SFPS Fall Palm Sale at Fairchild TB Gardens + Palmboo Gardens Tour

[Palmarum]

- 12:10PM: Ron is very good about matching palms with customers' needs, especially those of collectors he knows well. He found this one tall palm, and carried it to the cart with Rosita's palms. The sales area in front saw a flurry of activity just before lunch time.

- 1:04PM: The two sisters talking with Jeff are avid collectors and are usually found at many plant shows and sales around South Florida. They had spent the past hour or so in the sales area talking with Jeff about everything... The cart towards the right held many of Danny and John's palms destined for their Key West garden... The largest palm in the cart is Arenga westerhoutii.

- ... Danny (center) looks over at the full cart above and wonders if he got every species he came for. His father John is wondering how they are going to get it all home. On the left, Jaime had just recently jumped ship from the French Foreign Legion.

kylecawazafla Posted Today, 08:51 AM

...I realize now that it's not that bad of a drive from Gainesville to Miami! It took me 9 hours to get down there...

- 1:14PM: FM. Kyle's (kylecawazafla) timing in the topic is spot on. He was walking around for a while before I noticed him talking with FM. Christian Faulkner (cfkingfish) that I figured he could be a Forum member. Jeff was a few feet away when I introduced them. Kyle, you were definitely one of the long distance surprises during the weekend, as I figured that drive would have taken longer than 9 hours; as it took me longer one time to cover the same distance.

Ryan

[mike in kurtistown]

Thanks, Ryan, for another great palm event documentation. It really brings back vivid memories of sales I attended for many years, every one a memorable, highly enjoyable event. I started going after I moved to Miami in 1980. I remember Jeff Searle hiding from me year after year as I tried to ask him stupid questions about those mysterious Madagascar seedlings. When I moved to central Florida, I could make it only every other year until I moved to Hawaii in 2005.

[Palmarum]

- 1:17PM: This one customer struggles with the wind as he places a Chamaedorea plumosa in his cart. He seemed to be collecting the genus as he also grabbed a C. stolonifera and a C. deckeriana. The Licuala concinna is the palm at the front of the cart. You got to have at least one Licuala in the group...

- The man behind it all. SFPS President, Vendor #80 and FM. Tim McKernan (Tim McKernan) sits behind his daughter Karisa as they hang out in his booth.

- 1:23PM: The customer traffic seemed to be slowing down as we got closer to two in the afternoon. This of course gave us more time to talk, worry about the wind and 'shoot the breeze', no pun intended. FM. Rob Van der Borg (Borgy230) joined Jeff and Ron as FM. Rick Leitner (TikiRick) came over to see what was going on.

- 1:27PM: Jeff asked Ron where FM. Jim Glock (jglock1) was and he promptly pointed him out. Jim was getting tired being the center of attention all the time. FM. Matt Bradford (MattyB) was thinking we were all crazy Floridian palm nuts at this point.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 1:31PM: Matt and Paul were taking a closer look at the large 7-gallon Tahina spectabilis that Jeff had brought to the sale, when a palm fell over on the right, causing all of them to look at it. -fwap-

- 1:34PM: A few minutes later, vendor #68 and FM. Ellis Brown (EllisB) walked over to the booth and handed Jeff his birthday present, this small and very rare Pinanga veitchii.

- 2:35PM: Just before leaving on his long trip back to Ft. Myers, Jim checks out the free seed to find anything he doesn't already have. Vendor #28 Tom Olson digs into the cooler on the left, looking for a drink he doesn't already have.

- 2:56PM: FM. Jerry Behan (Jerry@TreeZoo) had arrived not long ago and found his way to the booth where Dr. Peter Balasky (madman), Forum member and Madagascar explorer, was talking with Jeff about his latest trip to the island.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 2:58PM: Something new to try in Gainesville, Florida. FM. Kyle (kylecawazafla) makes his way to the registers carrying a tall Verschaffeltia splendida he grabbed out of Claude Roatta's (#67) booth. He seemed joyous to be getting it, I hope you have a warm spot up there for it, Kyle.

