Palms, Tropical Plants Galore, The 15th Annual Fall 'Ganza in its Entirety

[doranakandawatta]

Still a dream!

I see Furcraea too...

How fast does this plant grow? (I have many babies but I can't wait!)

Many thanks, Ryan for all pics!

[Palmarum]

...I see Furcraea too...

How fast does this plant grow? ...

The Furcraea foetida cv. 'mediopicta' grown at the nursery is one of the more popular false agave type plants. It grows quickly for its size compared to actual agaves and needs little care to get established.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 10:44AM - The scent of BBQ began to waft its way through the sales area. It was still a short while until the hamburgers and hotdogs would get cooked but the smell of the preparation was strong enough. The activity throughout the sale was picking up as the afternoon approached and I had less time to photograph. With careful study, customers pick out their favorite Glory Bush, Tibouchina heteromalla, from the block on the left.

- No time for a cart. This customer grabbed two plants at the same time and carried them off in a hurry. He had a Lignum-Vitae, Guaiacum sanctum in his right hand and an Indonesian Wax Ginger, Tapeinochilos ananassae in his left.

- 1:28PM - The middle hours of the day passed quickly, between lunch time and the customer traffic -- I was all over the place. If I was not answering questions while eating, we were pulling more palms and other plants that were selling. Volunteer Carol Romney (center in the red shirt) was on hand to sell the fruit trees, as her experience and knowledge is exceptional. Lychee, mango and avocado varieties were among the more popular sellers and some of the more unusual fruit trees also sold well.

- 1:31PM - I took this moment to take a quick photo of the intersection. I helped two customers load plants from their stash in the holding area creating this space, so I used it to view the crossroads.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 1:32PM - The machine of the checkout process gets oiled regularly. This is where plants get loaded from the holding area or taken from a cart and placed on a needed trailer, towed by either a golf cart or tractor. They then get in line (if not already in line at this point) mixed in with other trailers or customer foot traffic carting plants or simply carrying them by hand.

- The location of the Landscape Palm section, adjacent to the main road, has its advantages. When customers need landscape Palms in large quantities, such as these Malayan Dwarf Coconuts, Cocos nucifera, they do not have to carry them far to a waiting trailer; or to the holding area.

- There was a steady flow of Palms from the shadehouse, all day long. This Hydriastele kasesa among a few others gets loaded and carried down...

- ... and placed in line.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 1:37PM - The afternoon hours from this point onward saw a steady pace of customer traffic. There were periods of rush where customers with questions were a few deep in queue, along with those needing help to load plants or just familiar faces that wanted to chat about their collections, the Palm and plant societies, etc. One common occurrence, is when a customer wants/needs more of a particular plant that is out on display. After checking if there are more than can be pulled, then a process starts -- usually Jeff or Larry takes a golf cart and runs out to the section of the nursery, pulls the plants and returns, writing the tags as they go... while at the same time doing what they were doing in the first place...

- Returning from one such restocking trip, Jeff Searle rests the golf cart at the road intersection along with volunteer and FM. Rob van der Borg (Borgy230) on the left and son Travis Searle on the right.

- 1:51PM - A moment of congestion along the side road. A trailer full of restocking plants on the left wait for customers to clear a path to the plant group on the right. The weather for the day was flawless. It was not so hot and lower than average humidity. The rest of the afternoon was busy and business as usual, enough to the point where taking photos became tertiary. We spent more time trying to get ready for Sunday.

The Post Tour - Jeff's House

The Friday evening Post tour happened like usual the day before, with more in attendance minus myself, as I was just too tired to go. They had the great Glock prepared spread along with the walk-n-talk, as they discussed everything in Jeff's yard, with a focus on palms and crotons. If you have seen any of my previous 'Ganza topics that featured the Friday post tour, you would have an idea of what transpired. For Saturday evening, it was a much smaller crowd and I went for a tour myself, looking for anything particularly photo worthy, waiting for others to arrive from the nursery.

- 5:20PM - Sadie, Jeff's newer dog greeted me as I entered the patio from the living room.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 5:21PM - "Scratch me please"

- A new item of construction in the yard. A new pergola was built near the corner of the house. I forgot to ask about details, beyond the obvious of planting a new vine on the pergola, but I wondered if this would be a new seating area or maybe the bar location during parties.

- It is shaded by a Beccariophoenix madagascariensis directly in behind.

