Sunday morning, October 5th...

- 11:25AM - Much of Sunday morning was spent restocking. We were pulling more of specific size groups where we could, and as much as we could. Even if they didn't sell, they would help fill out the sections for the second weekend. I was re-organizing the stack of signs that accumulates on the table under the tent, when I had to make room for Travis's ball pythons. They would be spending the day at the nursery enjoying the incredible cool weather we received as the front moved through the night before. The high temp for the day was going to be 74ºF (23ºC) with low humidity, so we could not ask for better conditions to have a plant sale.

- 12:00PM - I went for some lunch when I noticed a cart with what appeared to be a brindle-colored Boston Terrier on board.

- The BBQ ran out of hamburgers and only had a few packages of hotdogs left over after the first weekend. Due to the cool weather, we did have some bottled water remaining. Sodas were unaffected as nothing washes down good BBQ food better than an ice cold drink. Reminds me of years ago, when lunch at the Extravaganza included free beer. That led to some interesting activity.

- The quiet Sunday morning was giving way as customers began to arrive for food and plants.

Ryan

- 6:06PM - The tour continued as beverages were finished off and stories were shared. The garden has gotten quite full over the recent years so there are many plants tucked away in small spots.

- They reached the middle part of the backyard, far behind the pool, when Jeff tells the story behind one of the mysteries in his collection...

- The palm on the right is labeled Licuala sp. 'Fairchild' and has recently started setting seed, as Lucinda is discovering. It is a descendant from an unnamed palm that was damaged during Hurricane Andrew at, you guessed it, Fairchild Gardens.

- 6:15PM - Spur-thigh Tortoises, going at high speed.

Ryan

Cindy, top points for that skirt, you know me, I don't miss the palmtree/tropical plant based attire. And Jeff, take it easy on those large carries, that Dypsis carlsmithii for example.

- 12:25PM - "Wow, truly amazing." A first-timers reaction to entering the shadehouse can be inspiring. They can be overwhelmed, not by the display, but by the fact there are so many different palm species they didn't know existed. Customers who are at the point of knowing the ten to fifteen, more common landscape palms visit the 'Ganza and then move on to the next phase of palm-dom. I am often describing the palm family as a whole, number of genera, species, etc. The transition of a plant person from gardener or home landscaper to that of palm enthusiast is fun to witness. Later, when they go from enthusiast to collector, it is an even more special occurrence to see; as I was noticing on Sunday.

- 12:31PM - Restocking continued unabated, until the crowds of Sunday afternoon made it too busy to bring golf carts and tractors through on a constant basis. Carlos was pulling up to a spot along the side road with more ground orchids, of the Grape Swirl Passion cultivar to be specific. Immediately to my right, I could hear the sounds of another BBQ grill being prepped for service...

- 12:32PM - 'vooosh!' The orange flames are not an added effect, that is the moment of ignition caught in the photo. This one grill can sometimes be tricky to get started, so Travis lit it manually with a lighter... and some extra gas.

- Now with shorter eyebrows, Travis continued cooking on the third grill. The peak of lunchtime was about a half hour away so all three grills would be needed. He was wearing his South Florida Biennial t-shirt he got during the nursery visit.

Ryan

- 12:33PM - The BBQ grills are run like an assembly line to handle the demand. Burgers and hotdogs are cooked, and either moved to the next grill over to be kept warm, or moved directly to the serving trays. I grabbed my own lunch and headed back into the sales area as someone called me over with a question.

- 12:48PM - With food in hand, I ended up taking the long way back to the tent inside the shadehouse; answering questions, describing plants and identifying palms in the landscape along the way. The Sunday afternoon attendance was increasing dramatically as I took this shot up the main road as I was walking to go eat.

During and after lunch, I traded camera for snake, as it got too busy to photograph anyway. I was spending good time talking palms with new and familiar faces. I did spend a good portion of the day walking around with one of Travis's snakes on me (or around me) showing customers what a ball python looked like.

- 3:57PM - With three minutes left in the third day of the Extravaganza, we were relaxing under the white tent after a long sale day with impeccable weather. I had gathered up the unused metal stakes and put them in that pot behind where I was sitting. They each represent a palm or plant group that was now sold out. I think the pet reptiles were enjoying the weather as much as we were. I was holding Zash when Travis went and got my camera out to take this photo, sans flash...