- 3:06PM: <Bang!> FM. Ray Gompf (Ray_G) fires back as I shoot him heading towards Faith Bishock's (#50) booth along with Vendor #35 Steve Stern. They went over to look at the Metroxylon amicarum that was under constant supervision in Faith's booth. Ray has been looking for that palm for a long time, so I am sure he just wanted to let others know that it was here.

- 4:19PM: It was getting near closing time for the sale so I took a quick look through the Rare Plant House to see what was growing, or not growing. I heard a loud shriek of concern coming from the lower part and followed it to find Faith Bishock worried about this Licuala mapu, that had developed a case of infestation. She decided to bring in some organic insecticide on Sunday morning to treat the problem.

- 4:30PM: The first day of the sale was about over. Many of the vendors and volunteers made their way to the front to socialize and talk about upcoming events, such as the holiday party. Vendor #67 Claude Roatta digs out some ice to add to his adult beverage, as Gaby & Tim McKernan talk with SFPS Corresponding Secretary Lou Squros and Jeff Searle. Vendor #4 William Olson listens in on the right.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 4:30PM: After last call for plants was given, a few last minute purchases made their way to the register tent. This happens every sale and probably would not be one if it wasn't for the impulse buying that occurs each time. This was a large and well-priced Chambeyronia macrocarpa on its way to a new home.

- 4:33PM: The palm was given to Dominique to carry out along with the palms on her yellow cart. She had to figure out how to move both things at once.

- 4:34PM: Time for vendors to do some trading and to figure out if they are going to restock anything for Sunday morning.

- 4:35PM: The last photo from Saturday. The free seed was picked through very well and we thought about all the people and Forum members that made it to the sale today. I got a photo of FM. Jerry Pezzeminti (Pez) carrying a large Orania ravaka, but for some reason it came out over-exposed and I could not fix it. I also missed getting a photo of FM. Mike Feely (Mike4284m) who stopped in late on Saturday. Can't get every photo...

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- Sunday Morning, 9:57AM: Jeff and I arrived early on Sunday morning in order to get the checklist done before getting disrupted too many times. Sunday mornings are always slow, but there were a few customers browsing at close to ten o'clock, including the two sisters from the day before. I took this shot to remind me how the front tables had been thinned out a bit.

- 10:05AM: Donuts! Like a well-timed and expected treat, Vendor #26 Susan Casey walks past the booth with a large bag of donuts en route to her booth. I know many would be en route to her booth in the next few minutes, including myself.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 10:06AM: The wind was back with vengeance for Sunday morning it seemed. It was stronger and left a nice mess for the vendors to pick up when we arrived. Vendor #28 Tom Olson takes his daughter for a walk.

- I don't think I would like to have been on a leash either...

- SFPS Director Lenny Goldstein organizes the information on the seed tables prior to the arrival of two customers. He restocked a few of the species on the tables as Jeff made sure it wasn't anything he didn't have.

- 10:10AM: "Grrr... where are the palms I want..."

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 10:13AM: When Faith said she was going to bring stuff to clean the Licuala mapu, she wasn't kidding. I'm not sure what she brought in the bucket, but she had more than enough to treat 100 palms. I also think there was a banana in there, for some reason.

- 10:15AM: "I wonder how secure the bell is." Vendor #35 Steve Stern gets underneath the bell to examine up inside of it.

- I think he might have been thinking of a way to ring the bell, or at least make some noise from it. For some inexplicable reason, the surface of the Earth had tilted slightly... If you haven't figured it out yet, it was a slow morning and I was looking for things to photograph.

- 10:26AM: Two veteran palm people from long ago, Ziggy & Shirley Mayotte, made an appearance this morning. Shirley is a long time grower and vendor, and had been a regular sight at the sales for some time. Ziggy recently celebrated his 92nd birthday and mentioned the how easy the first 92 years had been, and he looked forward to the next 92.

