Sping 2015

Insider
SPRING 2015
FUN TIMES
AT THE BEACH
WHAT’S INSIDE | THIS ISSUE
WWW.GSNURSERY.COM
386.754.0161
MESSAGE TO SPACE DAD
FREEZER GEEZERS
BULBINE FRUTESCENS

Message to My Astronaut Dad
13-year-old
Stephanie knows
when she looks into
the night sky that
her dad is somewhere
up there. Her
dad is an astronaut
on an extended assignment at the
International Space Station.
When a representative from Hyundai
motors sought her out and
offered her a chance to send him
a one-of-a-kind message that he
could see from space, she eagerly
agreed.
The plan was to use a fleet of Hyundai
sedans equipped with nubby
tires to leave tracks in the sandy dry
bed of a lake in Nevada to spell out
the words of a note in the handwriting
of young Stephanie. The note
said “Steph s you!”
A whole lot of people were recruited
to make it happen, including IT guys,
surveyors, stunt drivers, mechanics,
and a video crew. Timing was of the
essence. It had to be finished within a short
time before the ISS would be passing over
the area since a windstorm could come up
at any time and erase the whole thing. The
pass over would need to happen during
daylight hours, and the sky had to be clear
of clouds.
The fleet of 11 cars deployed in formation,
tracing and retracing each line of the note
and then exiting in single file between the
letters to leave a minimal trail where no
marks were wanted.
The video that resulted from the event
shows the cars in motion, some footage
from the space station, and an audio
transmission from space of a man telling his
daughter back on earth that he
loves her, too.
The video can be viewed at
https://youtu.be/3EOAXrTrsOE
. The effort earned the distinction
as “the largest tire track
image” by the Guinness World
Records®.
Photos: Hyundai Motors
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YURT LIFE
Greetings friends!
I recently got back from a weekend trip to a state park north of Atlanta
called Fort Yargo. My young family and I went with two other young
families to do a little fishing and boating on the small lake they have
there and each of our families stayed in our own yurt. If you don’t know
what a yurt is, there’s no shame in that. They are a form of shelter that
have been used for centuries by nomadic people
in Mongolia, and more recently have been
embraced by outdoor types looking for a way
to get close to nature
that isn’t as flimsy
as a tent yet is more
rustic than a cabin.
The yurts they are
building in state parks
and other wilderness
outposts aren’t quite
as portable as their
asian namesakes, but
they incorporate many of the features of an
actual yurt, such as the round shape of the
structure and the soft outer skin (although I
daresay the material is synthetic as opposed
to the hides used by the originators).
Our yurt had finished wood floors and electricity. We had to bring our
own bedding and the bathroom facilities were elsewhere. It had an
attached deck that overlooked the lake from which I was able to go
fishing.
Spending a weekend in a
yurt was entirely satisfying.
It was bright and cozy, and
it struck a very congenial
balance between comfort
and nature.
To Your Success!
Zack Kirsch
General Manager
G&S Nursery
ON OUR COVER: Jorge Diaz and daughter Nina with Westly at Fernandina Beach
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Let’s go to the beach!
Florida isn’t the only state in the
country with beautiful beaches, but
the plain unvarnished truth is that
Florida’s beaches are the finest in the
continental United States. It’s something
we Floridians can be proud of.
It doesn’t hurt that Florida’s ratio
coastline to land mass is the third
highest of the states. The two states
with more coastline per square mile
are tiny Rhode Island and Hawaii.
Climate also helps.
There is a professor from Florida
International University, Dr. Stephen
P. Leatherman, who has assumed a
position of authority when it comes
to grading the quality of beaches.
Dr. Leatherman—or Dr. Beach, as
he likes to be called—has a Ph.D.
in Environmental (Coastal) Sciences
and has been rating beaches in a
serious way since 1991. His role as
de facto beach rater came about
when a travel writer asked him to
cite his favorite beaches in 1989, and
his offhand answer caused such a
reaction that he spent the next two
years devising a 50-point checklist
and scoring beaches so that the next
time he gave his opinion, he could
defend his choices with cold, hard
facts. Judging beaches by statistical
analysis of 50 key indicators
rather takes away the romance of the
choice, but it also lends his list an
air of authority that keeps him from
losing his reputation as the go-to guy
for rating beaches year after year.
Nice work if you can get it.
Dr. Beach’s Top picks for 2014 were Duke
Kahanamoku Beach (Oahu, HI), Barefoot
Beach (Bonita Springs, FL), and St. George
Island State Park (Apalachicola, FL).
It’s interesting that Florida and Hawaii are
consistently at the top of every list. Also
interesting is that all of the Florida beaches
on the top of these lists are on the Gulf
of Mexico side of our fair state. Daytona
Beach? Fort Lauderdale? Miami Beach?
These evidently don’t score as highly as
their reputation would suggest. And where
is California on any of these lists? For all
the songs the Beach Boys sang glorifying
the California coast, you’d think there’d be
some better representation on these lists.
The closest ocean beaches to the nursery
are found in Jacksonville, 90 minutes from
here. They may never find their way to the
top of Dr. Beach’s list, but don’t tell the
thousands of visitors who passionately love
these beaches even though the sand isn’t
sugary white and the water isn’t azure blue.
They do have sand, sun and surf, and for a
lot of beach lovers, that’s all they require for
a day in paradise.