- ... followed by this one, with flash. Zash is a breed or morph of Ball Python, Python regius, known as Lemon Blast, which is a morph under the dominant Pinstripe form. We spent the afternoon saying 'Lemon blast, pinstripe, ball python' many times. She spent much of her visit wrapped around my arm as a bracelet, until she stretched herself out into this pose, showing her color and white underside. She had just shed the weekend before so she was bright yellow. The reason for her pose became clear soon after this photo, as she relieved herself as dainty as possible while missing me in the process. At least it doesn't happen too often.

With the first weekend wrapped up, we reposed ourselves and got ready for the second weekend. Using the four day gap to restock and polish the sales area to a fine shine.

Ryan

Second Friday, October 10th

The second Friday of the 'Ganza was mostly uneventful, but we kept busy with customers and continued to restock plants where we could. We still had at least one customer in the nursery at all times throughout the day, as we play a small game amongst ourselves where we keep track of it. The weather for the second weekend was going to be great, with a slight chance of rain on Sunday. I was surprised as to the arrival of a few collectors who came the second weekend in a row and took advantage of the slow day to look around and browse at their leisure. They looked through the remaining palms without rush and took advantage of the slower pace by asking questions and getting information.

Second Saturday morning, October 11th

- 9:07AM - With no expectations as to how the second Saturday would unfold, we treat it like any other sale day. We get to the nursery early, set up everything and wait. We had a handful of customers at the gate when we opened and they were not in a hurry. I took a moment to look over the palms planted around the holding area and photographed this Neoveitchia storckii doing its best to populate the species.

- A pair here, a solo customer there, they trickled in throughout the morning. The Fruit Trees were restocked where possible, along with the Bamboo.

- What remained of the Orchids. They were moved to a table next to the holding area where they greeted customers. They eventually went home with them as they sold out.

- Travis and Jeff riding back in from the parking lot, laughing about something, probably me or something going on behind me.

Ryan

- 9:13AM - Amber writes up an early sale as Larry gives her the price on the Aechmea cv. 'Harvey's Pride' bromeliad on the cart.

- A pair of enthusiastic customers look over a Pineapple plant, also a bromeliad, Ananas comosus. We do occasionally get someone who asks why we glued a pineapple to a bromeliad.

- 10:00AM - Jessica and Amber help two customers sharing the same two carts. They have to take a moment to sort out who is getting what.

- Once plant people see orchid blooms, its like moths to a flame.

Ryan

- 10:09AM - Both weekends received their fair share of visits by Forum members. Many we knew about and many we learned about after the fact. Multitasking on his phone while talking with Jeff is FM. Rich (_Rich) down from Winter Haven, Florida.

- The Orchids were thinning out by the minute.

- 10:26AM - Andrea walks out to greet customers as they enter the nursery.

- 10:32AM - The customer pictured above selecting an orchid, brings her family over to talk with Karen and Larry.

Ryan

- 10:35AM - One key reason for the second 'Ganza weekend is for the 'second trip'. The needed trip to the nursery following the first where a customer has the opportunity to get more of a particular plant they didn't get enough of during the first visit. Even after purchasing and planting dozens of Podocarpus, one might find they need more.

- 10:51AM - Jeff adds up the total while describing a mix of plants to a frequent customer.

- A typical scene for the second weekend. FM. Rob van der Borg (Borgy230) chats with Frank 'Pops' Searle on the golf cart, while Andrea talks with Rich on the right.

- While standing under the Poinciana next to the holding area, I just happened to notice a large group gathered at the far end of the main road, way down by the end of the landscape plant section. They were separate groups that just happened to be there, including one group that seemed really interested in something over to the left, between the shadehouses.

Ryan

- 11:01AM - Customer traffic and demand became just high enough to warrant some specialty pulling trips from around the nursery. Usually it was for another individual plant; a third to go with the two left in the section and so on. During one such trip, Jeff stopped for a moment to talk with friend Chris.

- 11:34AM - Travis has training in the more advanced arts of BBQ grilling.

- In case you were wondering, he does wash his hands.