Ryan

[Alicehunter2000]

What a great photo tour of a great meeting....would love to make it down for it one day.....any prizes for furthest traveled?

[samirbouag]

what a beautiful picture! She is too funny! especially the gentleman in the blue shirt who laughs. j'adore !! :D

I love the landscape with exotic palm. it's too good.

[Palmarum]

- 10:47AM: "Uhhh... that's not a palm." I looked over at a customers cart and noticed this variegated ponytail sitting there with a tag on it. One of the newer vendors had snuck it into the sale. We alerted Tim to the situation and he promptly walked over to the vendor's booth and shot him... Just kidding, he had the vendor put the remaining plants aside and out of view.

- 11:10AM: This customer was very enthusiastic and made a few trips to the holding area and back without using a cart.

- 11:12AM: The customer on the right was very determined to try and talk Vendors Ron and Ronnie Croci (#66) down on the price of one of their plants.... Vendor #91 and FM. Jody Haynes (virtualpalm) observes on the left.

- The customer makes another offer and you can see by Ron's reaction how good it was...

Ryan

[Peter]

Great photos as usual Ryan-thanks. And seeing some of those long time palm growers attending the sale made me wonder why we don't see more photos of private gardens in South Florida-surely there must be some awesome gardens down there.

[Moose]

Ryan - I spent so much time working in Claude's booth, it seems that I missed meeting and greeting many forum members. Thank's for posting so many pictures - your coverage has shown me alot of activity I missed. This forum's members were all over this PRA! Big thanks to all and stopped by our booth, our sales were above what we had anticipated in this economy.

I also encountered quite a few International Croton Society Members well.

Ron.

[Peter Pacific]

Peter Pacific Posted Today, 10:12 PM

...I should start planning another trip to the states around the next palm show...Ryan, please keep me posted!

Hey Peter, the next major palm event is the South Florida Palm Society Holiday Party on the first Monday of December, and the next set of show/sales are the Searle Extravaganza and the SFPS Spring Sale in the beginning of March 2010. There is also the TPIE convention near the end of January here in Ft Lauderdale. This is what I know off the top of my head.

...You should have someone take pictures of YOU!!!...

palmisland Posted Today, 10:25 PM

...Ryan, the Palmtalk journalist! ...

See, I knew it would happen as soon as someone asked for it...

Ryan

Thank you Ryan...you are Google walking! ...just off the top of your head...God Bless You... Will you let me know when the next Searle bros. sale is...I was planning a trip in April but maybe March...Peter

[Palmarum]

Peter Pacific Posted Nov 13 2009, 02:24 PM

...Will you let me know when the next Searle bros. sale is...I was planning a trip in April but maybe March...Peter

Peter, the next Searle Brothers Sale is the first weekend of March, 2010 the 5th, 6th and 7th; Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

- 11:13AM: Have notebook, will travel with Palmtalk. FM. Ron Kiefert (moose knuckle) checks the Forum during the sale via his notebook and waits to get a good signal so he can post a few photos.

- 11:25AM: An up-close view of the bell, showing the scroll work at the top. I was able to dig up a few more details about the bell exhibit. The bell was originally part of a Belgian Church, where it was installed in 1929 and stood until the beginning of World War II; when it was stolen and brought to Germany. It lay hidden until the 1950s when it was rediscovered in a collection and brought back to Belgium. It was in use until August 2nd, 1971, when it was purchased by an artist and mounted on the framework. I am not sure as to what happened to the church, damaged or demolished, to cause them to give up the bell, but apparently the church still exists and is being rebuilt.

- It was about this time when we heard that someone had broken into FM. Christian Faulkner's (cfkingfish) place and took some of his plants. Not a good time to be had at all. Fairchild does not allow vehicles into the garden during the midday hours so Christian had to ferry all his plants outside. I hope he can find where the more unique plants had went to, and hopefully get them back.

