bamboo as possible; leaving space on the road for other vehicles to pass. With a record number of six people loading, it went quickly. We were all packed and ready to go before 4:00pm. I am fairly sure we got everything, although I still can't find my umbrella. It might turn up somewhere. We all left in three different vehicles, forming a caravan heading south. When the landscape truck began to leave, the edge of the top bar caught part of the bamboo, effectively 'trimming it'. So, ironically we caused our own bamboo mess to fall.

- 6:57PM - The caravan got spread out during the trip across the state. Jeff, Andrea and I made it rather quickly, at a few minutes under three hours. Larry and the landscape truck was a few minutes behind. When we reached the nursery, it was getting dark fast. I had some of my gear in the landscape truck, so I had to wait. While waiting, I took photos around the nursery, including the parking area near the office, with almost no available light. (B) One of the robot security cats kept me company.

- We raced along the edge of a storm as we crossed Alligator Alley. I took a filtered shot of the sunset fighting through the clouds as I was waiting. The lightning was just too far away, but it would have been awesome if I got it in the shot. What a weekend it was! We hope to do it all again...

Ryan

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P.S. - The very next day and evening, Monday the 28th, was the Tropical Fern and Exotic Plant Society's Annual Auction meeting... Topic Link

No time to rest in the S. Florida plant world.

[Silas_Sancona]

Ryan, First off,  Thank you for your time and effort putting this, among the many other detailed threads together. No doubt a lot of time is put into editing pictures and organizing the "flow" of the threads themselves. Appreciate how everything comes together. 

Second: Good to hear that the trip north to attend this event for Jeff and the rest of the team went well and that, from the sound of it, sales were good, and those who attended the sale were exposed to all sorts of new plants, Palms esp.  that might be a bit harder to find up that way. 

Nice to see many familiar faces still there at Tropiflora, and among the other Vendors attending/ selling at the event. When i left Bradenton, there was some chatter among attendees at an open house hosted by Plantio La Orquidea that the owner might be headed south, maybe to Brazil??..  Good to see he is also still there in town. Great resource and bought several things from him in the past.

Look forward to the next great thread- ventures to come..