- 11:40AM - The second weekend is short on volunteers so we were stretched all over the sales area. I was making a pass through the shadehouse as I saw a group of customers enter the side entrance. As I approached, a 3 gal. Zamia vasquezii was getting added to a cart, in amongst a few Licuala grandis. There were a few periods where it seemed busy. I alluded this to the fact that we were short handed and it merely appeared that way.

Ryan

- 12:07PM - It was two days past Rob's birthday so a multilayer, chocolate ice cream cake was presented to him and sub-sequentially devoured by everyone. Kylie approved of it.

- 12:24PM - Travis cooked up the remaining hotdogs and some extra burgers for lunch. A can of chili worked its way in there somehow. Rob gets into his cake on the left while volunteer Derek Burch grabs a hotdog.

- A customer wanted a group of 'White Bird's', White-bird-of-Paradise, Strelitzia nicolai, and needed help to load them in their vehicle. They were pulled directly from the nursery section and brought up to the checkout.

- 12:47PM - Colorful Bromeliads. They were moving in and out of the shadows before hitting the bright, midday sun for the photo.

Ryan

Off the hook!!! I spotted a very large dypsis managerensis in there ( post 21 , 3rd pic )..... Unbelievable selection available!!

... I spotted a very large dypsis managerensis in there ( post 21 , 3rd pic ).....

Going back to that post I now notice I forgot to mention that Mealybug Palm. It was on the corner of the trailer in amongst that huge order from the first Friday. It is one of the largest specimens of D. mananjarensis ever sold at the Extravaganza. Even though it wasn't the rarest or largest item in the group, it was definitely one of the more awesome palms to grace those trailers.

------

- 12:51PM - Eager to try out his brand new iPhone 6, Rob notices me taking photos and responds in kind.

- Jeff chats up a few of Andrea's friends who are frequent visitors to the 'Ganza.

- 1:35PM - Even late on the fifth sale day, unusual palms still made their way out the gate. One customer's rolling stash included a 3 gal. Old Man Palm, Coccothrinax crinita, a tall Verschaffeltia splendida also in a three gallon pot, followed by a 7 gal. Coccothrinax sp. 'Hybrid'.

Ryan

- 2:08PM - A good portion of the afternoon became the Kylie show. She is seen here playing with Travis after discovering the ice in the bottled water cooler. She couldn't stop laughing.

- I went level with the table to capture her expression, then she decided to throw ice at me... followed a stern and low toned "Kylie... Jayne..." from Travis on my right...

- Then a brief pause and sad "awwww" as Travis said no more ice.

Ryan

- 2:32PM - Kylie makes a new friend and they proceeded to run back and forth in the Croton section, gathering leaves along the way.

- 2:47PM - The demand for ground orchids was a constant over all six days of the sale. Carlos moves in a hurry to restock the purple Ground orchids as customers waited.

Ryan

- 3:18PM - Back inside the shadehouse... The afternoon continued to bring in customers, the occasional collector and a few Forum members that were unable to attend the first weekend. Jeff describes the age and growth rate of the Mealybug Palm, Dypsis mananjarensis, (left of center) that was pulled for FM. Jerry (Pez).

- Now with palm in tow, Jerry makes his way back up the shadehouse sidewalk.

- 3:38PM - With about an hour left in the second Saturday, time was spent restocking certain plant groups for the following last day of the sale. Andrea finds plants to pull as Jeff writes the tags, with Kylie's assistance.

- Running low on plants to pull, Jeff tags Kylie for sale.

Ryan

- 3:39PM - The remainder of the fifth sale day continued to be busy right up until closing time. We pulled plants where we could. Before running off to get more plants on his golf cart, Jeff takes a moment to identify a plant via photo via smart phone. The customer's hat is an ideal way to deal with mosquitoes.

Ryan

Second Sunday morning, October 12th

- 10:18AM - The oncoming front that threatened to soak Sunday morning moved through earlier than expected and blew through during the overnight hours. It left dry, cool weather that felt very good with low humidity and bright sunshine. The slow pace of Sunday morning left me with extra time to go through and look for palms to trim. This Pinanga speciosa had a stubborn, persistent leaf base that would not come off the weekend before. It was now loose and came off with ease revealing bright colors.

- To our surprise, the morning included brisk activity. For the sixth day, usually the morning is very slow but there was an early crowd.