- Moving through the yard, stopping and looking as I go, I came across one of the Kentiopsis pyriformis. Oddly lit by the setting sun, this palm loves this location.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- A few surprises awaited me in the yard, including this fruiting specimen. This is a mystery palm that has been in the collection since the early 1990's. It has been called Licuala sp. 'Fairchild' since Jeff collected the seed from a damaged palm during the Hurricane Andrew cleanup of 1992. The palm in the Fairchild garden was labeled just 'Licuala sp.'. The palm in the yard has finally set some seed so the legacy continues.

- The palm has similarities to other species and may be one of them, but still looks a little different.

- What a nice sight for a Palm person.

- Back in Palm Circle, the Kerriodoxa elegans looks as 'elegant' as always.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 5:36PM - Robust and flowering American Oil Palm, Attalea cohune. I continued to look through the yard for a short while then headed back to the house. I had a sense that food was being prepared so I followed my nose.

Closing out the first weekend was on tap for tomorrow...

- Friday - Saturday >> Sunday -- Friday - Saturday - Sunday

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- First Sunday, Oct. 6th, 11:24AM - Sunday morning was slow paced, with a few exceptions. We actually had a few groups of customers waiting at the gate at 9:00 in the morning. This is not entirely unusual, just has not happened in a while. The morning was spent with the usual prep and restocking, I didn't take my camera out until I saw the crowd pick up before lunch time.

- We had a pair of reptile visitors at the sale. Not the best of views, but I was shorthanded at the moment. This is 'Zash', a Lemon Blast variant or morph of the popular Pinstripe Ball Python complex of snakes. The color is bright yellow with the thin black stripes. The color is really brilliant right after she sheds her skin. She had been awoken in a hurry for transport, so I was letting her be for now.

- 11:35AM - The lunch crowd packed into the barn overhang area and went through hundreds of hamburgers, hotdogs and lots of beverages. They also used a few tables we decided to set up around the corner outside the barn.

- 12:41PM - It was already Sunday afternoon and I had a period of sales off and on within the shadehouse. It was busy along the sidewalk well into the afternoon.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 1:03PM - The almighty Nagini as she resides in her small enclosure. She is the other of Travis's snakes he brought to the sale on Sunday and spent much of the time visiting with customers when she was out and about. She is a standard Ball Python, Python regius, and the most common of pet snakes around the world. It was a bit warm on this day, so I made some custom water bowls for the two reptiles. I made this one from the cut bottom of a water bottle, which I refilled and placed in her box. Within a minute, she had encircled the plastic and had her head in the opening, slurping down the water.

- 1:07PM - One could always hear loud conversation and laughter coming from the Bromeliad section. It is usually sourced to Larry Searle (top right) and his friends and cohorts.

- 1:18PM - Another plant to restock, yet again. This time it was the 7 gallon Mammey Crotons out in the Landscape Ornamental section. A customer spotted some of them in their place in the nursery and needed to purchase one. Jeff writes the tags as Rob and Carlos off load the plants...

- ...The customer on the right looks through the batch and selected the one he wanted. Since they were headed up front anyway, he left the plant on the trailer to be carried up front.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 1:28PM - The afternoon on Sunday slowed to a crawl and between now and when 4:00 pm came, time was spent helping the customers that arrived and watching people and smaller people be themselves. Kylie Searle decided that my umbrella (which was unused throughout the weekend) made a good walking stick.

- She took off in a hurry with mom Amber Searle close behind trying to steer her in the right direction. I also managed to capture a 7 gal. Betel Nut Palm, Areca catechu, going by a customers cart.

- 1:30PM - The umbrella was hidden away at one point, but she found it again amongst the Palms of the shadehouse.

- "Yes, was there something you wanted?"

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 1:35PM - Kylie helps by picking up some of the unused cards from the shadehouse.

- 1:59PM - With two hours left in in the day, Sunday afternoon continued to keep its slow pace. A constant attendance of at least a few customers, kept the flow going in the nursery leading up to closing time. Outside by the writers tent, they were more relaxed with writing up one customer at a time.

one weekend down, one to go...

- Friday - Saturday - Sunday >> Friday - Saturday - Sunday

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- Second Friday, Oct. 11th, 9:35AM - Four days later and its the second weekend. There really isn't that much to do in those few days except pull what palms and plants that could be, which is usually not that many. The attendance for the second weekend is still highly unpredictable. We have fewer volunteers for the second weekend so we have to manage if it does get busy. Palms and plants in the main shadehouse were trimmed if needed and spaced out more to fill in the gaps created during the first weekend. Some of the species that are regularly grown in larger numbers were pulled and a few that were 'tough' for Jeff to pull were added to the sidewalk.

