July 2011 Meeting

In one or more other threads, some of you expressed an interest in a meeting on the West coast in July on a Saturday other than 2-July which conflicts with a long weekend.
I propose the following for Saturday, 16-July:
10am Meet and tour Sunken Gardens in St. Pete; admission is $8, $6 for those of us over 55; free if you are a member of a corresponding/reciprocal botanical garden like FTG.
Noon to 1pm - lunch on your own; lots of restuarants in all price ranges near-by.
1pm Tour, auction, refreshments, whatever at my place.

Comments, suggestions, ....?? If interested, speak now or forever hold your peace. As of today, Sunken Gardens has no weddings or other special events scheduled.

Palm nuts may want to visit the Kopsick Palm Arboretum in downtown St. Pete; approx 200+ species of palms and 50+ of cycads; free admission

 

Sounds like an excellent proposal to me !

 

I'm in.

 

I'm in and would be happy to help with whatever i can since this is in my backyard.

 

Brenda's after Sunken Gardens?

 

Sounds great,I had planned to visit Sunken Gardens this summer.

 

Ray,

My garden is still torched from winter. Now it's frying up & being eaten up! Hardly worth touring. Maybe next year (if we have a mild winter).

 

Just put a bunch of airlayers on in the last three days. I hope some will be ready for the auction.

How fast are airlayers this time of year?

 

Fast - 3-4 weeks depending on the variety; just do not let them dry out if we have little to no rain.

 

Thank you for your advice Phil.

Would be nice if all the West Coast crotonheads would show up. The Orlando crotonheads as well!

 

Have we got a date for this ? July 16th ?

 

Yes, Saturday, 16-July 2011

 

That's my birthday weekend. I will accept air layers in lieu of other gifts.

 

Keeping them hydrated is becoming an issue.

 

Just a thought I had this morning. I need to remove seedlings of the Mexican Oleander (Thevetia peruriana) from the garden soon. If you will be attending the July meeting and want some plants let me know and I will bring them. The flowers add a really nice fragrance to the garden.

 

Looking forward to the meeting,only 3 weeks away.I have not been to Tampa since I left Gainesville.

 

it's in St. Pete (think green benches) and not Tampa (cigars) - glad to read you'll make the meting.

 

How were society members notified of this shin dig if they aren't forum members?

 

Dean,
Great idea but the powers that be are privy to that info. I am not even sure they frequent this forum. Heck, I'm not even sure who is on the board. LOL. Is this forum and this event officially sanctioned? It's been awfully quiet lately.

 

Is the Society still around? I have heard nothing from the powers.

 

The air layers are now 4 weeks and two days on. I checked a couple and the results are not all that stellar. There are some short white healthy roots but not as many as one would expect after 4 weeks at this time of the year. I suspect that the lack of rain was a definite contributing factor. All the crotons were watered. It was so dry that only the status quo could be maintained with little root generation in the air layers.


Just curious, who is going to the meeting?

 

Ron,

Many,many air layers will not be ready after 4 weeks, even during the summer I found. The lack of rains certainly is a contributing factor for a slower root growth,IMO. What I do know and everyone else that have done air layers before, some cultivars will root much faster than others.

Jeff

 

Let me add to that Phil..it's in St. Pete (think green benches) and not Tampa (cigars) or Clearwater (Scientologists)

 

No green benches fellas AND downtown St. Pete is becoming quite the social hub. We're cool kids now!

 

Who's coming to this?

 

I've gotten 13 RSVPs so far.

 

Phil, I'll probably do a croton tour dry run next week before the real deal on the 16th. The pathways at SG can be maze-like.

 

Ray, so true. Very maze like. Don't suppose they are giving up a cutting or 2 for auction? A couple other suggestions..a couple signs made up welcoming non members to join in the fun. We may pick up a member or two. Also, if someone has an ipad or the like on 4G, it would be nice to have the wiki up so people can see them grown out. Assuming of course that Phil doesn't have stellar specimens in his garden for an up close and personal.

 

NO cuttings from Sunken Gardens !!!!!! Just about everything at Sunken Gardens is already in fairly wide distribution, e.g. Dr. Lin Yu Tang, Gilbert Cutler, Yellow Duke of Windsor, and a grunch of Mamie and Yellow Excurrens sports, and a few fmore i cannot recall as I key this in.

 

When I posted, I meant with the garden's approval of course .My apologies for not making that clear enough.

 

Looking to share a ride. Long trip to go alone, don't want to fall asleep on Aligator Alley. Will RSVP ASAP.

Anyone care to post what plants they are donating for the auction ? I will post a list as soon as it is determined which are coming. Need to monitor which air layers are looking like they are doing well.

If the Moose can't make it, I will give my donations to Jeff Searle to transport for me

 

Bren - still highly unlikely. City has all kind of wierd rules for employees there concerning dumpster diving, taking cuttings and seeds, etc.

 

The following in 3 gal size will be at auction:
Curly Boy
Col Gilbert Cutler
LadyCalire
Fishbone
Joannis
Multico0lor
Island Breeze
Yellow Duke of Windsor
King of Siam (the yellow and green one)
Cornbread
Thos. Edison
Dr Lin Yu Tang
Pride of Winterhaven - wide leaf form

Also a you-dig-it Dr Tang in the ground if any interest or for trade. May also throw in a few 1 gal misc. and assorted.

 

The rarest croton growing at S.G. is WW Coles.

For perspective South Floridians, Sunken Gardens closely resembles the old Parrot Jungle (now Pinecrest Gardens).

 

Here are the probable ones coming from my garden. Phil - thank you for providing your list, it helped me avoid bringing duplicates. Variety is the spice of life after all.

1st Photo: Andreanum

2nd Photo: Christmas

 

A couple more air layers ...

1st Photo: Eburneum

2nd Photo: Lemon & Lime

 

And some more ...


1st Photo: MacAdoo an old cultivar

2nd Photo: Piecrust aka Mortimer and the original name Undulatum

 

Two more ...

1st Photo: Robert Lavalois

2nd Photo: "Grandma"

 

Those are some nice contributions Ron,I will look and see what I can come up with also.