Click on any picture in this post for larger image.

SPIFFS (www.spiffs.org/), the St. Petersburg International Folk Fair Society, is one of the beloved institutions of St. Pete. I’m honored to be their official photographer this year while their regular photographer is in the hospital.

This year, the fair has been moved from the spring to the fall. It is open to the general public Saturday November 7, 2009, 10am-10pm and Sunday November 8, 2009, 11am-7pm. Admission $8.00 children under 12 free w/paid adult.

I’m posting this article a day earlier than usual in hopes that those who read it will decide to go to the St. Petersburg International Folk Fair tomorrow (Saturday) and Sunday.

The fair is usually in Vinoy park, but this year it’s in a slightly different location. It’s on Alfred Whitted Park, along the northern edge of Alfred Whitted Airport. I’ve discovered that all the online search map programs incorrectly identify the location and address of this park! But, the directions are simple: take 5th Avenue South until it deadends at Bayshore Drive. There will be police directing you where to park.

Thursday and Friday of this past week were school days, during which Tampa Bay area students attend the fair. The photos in this post were taken during that time.

If you enjoy these photos, please go to http://inkwatu.com/spiffs-2009-photo-page/ for the final edits for each of the days as well as some collections by subject. This file will be updated until all photos from the event are posted.

A full-sized slideshow of all the pictures in this post is at this Flickr set. A webpage with link to slideshows and albums of ALL the stages and booths throughout the four-day fair is available at SPIFFS 2009 Photo Page.

I’ll now simply present the rest of the photos in this SPIFFS Thai Orchid collection without comment…hope you enjoy them. Be sure to click on pictures for larger images. Hope to see you at the fair!

Except for the final photo in this post—to be explained shortly—all the photos in this post are of various New York City sidewalk flower shops and link to much larger images in Flickr. And here is a link to a
full-sized slideshow of all the pictures in this post

In a bit of green, there were pictures of the many ways London has of humanizing its intense urbanization by providing bits of greenery everywhere you look.

Of course, perhaps the most obvious way it does that is through its numerous city parks such as St. James Park (the Inkwatu post mentioned above has several photos taken in St. James Park).

Similarly, New York City has its immense Central Park. The park’s website is well worth exploring. It includes a virtual tour. This brief quote is from the history of the park’s origins page:

The first public figure to champion the need for open green space within the city was Evening Post editor William Cullen Bryant. In 1844, he called for the creation of a large public park. Landscape gardener Andrew Jackson Downing joined Bryant in his pleas, and together they pressed officials to set aside land before it was swallowed up by the fast-developing city. In a moment of rare political consensus, both parties at that time endorsed the idea of a large public park. Between 1853 and 1856, the commissioners paid more than $5 million for land from 59th Street to 106th Street, between Fifth and Eighth Avenues.

St. Petersburg has numerous parks, too, some of which I’ve already covered in Lake Vista Park, Lake Maggiore Park, Lassing Park, The Florida Botanical Gardens, and Sunken Gardens. But, I’m not concerned with city parks in this post.

In this post, the focus is on sidewalk flower shops. The a bit of green post, referred to earlier, also included a snapshot of a corner, sidewalk flower shop. You could almost always count on one to be located near Tube entrances in London, but there were many others around the city as well.

New York City also has an abundance of sidewalk flower shops. I recently returned from a trip to New York. The last time I visited there, I had two things I wanted to be sure to photograph for posts: New York Tug Boats and New York Street Food. This time, my focus was New York Sidewalk Flower Shops.

Please note the additional distinction: sidewalk flower shops. All cities have florists, but those that have outdoor displays of cut flowers sprawling along the sidewalk, are graced with a special charm. It’s these kind of establishments that I wish St. Petersburg had.

The Florist on Central (339 Central Ave., St. Petersburg, FL 33701; 727-289-7293), pictured in the very last photo in this post usually has a small display in front of their store, sometimes of fresh cut flowers, sometimes other floral items. And, I know that there are fresh cut flower booths and other goodies at the Saturday Morning Market during its operating season.

