Nicely documented. I have one suggestion, and this is just me being a stickler about the photos. Make sure that your camera is the appropriate distance away from whatever you're trying to focus on. I find that people often take photos a little too close and thus they end up focusing on the background, as opposed to the part of interest. Most of your photos are well-focused, there are just a few which are not. -Audric

I'm guessing no one's responding as it's the wrong time of year for this. Perhaps try again in the Spring, but also, please post this at the Exchange Area, the designated place for this.

We are currently working with Nassau and Suffolk County on getting a minimum 5 Acre location for a nursery. We have a 3 acre location being developed in Old Brookville. While there is a trade off between the full root system of an easily shipped 3-5 footer(Trachy), our feeling is that customers will want a legit looking palm asap so the minimum 8 footers make sense. I'm hoping that the palm's maturity will spark quicker regrowth of its root system within a max 2-year period. So during those two years, at least the customer will have a palm of substance to look at and brag about. We will be offering a 1-year guarantee on all palms provided the customer uses our winter wrapping service. We feel the crucial months for protection (before establishment of the palm) will be Dec-Feb...Possibly first 2 weeks in March. Hey, the way I see it, covering a palm in NY for 3 months-to have palms isn't that bad. Our targeted market is pool owners-who are used to officially closing/covering their pools, BBQ, deck chairs....OK, so now include your palms. A ritual they are already used too. Shipping will be choreographed to spend as little time in transit as possible. We are currently speaking with different nurseries in GA & NC. Obviously, dealing with NC would provide us with the closest and most cold hardy of the species. Our goal is to get our nursery up and running ASAP so we can get our 1st generation of NY'ers followed by future generations-hopefully winding up with "New York Tough" lines of different palms species. We will also be test planting Dates, Sabals, Washingtonias, Yuccas and Agaves this spring to see how they cope with the next winter. I'm also going to be getting some Jubaea and Butia Hybrids. We will be experimenting with chemicals, sprays...trying to stay away from anything requiring electrical. One thing we will be working with is Beet Juice. Believe it or not, there is a company that has a patent pending on beet juice as an ice melt. In STL they use it instead of salt to melt the roadways as it is all natural and not corrosive. Can beet juice lower the core water temp freezing point inside a palm? Maybe, wont know until this winter. I just hope it doesn't dye the darn palm red :). Also, purely by accident, I discovered that I have seepage form a broken line in my leaching field where cesspool water is coming up. The grass in contact with that water is lush, growing and green as can be while the grass around it is frozen, brown and lifeless. A fertilizer rich in potassium and nitrogen may do a NY palm well in helping survive a winter. Each area in the US is different, even if they are listed in the same zone. There are Fortuneis on Long Island that are 20+ tall over 45 years old living on Long Island-no protection(Not having anything to do with me...www.nypalms.com. Our goal is to get them through the first 2-3 winters and then they should be able to cope. Butias may require winter protect for 5-10 years or until they are at least 15 feet high. I'm really looking forward to experimenting with other species and sharing the finding with all of you.

Hi phylrae, I live near Binghamton. I have some daylilies, a lot to some people (75+), but a pittance to "serious" collectors. I would love to trade in the spring. Most of what I have is on my exchange page, but that list needs to be updated. I don't have many spiders ('Stoplight' and 'Lady Neva' and 'Twiggy' come to mind right away - 'Lady Neva' is HUGE, and gorgeous), and only a few UFs, but I have some real BOLD ones if you're interested. Listing favorites is kind of like asking which child I love best, but I have some I never get tired of seeing: 'Night Beacon,' 'Bright Sunset,' 'Ida Miles,' 'Green Eyed Pat,' 'Winter Chill,' 'Dallas Star,' and I could go on and on. GEP was amazing this past year. Laurel