Tom St. Peter, a volunteer at the Gizella Kopsick Palm Arboretum in downtown St. Petersburg, has always been attracted to plants and trees.
“My family always had a huge garden. I used to help my dad with a secondary small landscaping business, back in the small town I grew up in.
(B.C. Manion)
“When I was in the corporate world, my lunch breaks used to consist of running around to the local nurseries, picking up plants of my own,” St. Peter said.
The palm arboretum, at 901 North Shore Drive N.E., in St. Petersburg, is a special place, he said.
“The best way I can describe it is, it’s like my cathedral. There’s an aura about it,” he said.
“This is like a little hidden gem,” agreed Phil Stager, another volunteer.
The 2-acre park was once a city-owned miniature golf course. But, that was closed because of increasing maintenance costs.
The arboretum began in 1976, after Elva Rouse, a concerned resident, suggested the area would be ideal for a palm arboretum. The St. Petersburg City Council adopted the proposal, and Gizella Kopsick, a long-time palm admirer, contributed a gift of stock — which established the unique park.
It began with 60 palms, representing 10 species. Now, there are more than 500 palms and cycads, representing about 200 species from all over the world.
Citizen volunteers and city workers deserve the credit for collaborating to make the arboretum the special place that it is, St. Peter said.
Stager said he’s not aware of another place like it in the western hemisphere.
Stager, who frequently leads free tours, is a font of knowledge about cycads and palms, and he rattles off facts as he shows off the collection.
“Palms are native to every continent, except the Antarctic,” Stager said. “Cycads are native to every continent, except Europe and the Antarctic.”
The park features about 100 species of palms and about 100 species of cycads.
Stager shares information he’s gleaned about the various species, while making his way around the park.
“Cycads are the oldest seed-bearing plants on the planet. They go back approximately 300 million years and have survived three major extinctions on the planet,” Stager said.
Palms, on the other hand, “are about 60 to 65 million years old in the evolutionary scheme of things,” he added.
There’s an easy way to tell the difference between a palm and a cycad at the arboretum.
The cycads are labeled with bright green signs; the palms are labeled with gray signs.
The arboretum has every palm species that’s native to Florida, said Stager, who enjoys sharing his knowledge. He said he tailors the free tours he gives to match the interests of the groups he’s leading.
“If it’s for a Girl Scout troop, it’ll be one thing. If it is for a couple of dedicated plant nuts, it’ll be something else,” Stager said.
Not everyone who visits the arboretum is there for a tour.
Moms push baby strollers through. Some take exercise classes there. Others simply relax on one of the park’s benches.
The venue has been used as a backdrop for photo shoots.
And, Stager added: “There are two Segway groups downtown. They come through here with great regularity.”
When Stager moved to Florida, he said he recognized two types of palms: Coconut palms and all others.
But, then he planted a few palms at his house and wanted to find out more about them. So, he joined the International Palm Society, which has local chapters.
It was a good move, according to Stager.
“That’s the best way to learn about palms,” he said.
Gizella Kopsick Palm Arboretum
Where: 901 North Shore Drive, N.E., St. Petersburg, Florida
When: Open daily, sunrise to sunset for self-guided tours
Cost: Free admission
Details: The arboretum, which began with 60 palms, representing 10 species, now has more than 500 palms and cycads, representing more than 200 species.
For free tour information and times, call (727) 893-7441.
Care for palms
- Use a proper palm fertilizer. Phil Stager, a volunteer at the Gizella Kopsick Palm Arboretum, recommends an 8-0-12, plus 4 magnesium and minors.
- Do not prune too much or too often. Stager offers this maxim: “Don’t trim them up too tight.” And, he adds, “If it’s brown, take it down. If it’s green leave it alone. I can teach that to a 5-year-old.”
Published April 19, 2017