But…I wish for stores that wrap around street corners, displays where the foliage barely leaves room for the pedestrians, mega-bouquets that bring a smile from a distance with a vast profusion of flowers every day at all hours. During the recent debates for the coming mayoral primary, improving the experiential quality of the downtown area was a hot topic. How to deal with vagrancy is a big part of that issue, of course. I don’t know how to deal with that problem. But, I do know that a few, beautiful sidewalk flower shops scattered around would be a welcome sight. Wherever we see steps in that direction, let’s offer encouragement with our patronage.

THE FLORIST ON CENTRAL

Crape Myrtles…few things speak “southern living” more than crape myrtles to my eye. Well…gardenias and magnolias, do, of course! But, we’ll get to them in a later post. Right now, the streets of St. Pete are a riot of magenta, pink, and white with these trees almost everywhere. Because the shape of a crape myrtle is like a narrow ice cream cone, point down, it works well along streets, bordering properties, centered down the medians of boulevards, and outlining driveways (I had that at a home, once…very stately, driving in).

Visit Florida Data’s Lagerstroemia indica (crape myrtle) site. As it always does, it provides detailed, authoritative information about this tree and its many varieties such as the “dwarf crape myrtle.” There is a bit of confusion: is it “crape myrtle” or “crepe myrtle”? I appreciate that the author of this academic site is capable of humor (academia and humor don’t usually appear in the same context). The author, Steve Christman, says”

“The common name of this plant is crape myrtle not crepe myrtle. It is called this because the flowers have crinkly petals that resemble the material called crepe (which according to Webster is a “light crinkled fabric woven of any of various fibers”) but many references tell us that you’re supposed to spell it crape when it’s in front of myrtle. Confused? I think somebody was full of crape when they came up with this name! At any rate, it’s a common name and since there’s no authority that manages common names for plants you can spell (or call it) whatever you like!”

Like many other trees found in Florida, such as the banyan tree and kapok tree (see It’s not all palm trees and The Kapok Tree), the crape myrtle is originally from Asia. However, it doesn’t seem to be listed as an invasive species. Indeed some USA plants, such as the bottle gourd, have their roots in Asia 10,000 years ago. I would think, by now, that 10,000 years qualifies as “grandfathered in.”

You can easily identify crape myrtle amidst the profusion of other purple and pink flowering trees around town (see Orchid Tree, Jacaranda, Royal Poinciana, and Tamarind, More flowering trees, and Spring!). Look for their trucks of multiple, spindly branches. It almost looks like a large bush, but Florida Data refers to it as a tree. Look at this Yahoo! Answers page for comments by some biology professors in response to the question: “What is the difference between a bush and a tree?” It’s clear there’s no definitive answer.

Speaking of answers to questions: in an earlier post on Orchid Tree, Jacaranda, Royal Poinciana, and Tamarind, I showed a picture of a tree that I wondered aloud might not be a tamarind tree. I didn’t want to become a pest with the local Pinellas County Extension Service whose Mr. Andy Wilson kindly cleared up the identification of the orchid tree. But, I finally wrote him about what I thought might have been a tamarind tree. It’s not! It is currently covered with yellow pod-like structures. See the pictures immediately above (full tree) and below (close-up). According to Mr. Wilson it is a yellow poinciana, Peltophorum pterocarpum. I’m glad that mystery is solved. This spectacular tree is located at the end of the parking lot of the St. Petersburg Sunshine Center by Mirror Lake. On the end opposite of that parking lot is the massive banyan tree covered in It’s not all palm trees. If you’re in town, it’s worth an excursion to go see these two trees. For sure, look around at all the crape myrtles. They’re everywhere you look and in bloom.

