 Our hosts Gunter and Gaby Schmidt |
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Charter PSST members Gunter and Gaby Schmidt host a meeting
every year at their lovely property in Ingleside by the Bay, and this year 35 members and
distinguished guests were in attendance. Gaby fixed an excellent roast dish simmered
in a wine sauce, and salads galore made for an excellent feast. On this beautiful
September day during the hummingbird migration, hundreds of hummingbirds were swarming the
feeders as we enjoyed the view of the bay and the impressive collection of palm trees,
both big and small.
Our distinguished
guests who traveled the most distance were Libby and By Besse from Sarasota, Florida.
Libby is the new Administrative Secretary for the International
Palm Society. She is taking over the position from Lynn McKamey who has held
that position for the last 12 years. Lynn is the owner of Rhapis Gardens in Gregory, Texas, author of Secret
of the Orient, dwarf Rhapis excelsa, and a talented website designer.
Libby is also the
Chair for the IPS Nominating Committee and was pleased to announce to our group that PSST
Chairman Bill Baker has received more than enough nominations to be on next year's ballot.
With the next two IPS biennials in French speaking countries, Bill's fluency in
French should make him a popular choice for a director's position.
Bill conducted a brief business meeting and asked the group if we were interested in pursuing a public planting project at the state capital. We decided that the project is worthwhile and discussed other ways to promote the public planting of palms. One suggestion was to write complimentary letters to city officials when palm trees are added to the landscape. Another suggestion was to offer assistance if possible to palm trees that are in poor health.
The business
meetings are always brief, and everyone resumed the visiting and camaraderie afterwards.
Robert Riffle presented Lynn McKamey with an autographed copy of The Tropical Look: An
Encyclopedia of Dramatic Landscape Plants. Lynn and Robert and Gary Meiser
have all collaborated on a project featuring Robert's photographs on the internet.
The project is now complete, and is ready for viewing at http://www.raingardens.com/riffle/ .
It is a collection of tropical plant images from Robert's own garden and that
of Alton Marshall. Alton was an extraordinary plantsman in the Houston area and palm
society member. After his passing, his garden no longer exists as it was.
Robert, Lynn and Gary are very pleased to offer this tribute to Alton, and the September
PSST meeting offered a great opportunity to get together in person.
For the third month in a row,
PSST had seeds from the Montgomery Botanical Center for distribution. This month the
seeds were Zombia antillarum, a very slow growing palm, presumably for future generations
(we're talking SLOW). As soon as the Cool Tropics Online Auction site is up and
running again, the leftover seeds will be placed on the auction block for bidding.
Founder Bill Bittle brought seeds for Licuala grandis and Bill Baker brought
seeds of Sabal mexicana.
Over the past year Gunter has experimented with various germination techniques and has successfully germinated literally thousands of seedlings. He managed to sprout a store-bought coconut in just one week. He must be doing something right! As he continues to be extraordinarily successful at germinating seeds, the frequency of unintelligible mutterings under Gaby's breath seems to be increasing. Not to worry Gaby. Maybe next year he'll have a hurricane shelter for the palms so that your car can go in the garage instead of the palms! Gunter's insatiable appetite for growing more and more palms is just one reason the meetings at the Schmidt's are such memorable ones. Thank you Gaby and Gunter for having us.
Meeting summary by Jana Meiser. Photos by Ed Ladd and Mike Burnett.
 Jo Divine and Brenda LaRose
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 Peter and Nelly Hueppi
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