- The Crotons were restocked where possible. The rest of the selection was spaced out and brought forward to the sidewalk.

- A block of misc. Crotons were brought up to fill a few empty spaces left by the ground orchids.

- The tropical foliage plants, gingers, and other ornamentals along the side road were replenished where possible. A few groups of plants that were stocked inside the shadehouse were brought out and placed in shady locales outside.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 9:40AM - A few of the diehard collectors that can't ever get enough arrived throughout the second weekend. Early on this day, collector Lamar came and loaded up another cart full of crotons. With Jeff's help, he was already through the checkout before I noticed he was here.

- 9:51AM - We started the routine where we kept track of the day's attendance; noticing how long since opening there was at least one customer in the sales area. A trickle of customers arrived during the day with at least one here until about 3:00 in the afternoon. Larry answered questions in the landscape section while covering it and the Bromeliad area.

- A large Lychee gets grabbed and placed on the cart on the right along with some variegated Ginger.

- Andrea greets customers, writes receipts and arranges carts out by the tent. The two customers in the center were looking for palms and you can guess to whom she sent them to.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 10:11AM - They did not have to go far to find the palms they wanted. They picked two Spindle Palms, Hyophorbe verschaffeltii, from their block location just a few feet away.

- As the customers continued through the checkout, Jeff received an epiphany. He decided to move the remaining pottery from their spot by the fertilizer shed to a better, more visible location.

- 10:20AM - With Andrea's supervision, the pottery and other items were moved to the corner where the two nursery roads intersect.

- Carlos always seems to know when I am taking photos.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 10:22AM - He usually does something expecting to get photographed if he notices me around with camera at the ready.

- Customers like to notice what others have on their carts and it usually springs into conversations. The cart on the right carries a 3 gallon Johannesteijsmannia altifrons, a palm that was pulled and added to the tables during the time between weekends. We have learned that almost anything can sell at any time.

- 10:27AM - The shadehouse saw foot traffic during the morning hours. Some of the better interactions were with those who were new to the Extravaganza. They didn't know about the sale until they drove by. They entered the shadehouse and were instantly amazed at the variety in the Palm family.

- Moving them over seemed to be a good idea, as they started to sell over the weekend.

Ryan

[Zeeth]

- A new item of construction in the yard. A new pergola was built near the corner of the house. I forgot to ask about details, beyond the obvious of planting a new vine on the pergola, but I wondered if this would be a new seating area or maybe the bar location during parties.

- It is shaded by a Beccariophoenix madagascariensis directly in behind.

This palm is super nice! My thoughts on seeing the first picture were "that looks like a dwarf coconut, weird that there'd be one planted in that area where something rarer could have been. The leaves really do look so much like Beccariophoenix on coconuts, this might as well be one of those!"

Then I saw the caption lol.

[Palmarum]

- 10:37AM - We were looking around at the nursery landscaping planning ahead to the Biennial and thinking of what needs to be done by then. Palms like the Sagisi, Heterospathe elata, look flawless all the time with little or no care. The charismatic 90º twist to the leaves and the newly emergent copper-red new leaf have made it an easy choice for collectors. The bushy tree in behind is a Rainbow Eucalyptus, Eucalyptus deglupta, a mere 6-year old tree. Jeff is still thinking about what to do with the Raphia australis there on the left. It has since flowered and expired to the best of its ability. I figured to remove or 'top over' the head and plant epiphytes on the trunk, but the entire tree will probably be removed.

- 10:41AM - "Wow..." The customer on the left stops to admire the spines and swollen trunk of the Cuban Belly Palm, Acrocomia crispa.

- 11:31AM - Lunch time was almost upon us. A tentative plan to order pizza was on the table. Certain customers left to eat and then returned. One load of discount crotons gets carried off to the holding area.

Ryan

[Rory]

Hey Ryan, or Jeff if he sees this, any idea how long that K. pyriformis has been in the ground? I had heard K. oliviformis was the only Kentiopsis that did well once put in the ground around here, which doesn't appear to be the case if that pyriformis has been there awhile.

[Jeff Searle]

Off of the top of my head, it's been in the ground now 6-7 years. I have a wire tag around it with the date and what size it was when planted, but it's pushing 9pm now.

This species has proven to be just as easy to grow as K. oliviformis.

