The 19th Annual Fall 'Ganza - Palms at the Edge of Irma

[Palmarum]

18 hours ago, jglock1 said:

...  Judy and I still have a connection to this Palm. Several years ago it flowered and seeded. Our friend Tim O'Donnel collected the seed while Judy and I were in Borneo.  These sprouted and are now in the shade house in Fort Myers.  When they are large enough, they will go back to the Keys. ...

I had forgotten about the seed and offspring that the palm had produced. That in itself is an achievement; to have a second generation of S. Florida grown Cyrtostachys renda. Those plants will have a great story and lineage attached to them.

 

- 3:08PM - 3:38PM - Between conversations with customers and the activity level, the last hour of the day seemed to fly by. From my point of view, the sales area was filled with familiar faces. I didn't know who to talk to first, but I tried to say hello to everyone. Jeff flies down the main road (A) on route to the second shadehouse to pull a plant for a customer, as other customers work through the landscape plants. Jeff and Andrea load a smaller delivery order (B) in Jeff's truck bound for the coast. That tall flowering tree sitting in the cart to the left of center was going to be tricky to load. One of the last groups of plants to leave the shadehouse included a 7 gal. Betel Nut Palm, Areca catechu, a 7 gal. Red Sealing Wax Palm, Cyrtostachys renda, a 3 gal. Aphelandra sp. and those yellow flowers belong to a 3 gal. 'Lemon Kiss' Spathoglottis Ground Orchid.

- The sale concluded with a pair of familiar faces. I was describing a landscape plant to a customer when I looked over my right shoulder, and to my surprise I saw Forum member Elvis Cruz (Elvis Cruz) and IPS Director and FM. Cindy Adair (Cindy Adair) walking towards me. Hurricane Maria had just hit Puerto Rico a couple weeks prior and we didn't have much info about Cindy's whereabouts, let alone thinking she would surprise everyone at the nursery. I didn't have a chance to speak with them for long as the sale was wrapping up, but they did find Jeff, and they chatted for a while. I would guess the focus of the conversation was hurricane related, as it was the overall theme for the 'Ganza for both weekends. Hopefully, the next hurricane season will be much lighter. (crosses fingers)

Ryan

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[Palmarum]

31 minutes ago, Missi said:

I'm intrigued! I SO wish the customer was a member here! Why isn't he?!  Can you please tell me more about this micro-environ bubble he's building inside? his house? Is it a kit you can purchase and have assembled, or it is just completely custom? More details for me to dream and drool over, please! 

He may be a Forum member, I am not sure as it didn't come up in the conversations, but he did seem knowledgeable about palms. Palms didn't seem to be his first plant group but he did know names and liked them when he saw the selection in the shadehouse. The way he described it, it is a custom-built enclosure positioned in the interior of one part of his house, similar to that of an atrium, but with specific control features for tropical plants. I am not sure if its illuminated by natural or artificial light, or may be both. It seemed quite large in both square footage and height, as did the house in general. It had systems for irrigation, drainage, humidity, and temperature control and I am also figuring control over airflow, as when I mentioned stagnant air causing problems, he said it wasn't an issue. It seemed all completely custom and was one of many hobbies he enjoyed.

I have seen similar enclosures/attached glasshouses/plant windows/indoor greenhouses/tropicariums before, both in person and in correspondence over the years (old slang term 'bubble' was for most any-sized artificial environment, usually for plants or for a specific species of finicky-to-grow plant, tropical or otherwise). It is interesting to meet a plant person who has their entire plant world in an artificial environment they often made themselves, the extreme end of zone pushing. I have noticed over the years, many collectors who enjoy this form of horticulture are very private about it, for various reasons and often do not go about showcasing or bragging about it; online or anywhere. One email long ago from one such person involving a palm-related question turned into a long correspondence that took place over years, but it took several years just to get a description of the actual enclosure, which was phenomenal.

Ryan

[Missi]

On 12/14/2017, 5:53:37, Palmarum said:

He may be a Forum member, I am not sure as it didn't come up in the conversations, but he did seem knowledgeable about palms. Palms didn't seem to be his first plant group but he did know names and liked them when he saw the selection in the shadehouse. The way he described it, it is a custom-built enclosure positioned in the interior of one part of his house, similar to that of an atrium, but with specific control features for tropical plants. I am not sure if its illuminated by natural or artificial light, or may be both. It seemed quite large in both square footage and height, as did the house in general. It had systems for irrigation, drainage, humidity, and temperature control and I am also figuring control over airflow, as when I mentioned stagnant air causing problems, he said it wasn't an issue. It seemed all completely custom and was one of many hobbies he enjoyed.

I have seen similar enclosures/attached glasshouses/plant windows/indoor greenhouses/tropicariums before, both in person and in correspondence over the years (old slang term 'bubble' was for most any-sized artificial environment, usually for plants or for a specific species of finicky-to-grow plant, tropical or otherwise). It is interesting to meet a plant person who has their entire plant world in an artificial environment they often made themselves, the extreme end of zone pushing. I have noticed over the years, many collectors who enjoy this form of horticulture are very private about it, for various reasons and often do not go about showcasing or bragging about it; online or anywhere. One email long ago from one such person involving a palm-related question turned into a long correspondence that took place over years, but it took several years just to get a description of the actual enclosure, which was phenomenal.

Ryan

Gotcha! Thanks for the additional info!  Certainly I wouldn't expect anyone to want to brag about their set-ups (but hey, if you have something like that that works - I say brag away ), but I would think they'd want to share their set-up with others who would appreciate it, or to start discussion (whether to get input or to share input), or to give others ideas. Maybe it's a generational thing, as I automatically think to post stuff of interest online (FB, IG, PT) so as to start discussions.