Tagging, Day 1

I flew into Ft. Lauderdale yesterday and I spent the afternoon and evening making appointments and preparing my wish lists. I'll be in Florida through Tuesday AM so I'm hoping I can get much of the purchasing completed. Today I will be in the Homestead, FL area visiting Botanics Wholesale www.botanics.com, Bick Farm, Acosta (Field) www.acostafarms.com , and Silver Krome Gardens www.skg.com . I'm looking for all sorts of plants for the new conservatory but my biggest priority is for the large trees since they will need to come into the building before it is closed up and because they will take up the most space.

Botanics Wholesale had many unusual genera of Palm from all over the world. I selected several species of Licuala and Rhaphis as well as Areca vestaria, the windowpane palm (Pinanga kuhlii).

I spotted a beautiful yellow flowered tree in the parking lot that I was able to tag in a smaller size, it is Bulnesia arborea. No huge trees :-(

The second stop, Bick Farms yeilded some cool flowering trees including the Orange Geiger, Pink Tabebuia, Royal Poinciana and Palms (Phoenix, Queen, and Red Latan). I took lots of notes but I'm in search of the big trees and SE Asian natives first.

The trip to Acosta (field) Farm was interesting. I parked at the end of a dirt road and waited for a man named Freddie to pick me up in his truck. I wished that I had a more conversational grasp of the Spanish language. Freddie drove me through the farm in his old pickup truck. We dodged huge ruts, puddles and swarms of mosquitoes. The field production area is just a small portion of Acosta Farms growing space and I knew I'd be headed to their container division on Saturday. I did end up tagging several trees there including some Royal Palms, Bauhinia, and Poinciana. Look at how the trees are grown in raised beds (meaning the rest of the area is swampy).
I tagged this Poinciana because it was the largest tree I'd seen thus far. It is about 20' tall and has an unusual form. It is kind of the runt of the area - left behind while other crops have been planted around it. I like that it hasn't been clipped and pruned for a formal look (what most people desire).

The last stop for the day was Silver Krome Gardens. In the middle of a rainstorm at 4:30 PM the owner's son Bill gave me the grand tour. I got the lay of the land and discovered many fantastic plants that will add the finishing touches to the conservatory. Check out this 'Thai Beauty' Caladium.

Until Tomorrow!