[Rory]

Good to know, might have to give one a try myself after hearing that. Thanks for the info.

[Palmarum]

Hey Ryan, or Jeff if he sees this, any idea how long that K. pyriformis has been in the ground? I had heard K. oliviformis was the only Kentiopsis that did well once put in the ground around here, which doesn't appear to be the case if that pyriformis has been there awhile.

Hi Rory,

K. pyriformis looks to be a real winner as a palm for S. Florida, and pretty much anywhere else that K. oliviformis grows and excels. I make it a point to examine and photograph that specimen featured earlier in the topic, whenever I am at Jeff's house. It seems to crank out a new leaf or two, between visits. There is another specimen near the driveway which is smaller, but doing just as well and I think there is a third one in the yard somewhere.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 11:51AM - Almost midday on the second Friday. With the sun almost directly overhead it made for some interesting shots of the Landscape Ornamental section. With the reduced pace of the sale, anything that gets sold can be quickly restocked.

- Larry discusses business and plants with the customer as she waits for her helper to return with another cart. She grabbed the majority of this one type of Bougainvillea.

- 12:06PM - Lunch time for all. Dumbo2 helps herself to a near empty pizza box while the rest of us figured out what to do for our own lunch.

- 1:37PM - After we ate, the afternoon hours were upon us as the fourth day of the 'Ganza continued. As Jeff rides by on the golf cart, he shouts something to get a response from Andrea's relatives residing in the tent.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 1:57PM - We answered questions and digested a filling lunch while maintaining a watchful eye over the sales area. Dumbo2 gets all of the attention. Jeff gives her a scratch while Andrea talks with the customer couple on the left.

- 2:11PM - One of the most popular and newer plants of the Extravaganza, 'Charlie' - Stromanthe. It has been tested in different landscape situations and has performed very well. It is named after local horticultural legend Charlie McDaniel, as it was originally one of his most favorite plants in his collection. We sold out of them by the second Saturday.

- 2:45PM - As the afternoon went on, the attendance started to slow. With about two hours left in the second Friday, the flow of customer traffic was above average, so far as second weekends go. Jeff was on writer duty for the time being as his sister Kathy manned the registers on the left.

- 3:20PM - This unique and unknown palm has continued to be a mystery for the entire time it has held residency at the nursery. We have had ideas and possibilities, but it continues to be simply known as the Coccothrinax sp. with the real small and compact crown. It has about 8 to 9 ft (2.5m) of trunk that rises out of that patch of Costus. It has been flowering, but the compact nature of the crown makes spotting the seed difficult until it is too late. One day we will figure out what it is, or get it described and authored. Every now and then, Jeff will be offered an exorbitant amount of money for the palm, but as always he refuses to sell the one-of-a-kind oddity. The palm with the silver leaf undersides on the right is the native Leucothrinax morrisii, Key Thatch Palm.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 3:26PM - The second Friday of the 'Ganza was coming to a close, and the constant customer streak ended for a brief period around 3 o'clock. More customers arrived shortly there after as the late crowd began their staggered and random appearances up until closing time. These customers were those that had just gotten off work, or left early. Larry helps a customer by carrying and towing her Bromeliads up to the registers.

- A quick photo of Larry as he passes by, noticing the camera at the right time, with two plants of the same Vriesea cultivar in his hands.

- Friday - Saturday - Sunday -- Friday >> Saturday - Sunday

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- Second Saturday, Oct. 12th, 7:27AM - Sunbeams... Sunlight rises over the South Florida coast as morning comes on the second Saturday of the 'Ganza. I arrived early and took photos as I was waiting for Jeff and/or Larry to show up first. It is probably a good thing those high tension towers do not have ladders, as I would be on them photographing too often.

- The parking lot turf grass holds on for another day. A few ruts here and there mark some of the damp, slippery spots where a little extra horsepower was needed to move through them. Some areas further down had to be taped off. They had a tendency to pool water and could trap cars. We had to pull out a stuck vehicle or two during the first weekend.

- Time to start the day...

- 8:23AM - The usual prep work was completed and the sale opened at 8:00AM to a slight breeze. Another day of phenomenal weather was expected and we looked forward to enjoying it. Using the Royal Poinciana as a giant glare hood, I photographed the incoming sunlight as it shone through everything.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 8:29AM - Jeff assists a pair of early customers in the holding area. He went on to describe the incredible growth rate of the Rainbow Eucalyptus planted nearby.