crown of orchid tree

Orchid Tree

There was a good discussion, early this spring, in the comments for More flowering trees. Bloggers appreciate comments. They are part of what makes the blogging experience a pleasure. The discussion in this case revolved around some flowering trees here in St. Pete, trees that I found beautiful but had no clue as to their identity (horticulture is not in my skill set). There was disagreement among the readers’ suggestions regarding the identity of one tree in particular (the tree pictured above). One reader suggested it might be an eastern rosebud. Everything I could find online seemed to support her suggestion, so I agreed that was probably it. But, later, another reader said she felt, because of its hue and bark, it wasn’t an eastern rosebud, but was a jacaranda. So…I started digging around about jacarandas online and could see where she might be right—but the leaves where not the right shape for a jacaranda. So, now I was really puzzled.

I learned something from all this: I needed to better document the bark, flowers, and leaves with good close-up photos; a full shot of just the tree crown wasn’t enough information. I returned to the tree in question and did just that. One of those close-ups is immediately below; it shows the bark and leaves of the tree in question.

close-up of orchid tree leaves and bark

I sent those photos to the Pinellas County Extension Service. (I should have thought of them long ago, but didn’t.) They quite generously and immediately wrote back with the identity of the tree. It’s an orchid tree (Bauhinia variegata)! So thank you everyone for all your comments and suggestions and a special thank you to the Extension–what a valuable resource they are.

Jacaranda

If you compare the leaves and flowers of the jacaranda tree pictured immediately below with the leaves of the orchid tree pictured immediately above, you can see that they’re quite dissimilar. But, the jacaranda tree was a good guess and they’re absolutely everywhere right now in St. Pete. Not only are they a gorgeous flowering tree, they stay in bloom for quite a long time.

close-up of jacaranda tree flowers and leaves

The Florida Data page for the Jacaranda acutifolia has some very detailed information on jacaranda trees. Florida Data has become my “go to” page for Florida horticulture information. Pictured below are three jacaranda trees in one St. Pete home’s beautiful yard. What a visual treat those three trees are.

three jacaranda trees

Royal Poinciana

I think the tree in another St. Pete yard, pictured below, is a royal poinciana (Delonix regia), also called the flamboyant tree, flame tree, and peacock flower. It’s staggering when you see one. There’s an intensity to the red that I’m not able to capture with a snapshot. I suppose it could be a jacaranda tree with brilliant red flowers because the leaves are identical to my eye. But, I couldn’t find any reference to jacarandas being anything other than purple. I’m pretty sure it’s a royal poinciana. As I understand it, and from my own personal experience, they’re much more common down in Key West than here in St. Pete. I believe they can’t tolerate well even the light frost we get here.

royal poinciana (I think)

Tamarind

Another tree with leaves identical, to my eye, to the jacaranda and the royal poinciana, is the one in the photos below. I don’t think it’s either a jacaranda or royal poinciana, though, because of its size (it’s much larger), the shape of its crown (it’s very evenly rounded and full), and its pods (to my knowledge neither the jacaranda or the royal poinciana have pods). (Click on any of the photos for a larger image.) I’m not certain if this tree flowers–I don’t think it does, but I’ll keep an eye on it to see. My best guess is that it’s a tamarind tree (Tamarindus indica). The picture in Florida Data doesn’t look like the tree pictured here, but the description fits, perfectly. The tree pictured here is located in the parking lot of the City of St. Petersburg Sunshine Center next door to the St. Petersburg Shuffle Board Club (also see The St. Pete Shuffle and St. Pete Shuffle India Night).

leaves & pods of St. Pete tamarind (?) tree

As always, comments are encouraged and appreciated. If you think I’m right about the royal poinciana and tamarind trees, let me know; if you think I’m wrong, then it’s even more important you let me know. Eventually, after some time has passed so I don’t wear out my welcome with the kind folks at the county extension, I’ll ask them what they think.

Here’s a few websites about Florida trees, particularly flowering trees, that I’ve selected from the zillions on Google.

