Welcoming Beginners, Experienced Gardeners, & Scholars. TFTS Welcomes Everyone Dedicated to the Promotion, Propagation & Preservation of Tropical Flowering Trees and Large Scale Tropical Flora. Be it in Your Backyard or in Public Parks & Gardens. Join TFTS!
For Nearly 100 Continuous Years the RPF or Royal Poinciana Fiesta has Entertained and Enthralled Residents & Visitors in Miami. TFTS is Proud to Host the RPF. Join us for the 2023 Edition! Promising to be bigger and better than ever!
Join TFTS, one of the Foremost Plant Societies in South Florida that has Led the Way in Domestic Tropical Plant Introductions, Hybrids and Grafting Techniques. Photo is Cassia javanica; a TFTS introduction into the nursery trade. Join TFTS!
Feel free to arrive at 7 pm to situate and socialize.
Please bring any blooms you’d like to share for the table and any refreshments you’d like to bring in as well.
Where: Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden 10901 Old Cutler Rd, Coral Gables, FL 33156 (south/employee entrance)
Bio: Craig Morell
Craig is a lifelong horticulturist, starting his love of plants in the 1970s, growing orchids on the windowsills of his parents’ home in Milwaukee. After reading David Fairchild’s book “Garden Islands of the Great East” as a teenager, Craig decided to pursue horticulture as a career.
Following the trail of a career in horticulture, Craig attended the University of Florida-Gainesville, working in nurseries along the path to an education in ornamental horticulture, as well as apprenticing with a master orchid hybridizer in Gainesville.
After graduation, Craig worked at the Florida Dept. of Agriculture at Chapman Field; a small orchid company in West Palm Beach; 10 years as Horticulturist at the Boca Raton Resort in Boca Raton; and 11 years as Horticulturist at Pinecrest Gardens in Miami.
Currently the Director of The Kampong, Craig calls flowering trees, palms, orchids, bromeliads, gingers and heliconias his favored groups. He lives in South Miami, and is occasionally seen in public.
Thank you for making the TFTS Holiday Party of 2022 one to remember!
On SATURDAY – morning
DECEMBER 10th 2022
✨We began with a guided walking tour of Fairchild Tropical Botanic Gardens.
✨Followed by an Amazing potluck lunch
We celebrated the 5th Anniversary of TFTS founder’s Larry Schokman passing with a celebratory Ceylon Tea Brewing
✨After lunch we hosted a plant auction with some amazing plant material at even more amazing prices!
October 2022 Membership Meeting:
Thank you to everyone who attended the October Commemoration on the Fifth Anniversary of Larry Schokman’s Passing. The meeting was expertly presided over by past TFTS PRESIDENT & FOUNDING TFTS member Steven Pearson who first presented “Favorite Under Utilized Flowering Trees for SoFL”& then lead the attendees into a touching but joyful “REMEMBRANCE OF THE 5TH ANNIVERSARY PASSING OF FOUNDING TFTS LARRY SCHOKMAN”
Steve Pearson fell in love with flowering trees in the 1970s when he started visiting Fairchild Garden. He was then a founding member of the Tropical Flowering Tree Society and has served as its president on three different occasions. After he finished his career as an attorney, Steve worked as the Director of UM’s Gifford Arboretum for seven years where he improved both the educational aspects and species diversity of the Arboretum. He loves the color and beauty of flowering trees, and he presented a program about the best species for our area, including many that deserve to be planted much more frequently.
At the end of his presentation, Steve lead the audience into a remembrance of Larry Schokman, who was a very important part of our Society before he died five years ago. Steve and Larry were close friends, and they worked closely together on many projects over decades, including the Royal Poinciana Fiesta. Many members and friends brought their favorite recollections of Larry to the meeting to share as we remembered Larry, who was also a founding member and past president of the Tropical Flowering Tree Society. Attendees showed their support for Larry Schokman and joined friends old and new in recalling our fond memories of his time at TFTS, The Kampong, his organized trips, his Color Conferences, his origins as a path setting tea estate planter, and his irreplaceable contributions to tropical horticulture from the New & Old World Tropics across several continents.
Special upcoming event: Oct 22, 2022- Join us for a Garden tour, potluck picnic, and plant auction @ White Fences Equestrian Center and Arboretum in Loxahatchee, FL for members only. Please consider joining to attend this and other great exclusive events.
And don’t forget the Christmas Party! Save the Date December 12, 2022, Details forthcoming via our email list! – tfts.org/e-mails
Wonderful September Meeting
Great September Meeting!
We should all thank the wonderful speaker Ann Wiley for her presentation “How to Make Your Yard Your Bird Feeder.” So many options among our diverse color palette of Tropical Flowering Trees to bringing birds into our yards!
And a big thank you to our president Adam for conducting the meeting and bloom table. Many thanks to Mike for a great job with the refreshments. And Marcia for arranging the evening and welcoming attendees old and new. Thank you to the members that renewed at the meeting which is more wonderful news!
Looking forward to great news season with Steve, Marcia and Lenny joining the board.
Please join us at our October Meeting where we will learn more about “Favorite Flowering Trees for South Florida,” including many that deserve greater use! And on the 5TH Anniversary of Larry Schokman’s passing we will sponsor a Remembrance Celebration. Please Hope to see you all there at this momentous October meeting.
THANK YOU FOR MAKING THE 85TH ANNUAL Royal Poinciana Fiesta a SUCCESS!