South Florida Palm Society SFPS Miami

03/31/2026

April 6 General Meeting

Our speaker for the meeting will be our intrepid palm explorer, Laz Priegues, who, in search of unusual palms and other plants, as well as native wildlife (including snakes, frogs, and monkeys), ventured into the jungles and waterways of Masoala National Park in Madagascar. Somehow, he lived to tell about it.

The meeting is in the Corbin “A” Education Building at Fairchild. You may enter at the Education Gate at 7:00 pm. Light snacks, sodas, and water will be served. However, we're always happy for members to bring potluck dishes to share. After the presentation, there will be an auction. We appreciate donations of any plant, palm or not, to our auction.

03/17/2026

The SFPS board is hard at work planning our future events. Thank you team for your dedication and hard work.

02/28/2026

02/26/2026

It's just around the bend!!!

The 2026 Spring Show & Sale of the South Florida Palm Society will be conducted on March 7-8 next to the Gifford Arboretum at the University of Miami. Over 300 species of palms and cycads will be available for purchase from experienced growers. And those vendors will be happy to provide advice on best practices for maintaining your plants in optimum health. In addition to that, the Palm Society will offer tours of the Arboretum and Palmetum on both days.

Sale hours are 9:00 - 5:00 on Saturday and 9:00 - 3:00 on Sunday. Admission and parking are both free! For more information about the sale, including the list of species being offered, please click on this link:
https://southfloridapalmsociety.org/palm-sale/

02/09/2026

The thermometer had already started its plunge into the upper 30s when a courageous crowd gathered on February 2 for the SFPS's first meeting of 2026. They came from as far away as Key West to hear Horace Hobbs speak about his September trip to the Amazon basin of northern Peru (as well as a little side trip into Chile). He and about 60 other members of the International Palm Society gathered at a lodge near Iquitos to begin their foray through the region's wonderful aggregation of high-altitude palms and other botanical beauties. Horace shared a great collection of photos, and attendees left wishing that we could grow those species in our low, flat, usually-steamy homeland.

Following the program, Dave Lord auctioned off palms and books donated by generous members. As always, we appreciate their support.

SPECIES DONOR
Carpoxylon macrospermum Dave Lord
Coccothrinax spissa (2) Claude Roatta
Copernicia alba Ben Koubek
Gaussia attenuata Fairchild Garden
Pritchardia sp. (2) Claude Roatta
Pseudophoenix sargentii Dave Lord
Pseudophoenix vinifera (2) Claude Roatta
Sabal lougheediana Naples Botanical Garden

02/03/2026

Great presentation this evening at our general meeting. And lots of rare palms for the plant auction! Make sure you join us for the next general meeting.

01/17/2026

IT'S ON THE WAY!!! The 2026 Spring Palm Show & Sale will be held March 7 and 8 at the University of Miami. This will be your chance to get well-grown palms and cycads, along with advice on the ways in which to maintain your plants in their healthiest states. Not only that, but there will be guided tours of the university's Gifford Arboretum and Palmetum.

If you'd like to be a vendor, please send an e-mail to southfloridapalmsociety.org.

12/09/2025

The month of December got off to a notable start on the 1st with the annual holiday party of the South Florida Palm Society. For the third straight year, we were joined by the Tropical Flowering Tree Society for an enjoyable evening.

Once again Peter Ostrowsky of TFTS did yeoman's work in setting up and staffing the beverage station. He was ably assisted by Sally Philips and Val Carroll. No one went home hungry, either. There are some wonderful cooks in both clubs, and they brought their best. We feasted heartily, but, of course, not gluttonously.

And there were plants everywhere! Rhapis excelsa stems donated by the Kiem Foundation decorated each dinner table, and the assortment of live plants was stunning! Some of them were raffled off: TFTS director Paul Gehrke brought an array of new Poinsettia cultivars, and SFPS member George Bailey donated a large batch of Phalaenopsis orchids in flower.

Debbie Neville once again managed the silent auction which has become a Palm Society tradition. Before the start of the live auction, five SFPS members were elected to its board of directors for three-year terms starting in January. Incumbents Karen Bradley, Horace Hobbs, and Laz Priegues were reelected, and Ben Koubek and Clay Porch were added to the board.