• Florida Data Tree list
• Florida Flowering & Blooming Trees
• University of Florida IFAS Extension — Florida Trees
• Flowering Trees of Florida by Mark K. Stebbins (Google book preview–142 pages)
• Florida Plants

crown of St. Pete tamarind (?) tree

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That’s a picture of “just” a bougainvillea. (How could anything so magnificent be “just” anything?) I say, “just,” though because they’re such a common plant here. They’re blooming right now and they’re breathtakingly gorgeous. Flowering trees and bushes in bloom are a sure sign it’s spring. Recently, there was an Inkwatu Spring post that featured pictures of some flowering trees up in Atlanta.

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The trees pictured in this post are all in St. Pete. Other than the bougainvillea (which I realize is a bush, not a tree), I have no idea what any of them are. The purple one (shown above) is perhaps my favorite and it’s in almost every block. What an amazing display. I can imagine something like that as a flower in a vase, but, to me, it’s almost unbelievable as an entire tree. The yellow and white flowering trees (pictured below) are everywhere too.

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If you know what any of these purple, yellow, and white trees are, please let me know. Even wild guesses would be appreciated. The colors this time of the year in Florida are amazing and it’s starting to get greener and greener, more and more lush and tropical. The weather is perfection, the kind of weather that prompts folks to move here.

Have a resplendent spring, everyone.

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MINIATURE BOUQUET

Once, while visiting San Francisco, a friend who was also there visiting, picked me up to go out to dinner. He was very excited and handed me a self-help book. He’d bought a copy for himself and a copy for me as a gift. This was not a person who was usually given to such enthusiasm, at all, especially about self-help books which he typically held in disdain. But, there was apparently something about the title of this particular book that attracted him and he had read enough of it standing in the bookstore, oblivious to the customers swarming around him, to realize that this book carried a message he (and I) needed to hear.

The book was The Highly Sensitive Person: How to Thrive When the World Overwhelms You by the San Francisco psychologist, Elaine N. Aron. It’s no longer in print (although she now has other titles out). I suggest you look in your local library for The Highly Sensitive Person since used hardcover copies start at $50 and used paperbacks start at $30. The message of the book is simple: if you are shy, overly sensitive to your environment, easily overwhelmed by too much stimuli, need to repair to quietness to center yourself, there’s nothing wrong with you. It’s simply your nature.

That’s a very affirming message and my friend was right, it was one both he and I needed to take to heart. While it’s true that, as humans, we are more alike than different, we are, nonetheless, different. It’s too easy to compare ourselves to others and expect from ourselves what we see others able to do. That’s hardly fair is it? “Compare and despair,” as the old saying goes.

I was reminded of all this when, recently, I stumbled upon a article in the Bhutan Daily News. (No, I don’t read the Bhutan Daily News as a matter of habit; I’d just wandered around the web one morning and found myself reading this article.) In the article, the author, a Buddhist teacher, tells the following illustrative story:

“Once a very shy young man approached a Zen master who was famous throughout Japan for being fearless. He wanted to know whether practicing Buddhism could help him become strong and powerful like the master. In reply, the old monk shouted, “No, Zen is useless”.

“At the time, the young man thought the master was just saying this to prevent him from becoming attached to worldly goals. In his heart, however, he felt sure that if he trained with him he would in fact become strong and less shy.

“The young man became a monk and practiced diligently with his teacher until he died some twenty years later. At that time, he reflected on the conversation held many years before and concluded that he had not actually become stronger and more outgoing. However, there had been a major shift in the way he viewed himself. Before, he was ashamed of his shy nature and the way he stuttered when speaking in front of many people. He was still introvert and stuttered, but now he was not ashamed of his nature. Basically, he had stopped comparing himself with others.

“He described the situation in this way: His teacher was like a huge sunflower. That was his character. He was born like that. On the contrary, he was more akin to a small violet. Obviously a violet cannot become a sunflower – nor in fact does it need to. It is perfect in its own way. Only our conditioning create prejudices such as big is better than small or that one thing is ugly and another beautiful. From their side, there is no such differentiation.”