- 11:44AM: Lou and Lenny kept busy with customers and members as the quest for more palm-related information is never ending.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 11:45AM: "Ryan, look over there behind you, its a hummingbird!" Tim McKernan was over in the booth when he noticed this hummingbird behind me and in the distance. I turned and got this one blurry shot before it flew away...

- Vendors and FMs. Linda Talbott (Linda Apriletti) and Bill Olson (Bill Olson) listen to a customer describe her palm-needy situation.

- 1:07PM: A blast from Biennial past... For those of you who attended the Costa Rican Biennial last year, you might, and I say 'might' recognize IPS Director and FM. Grant Lee Stephenson (palm a grant it). He looks quite different compared to when last seen during 2008's romp though the Central American country. You have to picture him with short hair, no beard and a lot more weight. I posted a unique photo of him in my Biennial topic sliding down the canopy zip-line, with his camera hanging below him. He was in town visiting from Texas where he is busy working on several horticultural reconstruction projects.

- 1:40PM: The slow Sunday afternoon meandered on, with pockets of activity scattered between the hour marks as customers compiled their selections and brought them to the registers. Fighting with the constant wind the whole way.

Ryan

[Succulentum]

Thank you for sharing these photos with us Ryan.

jean-bernard

[paulgila]

What a great photo tour of a great meeting....would love to make it down for it one day.....any prizes for furthest traveled?

if there was such a prize it woulda been hard to beat mattyb & i.

[amazon exotics]

Ryan, the photo of the Humming bird is great. Haven't seen one around here in years.

[Palmarum]

pohonkelapa Posted Today, 04:17 PM

[ (Alicehunter2000 @ Nov 12 2009, 01:33 PM) *

What a great photo tour of a great meeting....would love to make it down for it one day.....any prizes for furthest traveled? ]

if there was such a prize it woulda been hard to beat mattyb & i.

There should be a prize for that, but would need to be handed out at the end of each day, or something like that. This time around Paul and Matt would have won hands down for every day.

amazon exotics Posted Today, 04:51 PM

Ryan, the photo of the Humming bird is great. Haven't seen one around here in years.

I've taken better photos before, when I knew to expect them and had a tripod. Hummingbirds in South Florida move along established migratory routes that are quite narrow, and unless your on a route you won't see them; even with a yard full of nectar plants. There is a street intersection not far from my house that is on a route, and I will see tiny hummingbird nests up high in the signal lights. Even with that in mind, It has been a long time since I've seen one as well.

- 1:40PM: Christian takes a moment to talk with Vendors #66 Ronnie and Ron Croci. Ronnie waits in line with a customer who is getting the large, double Chambeyronia macrocarpa var. hookeri from his booth.

- I ran ahead to capture Ronnie pushing the double palm down the walkway to the old entrance.

- Customers had to park further away in the lowlands, but they were allowed to bring their vehicles around to the old garden entrance to pick up larger material. For many years, customers attending sales and events would all come through this gateway.

- 2:36PM: Long time vendor from the old days, De Hull makes his way to the register with his stash he compiled the day before.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 2:37PM: With two hours remaining in the sale on Sunday, I went from booth to booth to see if there was any palm that I needed to get. This included any last minute bargains, unlisted specials, etc. Across from the bell exhibit was the booth belonging to vendor #28, Tom Olson.

- 2:38PM: The steady wind was knocking everything over, and what ever didn't fall over, was getting dried out. Vendor #35 Steve Stern takes refuge under one of his large umbrellas as the wind whips through his booth.

- 2:44PM: Back out in front of Jeff's booth, vendors and board members gather to discuss everything, including Tim McKernan on the left, and Ron Croci on the right. Jeff gets a confused look as he wonders how far Jeff Chait was going to lean in towards him...

- 2:45PM: Faith asks Lenny questions about many different things while explaining the same things to customers. She is telling them which seed she has had luck with and others she has not.

Ryan

[Creekside]

Great photos as always - and the hummingbird shot is fantastic! You do a great job of chronicling the shows. We had such a great time seeing everyone again and filling the trailer with new palms. I actually have them all in the ground already, having had a planting marathon last week. We haven't missed the spring or autumn sale in 7 years...see you at Montgomery!