Then came the highly-anticipated live auction, and it did not disappoint. As usual Ellis Brown had performed miracles in rounding up donations from a number of nurseries, and other individuals added to the really impressive collection of plants. Below is a list of those who contributed to the auction. (It's possible that in the rush of arrivals just before the party, we might have missed recording the name of a donor; if so, we apologize.) Beneath the names of contributors is a partial list of the plants that were auctioned off. Ellis Brown once again merits kudos for giving bidders information about every plant that was auctioned off.

DONORS
George Bailey
Tom Dickinson
Lewis Eastlick
Paulette Johnson
David Lord
Armando Reyes
Brad Stark
Peter Warner
J+K Nursery
Nature's Tapestry Nursery
Redland Nursery
St. Germain Nursery
Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden
Naples Botanical Garden

PLANTS
Acrocomia crispa
Agave nizandensis
Aiphanes minima
Allagoptera caudescens
Archontophoenix purpurea
Archontophoenix tuckeri
Areca catechu (dwarf)
Areca vestiaria (maroon)
Areca vestiaria (red)
Calyptrocalyx hollrungii
Carpoxylon macrospermum (multiple)
Chambeyronia macrocarpa
Chelyocarpus chuco
Chloroleucon tortum (multiple)
Chrysalidocarpus lutescens (dwarf)
Coccothrinax proctorii
Coccothrinax spissa
Coccothrinax hybrid (crinita X ?)
Codiaeum variegatum 'Fishbone'
Copernicia fallaensis
Copernicia hospita (seedlings)
Copernicia rigida
Cordyline cultivars
Cryosophila stauracantha
Cyrtostachys renda (multiple)
Cyrtostachys hybrid (renda X ?)
Dictyosperma album var. conjugatum
Dypsis rosea (multiple)
Enterolobium sp.
Guaiacum sanctum
Howea forsteriana
Hydriastele sp. 'Obi Island' (multiple)
Iriartea deltoidea
Itaya amicorum
Licuala peltata var. sumawongii (multiple)
Phoenicophorium borsigianum
Pinanga coronata
Pseudophoenix lediniana
Ptychosperma lineare
Ptychosperma schefferi
Rhapis excelsa (dwarf)
Socratea salazarii
Syagrus amara
Thrinax radiata (multiple)

11/04/2025

The Fall Show & Sale of the South Florida Palm Society is just days away -- November 8-9. Our host, Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden -- is, of course, renowned for its palms. But if you visit the Garden this weekend, you'll find displayed across its 83 acres a remarkable array of plant families from throughout the tropics. Whether you come from Chicagoland, North Texas, or Coral Gables, you won't be disappointed.

For photos of just a few dozen of the special plants being grown at the Garden, go to the Facebook group titled South Florida Palm Society SFPS Community.

10/03/2025

October 6 is almost here! That's the date of the next meeting of the South Florida Palm Society. The time is 7:00 pm, and the place is the Corbin Bldg. at Fairchild Garden, 10901 Old Cutler Rd. in Coral Gables.

Our featured speaker will be Dr. Patrick Griffith, Executive Director of the Montgomery Botanical Center. Late last year, he led an international team to the very remote Palmyra Atoll in the central Pacific Ocean to study the aptly-named Palmyra coconut, whose large, triangular seednuts set it apart from the hundreds of other varieties of Cocos nucifera. Dr. Griffith did not return empty-handed; some vigorously-growing Palmyra coconuts now reside at MBC. Come listen to him fill in the details that led to the first collection by a westerner of Palmyra seednuts in over 100 years.

Ahead of the program, light snacks and drinks will be served; as always, we welcome your contribution to the food table. We also welcome your donations of plants -- palms or otherwise -- to the auction which follows the program. We will also have two styles of SFPS t-shirts to sell at $5 apiece, and we will be giving away our bumper stickers.

Reminder: While there is no fee for attending the meeting, membership in the society is required to bid on auction plants. You can join at the meeting.

See you Monday!