December, 2005
NEXT
MEETING:
13 Dec @ 6:30 PM @ 9th & Lincoln. 6:30
PM for cocktails, 7:00 PM fine dining. Program: Holiday Celebration
and Present Perdition. Please bring something wonderful to eat and to
share (along with whatever serving utensils your dish requires) and a
wrapped present (@$10) relating to dahlias specifically or to the garden
in general. We often dress more festively for our party.
DSC
ELECTIONS:
Congratulations to our new officers: President, DJ Ecklebarger; First
VP, Tinnee Lee; Second VP, Elsie Mueller; Corresponding Secretary,
Deborah Dietz; Treasurer, Diana Brogiotti. Board Members for the
2006-2007 term are Lou Cornish, Erik and Gerda Juul, and Lou Paradise.
Board Members for the 2005-2006 term are Lou Lombardo, Jytte Rasmussen,
Frank Schulkin and Erik Gaensler.
We
wish luck growing dahlias in Florida to Barbara Jackson, a grower of
fabulous BIG dahlias and our oh-so-brief recording secretary. She
generously offered all her gorgeous plants to any DSC member who would
pick them up in San Rafael.
Barbara
also donated all her specially crafted traveling buckets, which she used
to bring her magnificent blooms to shows. Finally, a special “thanks”
for all the years Lou Cornish has presided with an even hand and a cool
head as DSC President and to Thelma Cornish for her stupendous service
as Recording Secretary and as able assistant to the Prez.
DIGOUT
TIPS:
Lou Paradise shared his years of expertise regarding how to dig, divide
and store tubers. Many new members had hands-on practice cutting tubers
off stalks. Remember that all the eyes on dahlias are on the
crown
near the stalk not all over the tuber as with potatoes. The neck is the
sine qua non: if it is broken, the entire tuber is worthless—no matter
how big
or
how many eyes. Be careful with the necks! If you have clay or adobe
soil, you need to get your tubers up before all the rain starts or your
clumps will rot. In most of San Francisco, we have sandy soil, so the
drainage is pretty good. Lou recommends storing tubers in the wood
chips he gets at the pet store instead of vermiculite which some say is
carcinogenic.
PINK
PARADISE WINS LYNN B. DUDLEY AWARD!
Congratulations to Lou Paradise! Wow! Lou announced that Pink
Paradise, M FD P, would be released through Dan’s Dahlias, as was Juuls'
Amethyst last year.
PSW
CONFERENCE:
The
Monterey Dahlia Society proudly
sponsors the Pacific Southwest Dahlia Conference President’s Day
weekend, Feb. 18-19 2006 at the Sea Cliff Inn in Aptos, California.
Rooms are $99. Registration is $45. This meeting of the minds brings
growers from the seven California dahlia societies together to discuss
the direction societies are/should/could develop, show successes and
glitches, classification conundrums due to amazing dahlia germ plasma,
and hobnobbing with bloomerati. Monterey hopes to have an official tour
Saturday morning visiting Blue
Pacific Greenhouses and
Corralitos Gardens. The possibility of an additional tour Sunday
afternoon dangles in the planning stage.
Down load the details of the
Conference and Registration.
GRATEFUL
THANKS:
Baker Bill collected, cleaned, slit and stapled 3 huge bags of milk
cartons which he generously donated to the group at large for dahlia
planting. Welcome to Mary Francis, John, and Pat, new faces desiring to
learn dividing techniques. Thank you to Frank for the lovely letter to
the editor of San Francisco Chronicles about DSC in response the article
about a cancer victim’s pleasure with her dahlia garden. Guess who has
a dahlia bedspread? Diana found a reversible dahlia bed set at Bed Bath
& Beyond which features quilted very real looking dahlias. Absolutely
Fabulous!Delicious thanks to DJ for the sinfully decadent chocolate
squares, to Tinnee for the truffles, and to Frank for the gooey but
allegedly not fat breads and brownies. It was wonderful to see Mary
back at our meeting, let alone that she brought chocolate and spice
cookies. Welcome back! Long time member, George Winch reports that he
took Best in Show this summer at the Elko County Fair, bringing home 3
huge ribbons. Congratulations!
DECEMBER
DECISIONS:
Now is the time to peruse the catalogs and
The Big List on the
net. Decide what successes flourished in your garden or garnered you
prizes during the season; plan to grow them again. Go through the
catalogs and dream of earthly delights. Order early, since many of the
sought after varieties are quickly sold out. In my garden, when I dig
out a clump, I fill the resultant hole with compost. Now is the time
Lou Lombardo and Kevin Larken test their soils’ pH and rebalance. When
I dig out a rarity, I often divide it straight into a milk carton filled
with dirt. I do not cut off the little roots; I just pop the tuber
straight into a milk carton and store it in my loft until it sprouts.
Towards the end of December is the time to begin taking cuttings if you
have saved pot roots for this purpose. Cuttings are best kept under 14
- 16 hours of light, close to 70 degrees and humid. Last chance to take
seed heads from your plants before you lop. I shall be lopping in
Golden Gate Park Saturday, Dec. 3 at 9 am. Anyone who wants to learn or
help is welcome. -- Deborah Dietz
MEMBERSHIP
DUES ARE DUE:
The Dahlia Society of California dues are $10 for the calendar year, Jan
– Dec or any part of it. These dues cover your informative newsletters,
12 fascinating monthly programs, the August Big Show, Dig Out, hands on
practice at the Dahlia Dell and wonderful company. The American Dahlia
Society dues are $23 for an individual and $26 for a household. ADS
membership brings the quarterly ADS Bulletin with news about dahlia
growing all over the country, the ADS Classification Book (the box
scores of the dahlia world) and a camaraderie with growers all over the
world.
Down load the membership form. When completing it PLEASE PRINT. Make your check payable to Dahlia Society of California. You can mail it to Diana Brogotti, 290 Maywood Drive, San Francisco CA 94127 or bring the completed form and your check to any meeting.
Dahlia Society of California, Inc., San Francisco, CA -- Copyrighted
Chief Editor: Deborah Dietz
eNewsletter Editor: Ted Marr
Acknowledgement: Photos in
this issue by Deborah, DJ and Ted