Before the addiction of palms

[Palmy]

What was life like before palms? What did you think about palms? Did you care one way or another?

Before I fell in love with palms, which was when I was about 14 years of age and less, I didnt have much intrest in palms at all. I have always loved plants, never tropicals, and more wildflowers. When we moved into this house back in 1993, my mother thought it would be a good idea to put a palm tree in our yard. She didnt move to california for anything! We first bought a queen palm when I was 4 years of age. Of course I dont remember any of this. I was born in 1990. My father had a queen palm too in a pot, he was more into palm trees than anybody else was, which wasnt much. So watchihng this queen palm grow up, I didnt care one way or another. At about 10 years of age, I enjoyed planting plants in the graden, but never tropicals. When we had the remodel on our house, we also did some of the outside. One of the things we moved was a BoP (Bird of Paradise) from the back fence to the front of the garden. I was involved with the move. This was about 13 years of age when I did this. I started enjoying trying to help this sick BoP and in the process I became more attached to BoP's. Only BoP's and Giant BoP's. Somehow during the process I learned about palms. I bought my first queen palm, at the age of 14, and have cared for it ever since. I didnt have any money to spend, only my allowance. Every bit of money was used to by palms. Since I couldnt get palms very often, I research them on the internet more than everything else. Now, spending thousands of dollars on palm, I dont see an end to this. Sometimes I think its a trend or something but I dont know if I will get over it or what. Another intresting problem is, I love snow and palms. Doesnt really work unless your in california. Palms or Snow?

What about you? Did you care for palms before you got intrested in them?

[rubyz]

(Palmy @ Mar. 27 2007,07:54)

QUOTE

What was life like before palms? What did you think about palms? Did you care one way or another?

What about you? Did you care for palms before you got intrested in them?

I think posters are finding it difficult to respond to your query, since it is very illogical, with all due respect.

How can you be interested in anything before you are interested in it?  ???  

[SubTropicRay]

To me, all palms were the same before I acquired an interest.  How's that for palm blasphemy?!

[chris.oz]

When I grew up we had 3 huge CIDP in our yard...... but it was many years before I saw a Bismarckia.

[Gileno Machado]

(rubyz @ Mar. 27 2007,03:30)

QUOTE

How can you be interested in anything before you are interested in it?  ???  

Well, I guess I've always been interested in plants...Maybe I didn't know there were so many species of palms around...

My mom always says that I enjoyed palms even before I was born. When she was pregnant her Doctor prescribed coconut water and she could feel how much I enjoyed that drink everyday...Unlike my brother and sister who prefered cokes and sodas, coconut water has always been my body's main liquid source...

Well I grew up among the coconut trees. Our family had a small apartment by the sea in Recife just to spend 3 months summer vacations every year (Dec-Feb). There was a coconut water vending hut just across the street on the beach (this is still quite common in Recife today, everywhere). Of course the City dveloped a lot around this beach place but in the late 60's our beach condo was totally surrounded by coconut palms, just like Sirinhaém today.

After finishing Engineering College and getting married I decided to buy a weekend beach property away from the Big city and then started collecting and planting in the yard all kinds and varieties of coconuts available in Brazil...My goal was still experimenting the best species, hybrids and crosses for water production. When my wife (who loves plants too) gave us the first Coccothrinax and we started researching other plams in the internet:...Bingo: IPS and you guys showed up, with all these lovely species wishing to come to our garden...

Ohhh how much I wish I could only drink from a Bismarckia fruit someday too...

[STEVE IN SO CAL]

Before palms, it was bird hunting, fishing, horses. Now it's infrequent bird hunting, even less frequent fishing, and zero horses(except for work). I don't want to be away from my garden too long....

[PalmGuyWC]

Humm, a quirkey subject, but interesting.  I grew up in Southern Georgia, right in the middle of where Serenoa grow.  My Father had timber properties with thousands of them, but I took them for granted.  They were considered weeds in S. Ga. My first recognition of a palm was a palm growing in a neighbors yard across from me. It was a Butia, and as a pre-teen, I always thought it was ugly and out of place. The neighbor lady was considered the neighborhood bitch and no one liked her, so that may have colored my thinking.

My mother was an avid gardener and I think her passion for plants rubbed off on me.  As a pre teen and a teen I used to help her in the garden and we had one of the nicest gardens around.  Spring was unbelieveable when the Azelias and camellias bloomed, not to mention all the annuals in the borders. We also had a large vegitable garden.

We had a "sun room" on the south side of the house and my parents allowed me to make it a plant room.  Soon it was filled with benches and just about every plant imaginable. By the age of 13, I was growing orchids, and other rare plants. A few years after that I was studying landscape architecture at the U. of Ga. A few years later I landed in Miami Fla., where after struggling for a year or two to make a living, I met Paul Drummond and soon rented a room from him.

Paul had a fabalous palm garden and lived only about 2 blocks away from Fairchild Tropical Gardens and we used to visit there at least twice a week. His passion for palms rubbed off on me, and soon I could spell Arecasterum Romanzoffianum, and even pronounce it!  I was straight out of the swamps of S. Ga and had a thick southern drawl, at the time, and it was hard for me to twist those latin names around my southern tounge.

I can remember my first palm society meeting as it was kind of dramatic, and I think that was in the early 60's.  It was at the home of Marge Corbin, and she had narrow paths lined with S. Fla coral rock with jagged edges. We were walking through the garden and the lady ahead of me snagged her recently broken little toe on a rock.  She let out an expletive that I won't mention, and swooned and fell back into my arms. She actually fainted, but soon recovered, and as soon as her eyes opened, she smiled and looked into my face and said, "And who are you, handsom"?  From that day on I was a good friend of Ruth Shatz and the Palm Society. Ruth later became treasurer of the Palm Society, a borad director, and was very instrumental in the publishing of Genera Palmarum. Ruth was quite a character and she used to make me laugh so hard, I was in tears.

