协会简介
南佛罗里达棕榈协会（South Florida Palm Society，简称 SFPS）是一家 501(c)(3) 非营利园艺组织，1955 年在南佛罗里达成立，1982 年重新注册，主要在南佛州推广棕榈种植、保育与园艺教育。协会总部位于迈阿密都会区，常用会议室设在大珊瑚礁盖布尔斯的费尔柴尔德热带植物园（Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden）内，会议室地址公布于协会主站 About Us 页面，固定会议时间为双数月第一个周一晚 7 点，对外免费开放。
主要活动
SFPS 把”普及棕榈知识、鼓励公众对棕榈的兴趣”写进章程，会费、捐款与售苗收入主要回流到本地植物园、棕榈科学考察、保育项目、棕榈种植与社区教育活动。协会目前的关注范围涵盖棕榈和苏铁类（cycads）两类热带植物，每年的春季与秋季棕榈展销会只允许这两类植物上摊，也是南佛州品类最齐全的同类植物销售活动之一。
重点项目
SFPS 的年度例行活动分三条线：第一是双月一次的常规会议，每次安排一位嘉宾做棕榈或相关主题讲座，会后有会员捐赠植物的拍卖；第二是春、秋两季的棕榈与苏铁展销会，春季场在迈阿密大学（University of Miami, Coral Gables 校区），秋季场在费尔柴尔德热带植物园，2026 年春季展销会售出近 300 种棕榈与苏铁；第三是春、秋各一次的棕榈园参观之旅，过去曾参观 Montgomery Botanical Center、Dr. Block’s Botanical Garden、迈阿密大学棕榈园（UM Palmetum）、Cooper City 等地的私家园子和公共苗圃。年末则是与热带花树协会（Tropical Flowering Tree Society, TFTS）合办的节日聚餐与拍卖会。
现任领导层
2025 年 6 月，SFPS 联合 Treemendous、FIU（佛罗里达国际大学）共 13 名志愿者，由 Steve Pearson 带队，在迈阿密大学棕榈园新植 21 株棕榈，苗木主要由 Montgomery Botanical Center 与 Redland Nursery 捐赠，2026 年还会有续种。历史项目还包括：自 1953 年起参与维护的迈阿密 Morningside Park 棕榈园（栽植、灌溉、施肥、除草、培土、识别牌制作与导览）；2017 年捐款 3,320 美元给 TREEmendous Miami 用于在 Virginia Key 公园种植 Sabal 棕榈；以及 2017 年 7 月出资将 4 株大型 Coccothrinax 棕榈从迈阿密海滩一栋私人住宅迁至 Kiem Foundation，避免被砍伐。
加入与联系
SFPS 接受新会员和捐款，常驻会员可免费参加春、秋两次花园参观，嘉宾同行每位 15 美元。协会维护一个免费邮件列表（mailing list），订阅只需提交姓名与邮箱，公告与会议信息会直接发到收件箱。棕榈养护、品种选择、活动报名等一般问题公布于协会主站 Contact Us 页面，网站故障可通过 webmaster 邮箱反馈；活动照片与社区讨论同步在 SFPS Facebook Group（facebook.com/groups/SFPalms）。
About the Society
The South Florida Palm Society (SFPS) is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit horticultural organization that traces back to 1955 and was reincorporated in 1982. Its mission is to disseminate information about palms and to encourage public interest in them, with membership dues, donations, and plant-sale proceeds flowing back into local botanical gardens, palm-related scientific expeditions, conservation, planting projects, and community education. The Society covers both palms and cycads, and its spring and fall sales only allow these two groups on the sales floor.
Meetings, Sales, and Tours
SFPS runs three lines of recurring activity. Regular meetings are held in Room A of the Corbin Educational Building at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden at 7:00 pm on the first Monday of every even-numbered month (February, April, June, August, October) and are open to the public free of charge, with a guest speaker and an auction of donated plants afterward. The spring palm and cycad sale is held at the University of Miami campus in Coral Gables, and the fall sale is held at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden; in March 2026 the spring sale offered close to 300 species. Members can join spring and fall garden tours at no cost (guests pay US$15), and prior tours have visited Montgomery Botanical Center, Dr. Block’s Botanical Garden, and the UM Palmetum. The year closes with a joint Holiday party and auction together with the Tropical Flowering Tree Society (TFTS).
Community Projects
In June 2025, thirteen SFPS volunteers, together with Treemendous and FIU, planted 21 new palms at the University of Miami Palmetum under the lead of Steve Pearson, with most of the trees donated by Montgomery Botanical Center and Redland Nursery; work is continuing in 2026. Past projects include long-running maintenance of the Morningside Park Palmetum in Miami (planting, irrigation, fertilization, weeding, mulching, plant-tag fabrication, and guided tours, supported by Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden and member nurseries since 1953), a 2017 donation of US$3,320 to TREEmendous Miami for the planting of Sabal palms at Historic Virginia Key Beach Park, and the July 2017 rescue move of four large Coccothrinax palms from a Miami Beach residence to the Kiem Foundation.
Board of Directors (2026)
The 2026 SFPS Board is led by President David Lord, Vice President Julio Alvarez, Treasurer Karen Ann Bradley, Recording Secretary Linda Talbott, and Corresponding Secretary Benjamin Koubek, together with thirteen Directors: Harvey Bernstein, Ellis Brown, Lenny Goldstein, Horace Hobbs, Paulette Johnson, Steve Pearson, Clay Porch, Lazaro Priegues, Jeff Searle, Mike Tevelonis, and others. Members and the public can reach the Society through the published Secretary address listed on the Society’s main-site Contact Us page.
Membership and Contact
SFPS accepts new members and donations year-round; members may join the spring and fall garden tours at no charge (guests US$15). A free mailing list delivers meeting notices and event updates by email after a simple sign-up. General questions on palm care, plant selection, and event registration are listed on the Society’s main-site Contact Us page, website issues are routed through the webmaster channel listed on the Society’s main-site Contact Us page, and member photos and community discussion continue on the SFPS Facebook Group (facebook.com/groups/SFPalms).
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