- 8:40AM - What remained of the Tropical Fruit trees about halfway through the second weekend. The plants remaining from the section on the right, were combined with those of this section, to fill it out. The improvised walkway came in handy, as this section can get flooded easily, even with just the nursery irrigation.

- 8:46AM - Crotons! Croton madness continued into every sale day so far. They have become one of the main companion plants for palms in the South Florida area.

"Umm... What is that noise?"

"I dunno, sounds like a lawnmower, but far away..."

- 8:54AM - We were gathered as a group at the main road intersection when we all started hearing a strange noise. We looked around, left and right and at each other puzzled, until one of us looked up. We all in turn looked up and saw this powered Paraglider sailing overhead. They have been seen in the area before, but not during the Extravaganza and not directly overhead. They were taking advantage of the gorgeous weather and sailing parallel to the power lines. It would have been interesting if they were taking aerial photos of the sale. This shot was taken without zoom (and with crap on the lens) to give you an idea of how high up they were.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 9:02AM - The slow morning was taken advantage of, in the form of restocking landscape plants. A little of everything was pulled and taken to their sections.

- 10:10AM - These two customers were on a mission for some Heliconias. They had already grabbed what was left in 3 gallon pots and had put them on their cart, but they wanted more. With Andrea's (obscured on the right) guidance, they proceeded around the nursery together as the workers dug up Heliconia rhizomes for them to buy. They had their pick of what they wanted. On the left, volunteer Derek Burch was on hand to answer any and all questions.

- Looking to the left from the shot above, the flow of the second Saturday morning was typical. The afternoon was the big question, as it has repeatedly been the busiest time period (of the second weekend) over the history of doing the 'Ganza over two weekends.

- 10:12AM - The light was perfect illuminating the opening leaf underside of this Kerriodoxa elegans. I noticed it as I was walking by, as if the palm was waving, so I had to take the photo. This 10 gallon plant along with a lone 3 gallon were all that was left of the group.

Ryan

[doranakandawatta]

This is a wonderful Kerriodoxa elegans!

Thank you.

[doranakandawatta]

Orania ravaka next to Kerriodoxa seems to be good looking too!

[Palmarum]

- 10:21AM - Shadow and all, the activity began to pick up as more people arrived.

- 10:39AM - With their new Heliconia collection in tow, the customers from the rhizome scavenging trip headed on through to the checkout.

- 10:41AM - With or without flash. Photographing the color blue on a plant is unusual and often tricky when it comes to replicating it correctly. The blue color found on the bloom of these Blue Tango - Bromeliads, Aechmea cv. 'Blue Tango', is quite showy in person but can appear differently in different light sources...

With flash...

Without flash... You choose.

- In this instance a tripod should have been used, but didn't have one with me.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 11:18AM - The main shadehouse, as per the nursery itself, is often treated as a compact botanical garden by certain attendees to the sale. They will often come with beverage of choice in hand and slowly peruse the plant selection, commenting as they go. The remaining orchids were moved from under the barn to the rack on the right, which promptly sold the lot.

- 11:22AM - Andrea's mother Terry writes up a receipt for a customer with a mix of different plants.

- 11:33AM - "Smile, but hold it for a few seconds." Karen and Larry pose for a moment, as the seconds grew, as I had to wait for the customers in the background to move past.

- 11:35AM - The frequency of new arrivals increased as we got closer to lunch time. A pair of coordinated University of Florida fans enter the sales area donned in school colors.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 12:05PM - The spirit of Palm exploration and enlightenment exists in this rather abstract photo of the shadehouse interior. Jeff (that red blur) will often be discussing and describing a particular palm to a customer(s) and then lead them into the shadehouse to see a large specimen in person. In this moment you could hear the 'oohs and ahhs' echoing through the palm fronds as they look over a huge Cyrtostachys sp. 'Hybrid' behind the tape. The customer was rather enthralled by it, but we only had one size left for sale... the big one on the sidewalk.

- 12:38PM - Andrea was doing everything up by the tent, greeting customers, informing new ones about the sale, writing up receipts, and discussing everything else.

- 12:41PM - One customer's Palm load, in progress. He was approaching, from down the sidewalk with another one to add to the almost full cart. In addition to the many 1 gallon Chamaedorea metallica, he had a tall 7 gal. Licuala peltata in the center, with a 7 gal. Licuala sp. 'Yal-Bral' out in front and a 3 gal. Dypsis lutea on the right in the corner.

