DSC eNewsletter


Dahlia Society of California February, 2005
NEXT MEETING: 8 Feb. @ 8 PM @ 9^th & Lincoln. Program: Deborah will explain uses of the ADS Classification Book. Bring your 2005 ADS “Bible.” Planting in milk cartons and planting seedlings will be demonstrated. Who will bring Valentine’s treats?

2005 ADS NEW INTRODUCTIONS: Thanks to Tinnee for bringing in the ADS slides of the new introductions. Thanks to Ted for setting up the computer for demonstrating how to use The Big List to find snazzy tubers for this season. In the future issues of our newsletters we shall publish these introductions.

THE BIG DIG: Lo! The torrential storms abated; the gods of dahlias blessed us with golden sun & dry weather. By 8 AM both Dick & VZ were primed to start digging with Mike Dietz, who flew in from Idaho to participate. Having read his wife’s dahlia newsletter, Jerry plunged into digging along with Paul Miller & Dennis. A muddy welcome to you hearty hands!

			Soon Lou L. Tinnee, Franck, Paula & Sr. John were carting trays of tubers to Rainman, Craig, who had already strung up shop lights for the Label Table. Elsie, Louise, Thelma, Bill, Marsha & Joann (jauntily flaunting a dahlia in her ski hat) so efficiently paced the dividing teams that they sometimes exhorted Deborah to more quickly bring roots off the Clorox line. Dick, Ron, & Erik held master classes at the cutting tables. Barbara, VZ, & Joan soon wielded cleaving tools as though born to the scalpel. Melissa paused from dividing to conduct soup-to-nuts tours of “our operation.” Diana commented, “A ball peen hammer certainly is a useful tool for dividing.”




Between rehearsals, performances & coaching, Steve popped back and forth with brownies, cookies, & ebullient willingness to “do whatever.” Tinnee delivered fresh bagels and wonderful schmeers to start both Saturday and Sunday in a delicious fashion.			Franck with his high-tech high-res camera captured the entire dig out in photography. Brilliantly documented. Please click here to view these very illustrative pictures.

		Jim cooked us a hearty soup & cornbread. Paula assembled Deborah’s salad. To reward our faithful endeavors, Claire, Mother Earth from the Conservatory, donated 2 carts full of amarillii, azaleas & cyclamen for us to raffle off to volunteers.
BLESSED BE THE TWO-TIMERS!
As special thanks to the dedicated souls who participated both days, Lou Cornish brought photos of the first-day DigOut crew. Adrian arrived from San Leandro with doughnuts. Hank, Lynn, Jeff, Dick, Louisiana, and John still recovering from a hernia operation, helped us finish before dark. Sr. Gonzales & Mike D. raked the TearDrop & Hillside to pristine perfection.				Wielding his marine bayonet, Chuck, president of the Fort Mason Gardens, garnered tips for his own digout in February. When he asked Dick if he could borrow the Chlorox bench apparatus, Dick gallantly volunteered to transport it there himself. Between professionally photographing all aspects of The Scene, Franck obligingly did anything: chucking garbage, schlepping mud, labeling. Nick dreamed peacefully in the sun, only to awake with a fierce desire to man the spray hose at the cleaning station.

				Over a lunch of delicious cold cuts, we champagne toasted to another successful season. Then always the diplomat, Erik shop-vac’d the site, stocked the ‘fridge, and made sure the gardeners would eagerly await our adventure next year.

DAHLIA TRIVIA: Louise reported that dahlias were mentioned “but not shown!” on TV during the Rose Parade. President Lou brought a segment of Gardening By the Yard on HGTV featuring Dick Parshall of Clearview Dahlias. Dick P. communicated that this had been taped a couple years ago but gets re-programed each year. Steve brought in a clipping about the Van Gogh parade in the Netherlands where floats will be covered in dahlias.
	“In order to ensure that there will be sufficient dahlias available so early in the season, the organizers will grow early flowering varieties in special fields.” That would be a sight to see. Janet Thalen reports that the Montery Dahlia Society website is up and running. Congratulations! Someone in Seattle just discovered our newsletter’s write up of the 2004 National Show & several people have written Deborah thank you notes.

THE FUTURE BEGINS IN FEBRUARY: Check your tubers. When in doubt, throw it out. Rot is contagious. Time to begin potting up tubers in milk cartons. Place them in warm windows or even by the water heater. Some of the A’s and AA’s need a lot of heat to sprout. Check your soil ph & adjust accordingly. Most often soil is a bit acidic, so a dose of dolomite lime helps rebalance it. Keep weeds at bay. After the rains, a little sun sprouts all kinds of unseen seeds.
	I sprinkle double poppy seeds around my beds. These colorful flowers cover the bare brown earth until I begin replanting. Check out The Big List & order something you’ve never seen before. If you are requesting tubers from some of the growers in our Society, give them a written list—it’s hard to remember exactly what several people have requested. Good dahlia etiquette suggests that you arrange some sort of barter or consideration for coveted tubers.
In the past, DJ built cement steps to a greenhouse; Kim has plied liberally with chocolate; Tinnee has used scarves creatively; Melissa & Diana have screened tubers for disease; Barbara has traded fabulous tubers for fabulous tubers; Ted implemented an entire watering system. Be creative. Good communication and good community are shining goals in themselves.
eNewsletter of Dahlia Society of California, Inc., San Francisco, CA Editor: Deborah Dietz. Web-Layout Editor: Ted Marr Please address your editorial questions to Deborah@SFDahlia.Org Please address your layout, circulation and other web questions to Ted@SFDahlia.Org

NEXT MEETING: 8 Feb. @ 8 PM @ 9th & Lincoln. Program: Deborah will explain uses of the ADS Classification Book. Bring your 2005 ADS “Bible.” Planting in milk cartons and planting seedlings will be demonstrated. Who will bring Valentine’s treats?

NEXT MEETING: 8 Feb. @ 8 PM @ 9^th & Lincoln. Program: Deborah will explain uses of the ADS Classification Book. Bring your 2005 ADS “Bible.” Planting in milk cartons and planting seedlings will be demonstrated. Who will bring Valentine’s treats?