- An early grab included two seven gallons, a Sugar Palm, Arenga pinnata, and a tall, striking Kentiopsis oliviformis, along with a 3 gal. Areca camarinensis. These palms were now on their way to the Hemingway Home & Museum in Key West.

- When I entered the shadehouse first thing in the morning, I noticed this bright pinkish-red signal far behind the tape and sidewalk. It was practically waving at me. I waded through the section of palms to find this newly emerging leaf on a Sunset Palm, Calyptrocalyx albertisianus, lit by the sunrise.

Ryan

- 10:25AM - A cropped, zoomed view of the colorful leaf. The sunlight was bleaching the color out a bit, but it was still perfect eye candy. The palm looked phenomenal so it was tagged on the spot and pulled for sale. When you look this good on a sale day, you're going to the sidewalk.

- 10:48AM - Jeff gives a 'thumb's up' as he pulls a customer's cart up to the holding area.

- 10:51AM - The details on this multi-headed, grafted Croton collection are hard to make out in the photo, but there are five different cultivars grafted and growing together on this one plant. Jeff brought it out to show people as a conversation piece. Horticulturalist and grafting expert Crafton Clift made the grafts a few sales ago. If you scroll through older Extravaganza topics you will find photos of him in action. I think there were seven grafts to begin with and five took hold.

- As the volume of plant material began to shrink, certain sections were consolidated and combined with others. This is a typical maneuver for the second weekend. The remaining Aroids were brought up and placed on tables along the sidewalk as their section was closed off.

Ryan

- 8:56AM - Classic scenario for in front of the holding area. On the right, FM. Mike Harris (waykoolplantz) moves his stash from the holding area onto a waiting trailer with Justin ready at the helm. Andrea and Kylie make sure that he gets all his plants. The stash included a mix of Palms and Crotons, including one 7 gal. Drymophloeus sp. 'Patipi' a.k.a sp. 'Irian Jaya', the tallest palm on the trailer.

- Tractor and trailer swing out to form another lane at the checkout, with carts on the inside lane.

- Bright light. Grower, collector and FM. Ellis Brown (EllisB) was walking towards me with palm in hand when he crossed into the direct, morning sun right as I was taking the photo. He is carrying a 3 gal. Caryota ophiopellis, the Snakeskin Palm.

- Croton collectors Lamar and Mike trade laughs with Andrea as they move part of their new spoils to the holding area.

Ryan

Seems that Mike Harris leaves with a trailer load every sale. More crotons now then in the old days when he was filling the property with palmyness.

Moose, on 15 Nov 2014 - 12:19 PM, said:

Seems that Mike Harris leaves with a trailer load every sale. More crotons now then in the old days when he was filling the property with palmyness.

It is the circle of tropical plant collecting. Once the palms he has gotten over the years got large, they created shaded spaces underneath. Perfect locations for crotons. It is why he has hundreds of croton cultivars growing under his hundreds of palm species and is adding to them all the time.

Ryan

- 11:02AM - "Well, did we get everything?" Two customers, most likely family members, shared the same cart and filled it to near capacity with various plants, including a Kula Gardenia, a Queen Emma Crinum Lily, a Buddha Belly Bamboo and a few different palms. They brought the cart up to the front area where the checkout process begins with Jeff greeting them on the left.

- Jeff brings the cart over to the writers tent where he is informed that the plants need to be divided into two groups.

- After a quick sort, the tags are collected from the plants and handed to Andrea. She writes the prices down and hands over two receipts.

- While the checkout was going on above, I looked to my right and down the main road to see the relaxed pace of the last day unfold. The customers that were in attendance were not in a hurry. This seems to be the main trend of the second weekend.

Ryan

- 11:25AM - The order bound for the Hemingway Home and Museum reached the point of capacity for the would-be transport vehicle. It was then time to compile the plants from around the holding area and load them onto a waiting trailer.

- It was a great mix of palms, crotons and other plants.

- Mystery palms are one of the key things that draw many of us into this crazy palm world of ours. One such mystery has resided near the front of the main shadehouse for almost two decades. This unknown Coccothrinax has been growing very slow but very well for a long time. Its debut during the Biennial visit didn't help much to identify it, to my knowledge. The compact, rounded crown will continue to inspire those palm enthusiasts who visit the nursery. The leaves get removed at irregular intervals, but I think it looks better with the full skirt -- almost gives it a Hemithrinax type look.