- He made it back up to his cart, carrying his new Licuala parviflora. Next, we had to make room for it.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 12:42PM - After lunch time, there was a strong flow of customer activity through the sale. To the point where people were moving around quickly and the line started to back up at the registers. The customer on the left got his Licualas stowed away on the cart and stopped to talk with Andrea, who was discussing healthcare related topics with the two customers on the right.

- 1:03PM - A customer wanted this robust 25 gal. Copernicia fallaensis but needed some extra elbow grease to get it to their vehicle, and to get it loaded. Carlos already had it on a large cart and tied up, as Antonio was getting the tree dolly on the left. The line was backed up to this point so they had to wait. We told the customer they could bring their vehicle into the sales area to load it. Rob made sure nothing happened to the price tag.

- 1:05PM - Two minutes later, it was through the checkout. It really needed to be planted as soon as possible. It was rooting into the cart deck.

- 1:06PM - After a quick unload of other plants and repositioning the shipping blanket, the heavy palm was loaded, head first for easy removal.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 1:10PM - The power of desire won out. The customer that was earlier enthralled by the appearance and story behind the Cyrtostachys sp. 'Hybrid' bought the last one out for sale, the 10 gallon specimen left on the sidewalk. After the customer paid for their group of plants, they could not fit everything into their vehicle, so the Cyrtostachys was left in the holding area until they returned.

- The coloration on this individual was forming nicely. The intermixed red color and light orange hues were getting brighter, while the green stripes and streaks were still present. It was apparent that the color seemed to be intensifying from one leaf base to the next, from bottom to top. I like all the color variations, whether they be light or dark, more red or less red, I think they each have their own character. Still need to think of a name for this palm...

- 1:23PM - A cart rests by the holding area as the owner ran off to grab another plant real quick. It was loaded with a little bit of everything; 'Honey Coral' honeysuckle vine in the lower left corner, a Flowering Anthurium, various different Bromeliads, a Bridal Bouquet (Plumeria pudica) in the back, and an × Ascocenda orchid laying across the plants on the right. A still life of flora, hodgepodge style.

- 3:32PM - 'Ganza Tent Time Machine. For anyone who remembers the Broward County Palm & Cycad Society from the 1990's, you should recognize John and Susan Gibson. They were key members of the board of directors and principle volunteers who created the society, kept it running and expanding it to its height in the mid 90's. They came by for a quick visit in the late hours of the second Saturday. Jeff and I had not seen them for a few years. We rehashed old memories making the 1990's seem present.

Ryan

[Palmarum]

- 4:00PM - "What a purdy' sight." The remaining hour of the day was spent assisting the customers in the sales area and looking through the palms in the nursery landscape. We were moving through an area by the main shadehouse when Jeff reminded me that the Coccothrinax sp. 'Azul' was in flower. Upon closer inspection we noticed it was in fruit, and said fruit was beginning to ripen. The anticipated fruit was turning soft and purple. An eager sight for any Coccothrinax collector. We were checking the ground for any that might have fallen off already.

- 4:59PM - Closing time. It was the end of a busy day for a second weekend. Volunteers were leaving, chatting or going other places while the staff was doing end of day errands. One customer was left in the sales area, packing his new plants away in his 1980 Mercedes Benz 450 SLC. He has been to the Extravaganza many times and has turned this packing into an art form. I offered to help, but he usually has it all done in his mind so it gets done well, just takes time.

- 5:00PM - The automobile is in perfect condition. It is as if the car just rolled out of the show room. He mentioned it was a common body type, but a unique version of the model. With specialty window fixtures and a different engine. When certain models arrived in the U.S., (1979-1980) they were considered underpowered as the engine and related systems were 'lowered' to meet new emission standards. This version had the original engine that Mercedes Benz had intended it to have.

- Every nook and cranny was used for plants. No space was spared. He mentioned having plants stick out the sunroof once before. Notice the over-sized safety bumpers common to the car model. We chatted for a short while, then I left to head home to work on stuff for Sunday...

- Friday - Saturday - Sunday -- Friday - Saturday >> Sunday

Ryan

[Walter John]

All plants look in top notch condition, well done Jeff. Thanks Ryan.

[BS Man about Palms]

Wow... I missed being there..

[BS Man about Palms]

And I love any classic car.. Thanx for the stellar reporting Ryan!! Congrats Jeff, Andrea and all others on another great sale.

[BS Man about Palms]

And this last post is so it won't take me 5 mins to load what I saw when Ryan continues !