[Palmarum]

- 2:47PM: Vendor #67 Claude Roatta joins the group as the vendors start to discuss the process of loading up that would take place in a short while. It is often a hectic and confusing time at the end of the sale, as trucks and trailers all jockey for position in the sales area, all at the same time.

- 4:07PM: In the last half hour of time spent at Fairchild TB Gardens, my camera was once again hijacked and taken for a ride around the gardens. I found this image of the stairs near the lowlands among all the others on my memory card.

- 4:08PM: Dominique seems to photograph everything and anything of color, including this water lily.

- 4:13PM: The last image from Sunday showed the path to the lowlands as it was too windy with overcast skies to photograph much of anything else. Many of the weddings that are held at the gardens, take place along this stretch of turf. After all the palms were packed up and we left the gardens, Jeff and I knew to look forward to Monday night's tour at Mike Harris's Palmboo Gardens.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- Monday, 4:53PM: In the second to last day of their time spent in South Florida, FMs. Paul Denton (pohonkelapa) and Matt Bradford (MattyB) were treated to a late afternoon tour of Palmboo Gardens; the residence and collection of FM. Mike Harris (waykoolplantz). I thought I was arriving early only to find that everyone including Jeff Searle and Greg K. had been exploring the grounds for a while before I got there.

- 4:54PM: I joined the group midway through the tour, and I followed as they continued across the field towards the pond. Mike points out the large Beccariophoenix madagascariensis growing towards the left along the ponds edge.

- 4:55PM: Where ever we went, the dogs were not far behind. Paul and Jeff make their way to the dock as Mike describes the Cuban Petticoat Palms, Copernicia macroglossa, on the right near the tiki hut.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 4:55PM: Everyone enjoys a good scratch now and again...

- Out on the dock, the group uses up a can of fish food to tend to Mike's population of killer piranha. "You only live twice, Mr. Bond."

- The available daylight was fading fast, with less than an hour worth of decent light remaining. I scurried around taking photos as often as I could, good or bad and decided to filter them out later. The large pond towards the rear of Mike's property is the focal point of his yard, with the majority of his palms planted around it.

- 5:00PM: The tour continued counter-clockwise around the pond, going from palm to palm including this very heavily-clumping Copernicia glabrescens. It is routinely trimmed and gets the occasional sucker removed, but even with that this palm has become quite dense with stems.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 5:01PM: A key part of FM. Mike Harris's (waykoolplantz) collection are the massive fan palms of the world, including the Talipot Palm, Corypha umbraculifera and other members of the genus. A bit of glare got in on the image...

- 5:03PM: Tucked in one area of the yard near the fence was this rare Corypha lecomtei.

- 5:06PM: Time to get the GQ image of the evening. Rounding the path near one corner of the yard was this huge Borassus aethiopum that has just about reached the point of growing trunk. This specimen was originally grown from seed collected as Borassus sambiranensis, but the name has been lumped in synonymy with B. aethiopum. Doofus just had to get in the shot, and I am talking about the dog...

- He had no problem getting in closer to Matt, Paul and Jeff, I even started to think he knew he was being photographed.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 5:07PM: I reluctantly handed my camera over to Jeff so he can get this one shot of me with Matt and Paul doing one of his charismatic, "Thinking Man" poses.

- "Arrrgh... no more!" Matt reached his limit of Jeff's unique brand of humor...

- Near the edge of the pond was this brightly variegated Majesty Palm, Ravenea rivularis. I remember when Mike got this palm, and I even photographed it when it was at the palm sale (and posted the photo). It has grown considerably since then.

- 5:17PM: At the back edge of the property, the trio examines one of Mike's giant Raphia hookeri. It has quite a few stems that are each covered with thick, twisted stringy fiber. The fan palm in the center is Licuala ramsayi.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 5:17PM: Paul went on to explain how the fiber is collected and used as packing material, rope, and many other things and is conveniently called 'raffia', which originally gave rise to the genus name.