Our own sales rep, Jorge Diaz, is one such
beach lover. Jorge lives within a few blocks
of Fernandina beach even though he must
commute often to Lake City. He considers
the long miles in the car a small price
to pay for the opportunity to spend more
time combing the beach. “I go there all the
time,” he says. “I’ll go for a walk at night
with my family and we always wind up at
the ocean.”
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Jorge and wife Leslie enjoying
the sun and surf
Past Dr. Beach Winners
• Caladesi Island State Park, Dunedin/Clearwater, Florida
• Coopers Beach, Southampton, New York
• Coronado Beach, San Diego, California
• Fleming Park Beach, Maui, Hawaii
• Fort De Soto Park, North Beach, St. Petersburg, Florida
• Grayton Beach State Park, Florida panhandle
• Hanalei Bay Beach, Kauai, Hawaii
• Hanauma Bay, Oahu, Hawaii
• Hapuna Beach State Recreational Area, Big Island, Hawaii
• Hulopoe Beach, Lanai, Hawaii
• Kaanapali, Maui, Hawaii
• Kailua Beach Park, Oahu, Hawaii
• Kapalua Bay Beach, Maui, Hawaii
• Kaunaoa Beach, Big Island, Hawaii
• Lanikai Beach, Oahu, Hawaii
• Main Beach East Hampton, New York
• Ocracoke Beach, Outer Banks of North Carolina
• Poipu Beach, Kauai, Hawaii
• Siesta Beach, Sarasota, Florida
• St. Andrews State Park, Florida panhandle
• St. Joseph Peninsula State Park, Florida panhandle
• Wailea Beach, Maui, Hawaii
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Featured Plant
Bulbine Frutescens
Bulbine Caulescens
Just in time for summer, we have a
sale on Bulbine Frutescens in a 1
gallon pot. This is a clumping succulent
that sports a pretty yellow
flower on a long stem that blooms
continuously in spring and fall,
slowing down a little in the hottest
months of summer.
The foliage stays green throughout
the year and grows in thick grassy
clumps from which the small yellow
flowers arise on gangly stems.
This plant prefers full sun or light
shade and is cold hardy to 20° F.
It requires minimal watering—no
more than once per week during
a drought. Each plant achieves a
maximum spread of 2 feet.
This plant is native to southern
Africa. Like the aloe, its succulent
leaves contain sap that is soothing
Bulbine Frutescens prices
1 gal..........................$1.85 $1.75!
to burns and is used in some cultures for a
variety of treatments.
PRICES GOOD THROUGH MAY 31
Rick Gets a New Bicycle
Rick Lacey, one of our truck drivers (and
Charlie’s uncle) likes to stay in shape by riding
his bike to work, weather permitting. He
recently celebrated his 60th birthday, and
his children, grandkids and other assorted
relatives honored him with enough cash
to upgrade the bicycle of his dreams, a
Jamis Nova Sport. Uncle Rick is awfully
proud of his new wheels...
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Tales from the Road
The Rites of Spring
By Billy Clements
Ahhhhh, spring has
sprung. That magical
time of the year when
nature awakens out
of its wintery slumber
and explodes
in wide varieties of
colorful blooms and
blossoms. It is yet
another opportunity
for God to illuminate
the world around us by painting the
landscape with the vibrant color
of life renewed. As I travel down
America’s highways and byways, I
am allowed to enjoy this spectacle
from the front row as the miles
pass beneath me… Slowly, sometimes
VERY slowly! For, you see,
this is also the season that sparks
another annual event known as
“The Northern Exodus.”
The Northern Exodus, more commonly
referred to as “The Flight of
the Snowbirds”, is when many of
our so-called Yankee friends abandon
their southern posts and return
to their motherland; seemingly all at
the same time. Thousands of miles
of northbound interstate highway
become clogged with “freezer
geezers” (as they may be known
on the C.B. radio). Traffic becomes
a virtual parking lot as the migration
continues, giving one a perfect
chance to witness creation’s
metamorphosis while strengthening
their clutch muscles. Indeed, you
are actually able to “stop and smell
the roses.”
As if this weren’t enough, you can
also mix in the endless stream of teenaged
individuals attempting to make
their way home after weeks of celebrating
their brief hiatus from school. Their
scientific classification being: Springbreakus
– Aggravatus, they represent
the complete opposite of the aforementioned
species. Still in the mood for
carousing and raucous behavior, they
manage to fill in any gaps that might
have remained in the parade; therefore
securing the inevitable reality that the
sun may well rise and set before the
speed limit is once again obtained.
In short, springtime for a truck driver is
usually spent honking the air horn for the
entertainment of the kids in the car that
just crawled past, and praying we make
it to our destinations before autumn
arrives and begins the circle of life once
more.
Springtime on I-75
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P.O. Box 215
Lake City FL 32056
www.gsnursery.com
RIDDLE OF THE MONTH
HIVE BORER is an anagram of a word that can be used to describe
kangaroos, geese, iguanas and cows. What’s the 1-word answer?
Send in your answer to sales@gsnusery.com before March 9.
All correct answers will be entered into a drawing to win one
of 3 Green Poly Lined Rainsuits!
LAST MONTH’S RIDDLE:
The task was to find a 4-digit numeric sequence that met
the following requirements:
2nd and 3rd digit of the code is the same
4th digit is 2X the 1st digit
Last 2 digits together is 2X the first two digits together
ANSWER: 4998
Last Month’s Winners:
ROSS GWIN
PURUSHA KHALSA