Well, I'm getting maudlin, and I could go on and on, but you can see how I became intrested in palms. I've had good teachers.

Dick

[BobbyinNY]

I've ALWAYS loved palms... ever since my first trip to Florida when I was about 5.... But I only started really taking a serious interest since we bought the house.... Ironically when I lived in South Florida for 6 years, I was way too interested in partying and picking up women to worry about palms - that addiction is starting to subside

[Adrian_L]

Before I got interested in palms, all palms were the same to me too. I thought they were all coconuts. And I grew up in Malaysia.   I guess I kinda took them for granted. My dad knew a bit about palms and would tell me (in an exasperated tone) that they weren't all coconuts. He also planted a few around the yard. He still has a sealing wax that's probably about 20 feet tall now. Now that I live in California I've become very interested in them. Perhaps they remind me of my childhood in Malaysia.

[Scott]

I always liked them even as a kid. Especially after our first visit to Hawaii in 1974. But I never thought about having any or planting them until about 4 or 5 years ago. They were just something that made a place real attractive.

I wish I had gotten into them earlier - that way they'd be ALOT bigger now

[Zac in NC]

(PalmGuyWC @ Mar. 27 2007,10:08)

QUOTE

His passion for palms rubbed off on me, and soon I could spell Arecasterum Romanzoffianum, and even pronounce it!  I was straight out of the swamps of S. Ga and had a thick southern drawl, at the time, and it was hard for me to twist those latin names around my southern tounge.

Yeah. I have that drawl too, but I am losing it(or trying to anyway), but I recently heard a recording of myself and I was like, Oh God, do I really sound like that?

Now to the question. I have always been interested in nature ever since I was little. I have dabbled in numerous things, rocks and minerals, reptiles, marine biology was an interest for a time (though I cannot swim hahaha). I remember vividly, hunting Garnets with my grandfather in the mountains of Virginia, and it was spring and I found a wild Iris blooming and I knew it was an Iris, as we had Iris at the house and even though it didn't resemble the Iris at home in bloom, I knew it was an Iris. I know it to be Iris cristata now.

Also, as a child, my parents Identified the trees in the yard and I knew them. Fast forward to about 1996. I am wandering in the woods behind my other set of grandparents house and I find a Trillium cuneatum and bloodroot and pick them, bring them back and looked them up in an encyclopedia. I was hooked. Then, I started rooting Pelargoniums from cuttings and my fate was sealed. I knew I wanted to be in either Horticulture or Botany.

I have been growing native plants now for almost 10 years and I have quite a collection. I was at one point what I know know to be a "Native Nazi", you know, the kind that will only grow natives and hate the non natives. Then around 99 or 2000 I got Plant Delights Catalog and I changed my tune. See, those "non-natives'' were wildflowers somewhere. Then I bought a Trachycarpus from PDN in 2001 and I've been hooked ever since. I have I would estimate 500 plus species of plants, both native and my beloved exotics now in my garden.

Zac

[rubyz]

(STEVE IN SO CAL @ Mar. 27 2007,15:58)

QUOTE

Now it's infrequent bird hunting, even less frequent fishing, and zero horses(except for work).

Well, the birds and fish should be thankful and happy.

I think, though, giving up horseback riding completely is something you might be sorry about later on. It's good to have a few different hobbies even though you have a favorite which you devote more time to...

[Walter John]

Before the addiction of palms ?

My name was Ralph Oonagalarby and I sold toilet brushes and read latin poetry.

[rubyz]

(Wal @ Mar. 28 2007,22:51)

QUOTE

My name was Ralph Oonagalarby and I sold toilet brushes and read latin poetry.

Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper et in saecula saeculorum. ::

[Walter John]

that's easy for you to say. :laugh:

[rubyz]

(Wal @ Mar. 28 2007,23:13)

QUOTE

that's easy for you to say. :laugh:

Only because it's a repeat of what Miriam (Mary), the mother of Yeshu (Jesus) said. ::

[MattyB]

Nice one Reuven!  

My mom always says that I enjoyed palms even before I was born. When she was pregnant her Doctor prescribed coconut water and she could feel how much I enjoyed that drink everyday...Unlike my brother and sister who prefered cokes and sodas, coconut water has always been my body's main liquid source...

Gileno, that is so funny!  And, I take it, not a joke? :laugh: You are what you eat:  you're a coconut! ???

[Kris]

(rubyz @ Mar. 27 2007,02:30)

QUOTE

I think posters are finding it difficult to respond to your query, since it is very illogical, with all due respect.

How can you be interested in anything before you are interested in it?  ???  

Dear Ruby  

here we speak our heart and we do not strain our brains much,and that's how its with me at least ! and i am scared

what faults will you find in my threads since its very vague

at times..

but anyway you are new to this forum,soon you will start

reading our mind's better and also understand the inner

substance in our statements..

Iam very shure you will also start commenting in this fashion..

Love,

Kris  

[www.dadluvsu.com]

Before my palm addiction, palm trees were just something up by the beach that I could tie my hammock to and take a nap under!  :cool:

[www.dadluvsu.com]

Oh yeah, and coconuts were something that I could carefully crack open and pour in a little pinapple juice and a lot of rum to make a refreshing drink that could make me stumble around the keys!  

[BobbyinNY]

My mom always says that I enjoyed palms even before I was born. When she was pregnant her Doctor prescribed coconut water and she could feel how much I enjoyed that drink everyday...Unlike my brother and sister who prefered cokes and sodas, coconut water has always been my body's main liquid source...

Gileno,

I love Coconut water... I guess it would be better for me if I didn't mix it with Rum.... But it sure tastes great