I can think of other examples from other philosophies and other religions that carry this same message; it’s not necessarily Buddhist. Truth is truth, wherever it is found. And, this is a truth it’s too easy to forget. Compare the flowers pictured in this post, none are “most beautiful.” No flower is too small, too big. Each is perfect in its own way. Each flower’s beauty is unique. Each has its own nature.

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SUNFLOWERS

(Note: all the individual pictures in this post link to larger images in Flickr; just click on the smaller images you see here.)

CHILEAN FLAMINGOS

A BOTANICAL EXPERIENCE

That’s the “tag line” for the St. Petersburg Sunken Gardens. It’s well chosen. The afternoon I first visited the St. Petersburg Sunken gardens, was following a particularly stressful job interview and negotiations. I bought my ticket to the gardens—actually, I bought a year pass which I’ll discuss shortly—and entered into four acres of solitude and reflection right in the heart of downtown St. Pete. Slowly walking along winding paths that conceal then reveal verdant surprises, the tranquility helped me make up my mind about how to proceed with the issues that led me to seek some respite. The experience totally satisfied my need for garden paths, ivy covered rugged stone walls, miniature water fall fountains, and koi ponds. The Sunken Gardens botanical experience was exactly what I needed that day.

It was apparently what other people needed, too. A small troop of kindergarteners immediately fell silent upon walking into this magical world. A middle aged woman and her mother spending an afternoon together walked about. A soon-to-be bride and groom and their best-man and bridal attendant where there checking out the area where weddings are conducted. The occasional other single senior, such as myself, moseyed about, taking pictures, sitting on benches, or just standing, listening to the birds.

BOUGAINVILLEA	CAMELLIA
HOSTA	CURCUMA GINGER

HISTORY

Here’s a quote from the Sunken Gardens brochure about the history of the attraction:

“Sunken Gardens has been a landmark in St. Petersburg since 1935, when it officially opened as Turner’s Sunken Gardens. In 1903, the four acre property was purchased by George Turner, Sr., a plumber, who was an avid gardener. He drained a shallow lake, that dropped 15 feet below street level to provide a rich soil to grow fruits and exotic plants from all over the world. By 1924, his amazing garden was attracting visitors who paid 25 cents for a stroll through the beautiful, lush gardens. Papayas, citrus and exotic plants brought the tropics to this subtropical area. Grover heaters were brought in to heat the magnificent Royal Palms, bougainvillea and other cold sensitive tropical plants during the winter. The garden became world renowned for its unique collection of plants and colorful blooms. In the 1950s, exotic wildlife was added to the growing botanical attraction… In 1998, Sunken Gardens was designated a local historic landmark, and in 1999 it was purchased by the City of St. Petersburg.”

There are 24 different areas of the botanical gardens. My personal favorites are the Chilean flamingos, the parrots and other exotic birds, the bromeliads, the lily ponds, the various koi ponds and miniature waterfall fountains, the Japanese garden, the arched bridge, the little spots to meditate and rest, the tropical fruit garden, and the butterfly garden.

Adjoining the gift shop for the Sunken Gardens is the Great Explorations Children’s Museum. Although it is adjoining the gardens, it is completely separate physically so the quietude of Sunken Gardens is preserved.

LOTUS BLOSSOM (WATER LILY)

WATER HYACINTH, NOT YET IN BLOOM

WEDDINGS & PRIVATE PARTIES

Another quote from their literature describes their facilities for weddings and private parties:

“Since 1935, Sunken Gardens has been a favorite setting for exchanging those special vows…The Garden Room, a great location for your banquet or reception, is located in the historic 1926 main building. It was designed keeping its history in mind, creating a loft-like feel with high wood ceilings and metal beams. Overlooking the exquisite gardens, this special room’s uniqueness makes it unlike any other wedding experience.”

