Dear Palm Enthusiast,
Our General Meeting is on Monday, October 6 at 7:00 pm at the Corbin “A” Building in Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden. Our speaker, Dr. Patrick Griffith, the Executive Director of the Montgomery Botanical Center, who will present:
Searching for the World’s Largest Coconut on the Palmyra Atoll
The Palmyra Atoll is right at the center of nowhere in the Pacific Ocean, 3,300 miles southwest of North America and 3,300 miles northeast of New Zealand. Until last November, no one had collected any of the remarkable native coconuts in over a century. But then Dr. Patrick Griffith and his team from Montgomery Botanical Center traveled to the atoll to observe and collect seeds of the Palmyra palm. They brought back nearly a dozen Palmyra coconuts and they are reportedly all growing well in MBC’s greenhouse. Special thanks to Lenny Goldstein for his post on Facebook (much of which I copied).
You are invited to bring your favorite potluck dish to enhance the food table and we’d also be very appreciative if you’d donate plants for our auction. They don’t need to be palms. Meetings are open to the public. Members can participate in the plant auction.
See you there, Monday night!
Other Activities Not to be Missed:
November 1: Fall Garden Tour at Dr. Block’s Botanical Garden in South Miami. Long ago, he realized the great benefits of using reverse osmosis water for irrigation. He continues to add to his garden, including rare aroids and other plants. Tour and lunch planned from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm. The road in front of Dr. Block’s home is narrow so carpooling is encouraged. Reservations will be required. I will pass along instructions on how to RSVP as we get closer to this date.
November 8-9: Fall Palm Show and Sale, Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden. We had a great sale last year, and the growers will be returning, plus a few more, offering an awesome choice of palms and cycads. The sale will be held from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm each day. We plan on walking tours of the FTBG world class palm collection. More details to be posted later. If you are interested in being a vendor, please send an email to David.Lord@southfloridapalmsociety.org .
December 1: Holiday Party: We will join with our friends from the Tropical Flowering Tree Society for a holiday feast followed by a very lively plant auction. More details will be sent later.
Consider becoming a member to help support our activities. The garden tour and holiday party are free if you are a member. You can sign up on our website:
www.southfloridapalmsociety.org/join
Thank you for your support.
David Lord
President SFPS
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