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Central Florida Palm & Cycad Society

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Tour of the Joe Ayo's Palm Garden Citrus Park, FL Tour Date: Spring 2001 Page 1 <%EnlargeMessage%>
	Palm Seed Incubation Closet This closet is maintained at between 90 and 98 F degrees by a small space heater. This is my current batch in May 2001. The cups are clear so I can spot roots and many cups have as many as ten seeds each, there are approximately 30 species of palms and cycads represented in this closet.  The closet is constantly revolving, many germinate in about 30 days and newer seeds are arriving monthly. Each cup has 6 nail holes for drainage, plastic saran wrap topping to maintain moisture and keep out bugs. Germinated palm seedlings are removed and taken outside every 5 days.		A few pots with baby palm trees that surround the perimeter of the house. The house in many circumstances is used as a giant sundial that by positioning pots at varying proximities to the house's shadow, the amount of direct sunlight given to the palm can be regulated.
	Window sills full of germinated and developing palm trees in cups. Along the ground are the shade loving baby palms.		Newly poured concrete sidewalk, an ongoing project to have a sidewalk wrap around the house.  Sidewalks make such nicely contained and organized flowerbeds for your palms and landscaping.  An ideal weed barrier and retainer for water and mulch. In the photo are some baby cycads, a small Havanensis, and Madagascar Palm (really a cacti). The big trunk in the corner of the flowerbed is that of a large queen palm.
	The sidewalk left a difficult to mow nook which is perfect for a large palm garden expansion flowerbed!  Grass is in process of being cleared from this site and reused as sod elsewhere in the yard. This site will have a small black plastic pond garden pond at its center and be surrounded by exotic gingers, black stem elephant ears and of course palms.  The small Sabal shown is a Puerto Rican Hat.		Royal Palm and Jan 2001 survivor onsite. This palm was iced on  5 occasions during the freezes and has produced 4 new leaves since.
	A 3 year old Canary Island Date Palm reaching about 4.5 feet tall. Behind it is a 25 foot Chinese Fan in seed.		Caryota sp. var. Himalaya
	This Christmas Palm triple turns heads like never before. Mostly because most people in the area lost theirs this past winter and mine seemed to flourish so nicely.  It was hard work tenting this palm and the all night vigils of blowing hot air with a portable hair dryer during the freezes that got this one to pull through!		This small King Alexander Palm, iced over during the Jan freezes never showed any damage and is shifting over into summertime growth pattern.
	A Phoenix reclinata clump and nearby P. roebellini. The male reclinata and female roebellini recently flowered at the right time and the female got pollinated. I once thought the reclinata might be a hybrid itself but I there is new evidence it may be one of 4 reclinata forms, one that is more freeze hardy, slower growing and bluish green color to its leaves. This should make an interesting and possibly more freeze hardy reclinata X roebellini hybrid.		I have taken advantage of this area, which is used as a stormwater drainage floodway to plant low and wet loving palms like a majesty and soon some Maurita flexuosa in the most persistently wet portion.
	Carpentaria acuminata seedlings (almost 6 ft tall) along the long driveway.  This palm was given no winter protection except for overhead shade trees and this palms received no freeze damage.		Australian Tree Fern planted around 1989.
Continue the tour . . .