- 5:20PM: Bamboo is a big part of Mike's Palmboo Gardens. There are quite a few species and varieties in the yard that I am still learning as bamboo is one of my favorite plant groups. The clump on the left is Imperial Blue Bamboo, Bambusa chungii I believe.

- 5:25PM: The largest and most well-grown specimen of Dypsis rivularis I've seen in South Florida is found in Mike's backyard, a few feet from the edge of the pond. It is growing in an ideal situation reminiscent of its native rheophytic habitat in Madagascar. It is a small-sized, demure palm with a unique powder-green ringed stem topped with a light to deep pink crownshaft. The leaves have no petioles so the crown is very compact. When an old frond falls off, the newly exposed crownshaft is often a deep pinkish-rose color. This palm is of mature size and may flower at any time. Matt volunteered to hold up some of the leaves for the photo and seemed to be very good at peeking underneath things.

- 5:27PM: Jeff became inspired to go for a 'swing' so he jumped up onto a long rope swing suspended from one of the larger canopy trees. The remaining daylight was retreating over the horizon faster than Jeff could gain momentum...

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 5:27PM: "Weeeeee!" Jeff decided to test the strength of the chain that was holding the swing together so he went as high as he could go.

- He got tired of swinging and asked if either Paul or Matt would give him a push. They declined.

- 5:30PM: The tour ended in a collection of planted areas not far from the house. In one large Oak, this Dypsis madagascariensis was in a hurry to reach the top. The tallest stem had elongated internodes that were propelling the crown like a rocket up through the canopy towards the full sun.

- 5:31PM: "Paul did it." Matt pointed at Paul for some reason when Mike came over to check in on the tour as he was busy in the kitchen preparing what would be a great dinner.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 5:32PM: Another one of Mike's palms that certainly had bragging rights attached to it was this old and robust Dypsis bejofo. There are very few scattered around South Florida and many of the other ones that I know of are still in small containers.

- Matt believes in using all the senses to identify a palm, in this instance taste was preferred...

- 5:37PM: In the bed containing the skyscraper D. madagascariensis, other species of Dypsis could be found nearby, including this juvenile Dypsis carlsmithii.

- 5:40PM: The perfect Playground Palm. The heavily-armed nature of Salacca zalacca make it a formidable palm for keeping people or animals, in or out. The containerized individual in the lower center is actually a stolon that is still attached to the mother plant. It was placed in the 3 gallon pot to allow it to root above the ground, so it may be easily separated.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 5:43PM: Mike returned inside to finish preparing dinner while we meandered around the yard looking over the palms and talking about the differences between growing them in California and South Florida.

- The promise of appetizers made us migrate back up towards the house. Along the way I saw an opportunity to photograph this Cryosophila stauracantha with the darkened background and the white leaf undersides.

- 5:51PM: Paul cut the cheese, then it got real quiet... Watching the 'snark duel' between Paul and Matt was more than worth the trip to the garden. Matt was figuring out when not to comment when Paul had a knife in his hand. He returned the disturbing comment with a searing glare.

- 7:20PM: We dived into the meat and cheese quite efficiently, as we had plenty to talk about and time to wait as we would be soon joined by Andrea Searle and Dr. Peter Balasky for dinner. Mike, who was making another beverage run while I captured the beginning of dinner, prepared yet again a great spread for his hungry guests. The evening continued well past eight o'clock as the conversations varied along so many topics, and I do mean 'varied'. When it came time for us to depart, the Floridians wished a safe journey to the Californians who came a long ways to share in the craziness of our palm world.

Ryan

--<

[BS Man about Palms]

Good eats at Mikes place!!! And the palms rock too.

[MattyB]

Great time!!!! Mike is an amazing host and super nice guy! The garden ain't bad neither.

[Moose]

Garden ain't bad? This garden has one of the greatest selections of palms in a private garden I have seen. This was agreat thread until the photos disappeared!

Ron.