An unlikely place to find palms??? Don't bet the ranch on it!
[ Mike Rayburn's Garden ] [ Variegated Sabal ] [ Brazoria Palm Reserve ]
| April's Palm Society of South Texas meeting was definitely off the beaten
track! This place was so hard to find that one carload of members couldn't find it
even with a map. Another less fortunate carload missed the rendezvous point in Bay
City and went home disappointed. Despite the remote location, poison oak, mosquitos, barbed wire fences, and yes even alligators, 19 PSST members tromped through the wilderness to the Brazoria Palm Reserve and Mike Rayburn's acres of palms in neighboring Matagorda County. Not only was this meeting well attended, we had members from the Valley, Austin, San Antonio, Corpus Christi, Ingleside, Houston and Dallas. This month we have an overwhelming number of great photos. The April meeting is divided into three pages, but even then they will be slow to load (unless you're lucky enough to have high speed internet access). Each page has something very special. |
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 Mike's garden is in the middle of his cattle ranch in Matagorda county. Most of his palms were grown from seeds. In addition to an impressive collection of palms, he has magnificent oak trees, bromeliads, citrus, and bamboo. |
 Mike Rayburn (left) gives a tour of his acreage. Gunter Schmidt (right) obviously likes what he sees. A beautiful Arenga engleri is in the background. |
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 Marsha Clapp, Ken Gutowsky, Bill Baker, Mike Rayburn, Alice Magyar, Gunter Schmidt, Mike Osborne. |
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 Thad and Alice Magyar with bamboo |
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 Robert Riffle and Gary Meiser admire a native Tillandsia growing on the trunk of a palm tree. |
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 Gunter finds a new friend (look closely, there's a green frog on his shirt sleeve). |
[ Mike Rayburn's Garden ] [ Variegated Sabal ] [ Brazoria Palm Reserve ]
Webpage by Jana Meiser. Most photos by Mike Burnett. Others by Will Crump, Blake Volk, Jana Meiser
Where's the next meeting? Click here to find out Join PSST or get a PSST t-shirt This page created and hosted by Have questions about palms and gardening? Check out these message boards:
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