BENCH AMONG FERNS AND PALMS WITH MONSTERA VINE GROWING UP TREE

MORE LINKS FOR ST. PETERSBURG SUNKEN GARDENS

The following are the best links I found for additional information and reviews of the Sunken Gardens.

• official website
• Classic Gardens
• About.com’s Sunken Gardens entry
• RoadsideAmerica.com’s Sunken Gardens entry
• Wikipedia Sunken Gardens entry

ONE OF MANY WATER FOUNTAINS

OTHER GARDENS

I find it particularly interesting that the Sunken Gardens began as a non-commercial enterprise, the private garden of an individual expressing their love of the garden experience. My sister’s website, Lava to Lilikoi (lavalily.com/) covers her own garden and farming on the side of a volcano on the Big Island (the Island of Hawaii) in the state of Hawaii. Weekly, she chronicles her gardening in photos and narrative. She has also had posts on private gardens of other people (mostl in Hawaii) that show the kind of personal devotion to gardening George Turner, Sr. had with what became, eventually, the St. Pete Sunken Gardens. Please take a peek at these posts of Lucy’s on some lovely private gardens:

• Yard Sculpture
• Shangri-La Hawai`i Style
• McDaniel Farmette
• From the Alps to the Tropics
• Happy Birthday Inga
• A Self Proclaimed Neophyte
• The Velvet Touch

I know absolutely nothing about plants or flowers. I’m just a person who loves to bask in their beauty and oxygen. But, Lucy is the opposite in that regard. Horticulture is definitely one of her things! She helped me identify the flowers in the pictures I took for this post. But, even she wasn’t entirely certain of a couple so if we made a mistake, please let us know.

WATER FOUNTAINS AND STONE WALLS

YEARLY PASS BENEFITS

I don’t buy many yearly passes to local attractions, but I bought one for the St. Petersburg Sunken Gardens. For a senior, it’s only $35 ($40 for non-seniors; $50 for Family, that includes membership for two adults in the same household and dependent children through the 12th grade or two grandparents with their grandchildren—which I think is a lovely idea). The annual membership is much, much more than free admission for one year. It also includes invitation to members-only events, discounts on special workshops, 10% discount in the gift shop, the newsletter and access to horticultural information. What sold me on buying an annual membership, however, was the free admission to over 145 botanical gardens participating in the American Horticultural Society Reciprocal Admissions Program (reciprocal program brochure). In Florida, alone, there are 16 participating gardens, including the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens just across the Skyway Bridge down in Sarasota and the Florida Botanical Gardens up in the northern part of the county that I covered in the Inkwatu Florida Botanical Gardens post.

KOI

BECOMING A BENEFACTOR (INDIVIDUAL AND CORPORATE)

There are also joint plans that combine the gardens with tickets to Great Explorations. It is especially important in a depressed economy that those who can donate to educational causes such as the Sunken Gardens do so. They have a variety of options from Contributing members at only $100, that gives you a family membership plus 5 free admissions guest passes, up through Private Benefactor, that includes quite a number of special privileges, and Corporate Benefactor, that includes such really nice features as a special employee day with free admission and special activities, company signs during special events, complimentary individual memberships for employees, and several other benefits.

CALADIUM (ELEPHANT EAR)

COMING EVENTS

There are a number of workshops and special shows throughout the year, most of which are either free with the annual membership or offered at a discount with the membership. One coming up in March which I plan to attend and cover in Inkwatu is the Orchid Festival, Sunday, March 22, 10am to 4:30pm. which features commercial orchid growers from Florida, lectures throughout the day and thousands of orchids for sale. It will be free with paid daily admission: $8 adults, $6 seniors (55+), $4 children (2-11) or free for annual members.

Sunken Gardens is located at 1825 4th St. N., St. Petersburg, FL 33704; general information 727-551-3102; wedding and rental information: (727) 551-3106. It is open Monday through Saturday 10am to 4:30pm and Sunday, noon to 4:30pm.

PELARGONIUM (GERANIUM)