- 12:12PM - Decisions, decisions. I was helping customers decide between two different palm species when Jeff came into the shadehouse to look for a palm off the sidewalk. Their mind was made up. They got those two Vampire Palms, Calyptrogyne ghiesbreghtiana, on the back of their cart. Sometimes the hardest choice among palms is between two species that are very close in size and habit.

Ryan

- 12:16PM - Being the sixth day of the Extravaganza, Jeff usually has extra time to show customers to different areas of the nursery. This includes areas within the shadehouses that are otherwise off limits during the busy times of the sale. With his arm already full with palms, this regular customer showed interest in Johannesteijsmannia perakensis. We only had a single 3 gal. for sale, but it sold first thing on the morning of the first Friday. Jeff brought him behind the tape to show him the block.

- 1:44PM - Since we don't have the BBQ on the second weekend, many customers either bring their lunch with them or they leave to go eat lunch nearby. During this downtime we were eating our own lunches under the white tent inside the shadehouse. After a short while, we noticed this batch of one gallon palms being assembled under the tent, wondering if it was a customer's stash...

- Nope. It was Kylie going around the shadehouse gathering up palms.

- One at a time, she would carry them from their group on the sidewalk or on the table to her stash. This 1 gal. Ravenea hildebrandtii was next on her list.

Ryan

- 1:45PM - We didn't know what was motivating her. It could have been pure two-year old energy or Hawaiian Punch that was making her run around gathering palms.

- If it was in a one gallon pot, she was going to move it...

- ... Including this nearby Licuala peltata var. sumawongii, one of a few gallons left in the group.

- Amber distracted her away from the palms for a moment so Travis could sneak up on her...

Ryan

- 1:47PM - Tickle attack ensues...

- With the diversion aside, Kylie went back to the palms.

- The smaller palms and seedlings were easier to move. The four inch sized palms were thinned out over the two weekends. Kylie moved this Acanthophoenix crinita very carefully, while minding the tiny spines.

- No palm was safe from the move, including this Burretiokentia grandiflora.

Ryan

- 1:51PM - Kylie showed no signs of slowing down. She kept going, making her pile bigger and bigger, until she ran out of those one gallon palms she could find; covering herself with dirt and potting soil in the process. She tried lifting the three gallon palms but they were a bit too heavy. Next sale perhaps.

- 1:57PM - With only two hours left in the Fall 'Ganza, the sales area still had a fair amount of customers. A small group went through and filled this cart with all sorts of palms and aroids.

- 2:12PM - As the afternoon started to wind down, everyone began to gather up by the holding area. The last customers of the day began to tow their carts up to the registers. Andrea plays with Kylie who, after a change of clothes, was back at being herself. People began to wonder where Jeff was...

- He had been around the nursery on his golf cart giving a tour. This is pretty much how time during the second weekend is spent, compared to the craziness of the first. We spent the last hour gathering up signs, cleaning, doing last minute deliveries and thinking of ways to keep improving the sale for the future.

Ryan

----<

Kylie, you adorable little girl, that was so funny to read Ryan, my wife Donna and I were having a great giggle. I reckon she was watching the customers build their stash and mimicked them, either way, she's grabbed some nice plants.

Hope it all went well Jeff and Andrea, thanks for posting Ryan.

So what did happen to the order for Hemmingway ?

... So what did happen to the order for Hemmingway ?

The couple in the first photo inside the shadehouse (next to the cart, post 57, ph.#3) are two employees of the museum. They made the long trip up from Key West to shop for mainly palms for the museum grounds. They also got a lot of crotons and a few other plants. They had great plans to add the material to different areas of the property, mostly to add more detail to the open areas where they have events and weddings. They gave Jeff an invite to the museum the next time he is in Key West to see the additions, which will probably be in February during the nursery sale nearby. Knowing the climate down there, the palms they got are in the ground and growing with speed along with the crotons which will get amazing color.

Ryan

Ryan, thank you, as usual, for capturing the true essence of the event in its entirety. They are two of my favorite weekends out of the year.