November, 2005

               

ANNUAL MEETING AND ELECTIONS:  The Dahlia Society of California under Section 1, Article 5 of the Society Constitution, shall hold an annual meeting of members for the elections of officers and directors and for the transaction of other business pertaining to the Society.  Under Section 1 Article 7 of the Bylaws, the annual meeting of the Society for the election of the officers and directors shall be held on the second Tuesday in November (Regular November meeting).  We hereby give notice that this meeting will take place at 8 PM on Nov. 8, 2005 in the Recreation Room of the County Fair Building in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco. 

 
                 
 

The election of President, 1st Vice President, 2nd Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary and Corresponding Secretary shall be by written ballot at the annual meeting of the Society to serve a term of 1 year.  Also the election of 4 members of the Board of Directors for a term of 2 years shall also be undertaken by written ballot. Members are requested to nominate Board Members and send nominations either to Lou Cornish (415-388-1671), Lou Lombardo (415-664-2854), or Ron Dingwall (415-383-5585).  PLEASE ATTEND TO VOTE.  (There are no proxy votes.) 

NEXT MEETING:  8 Nov. @ 8 PM @ 9th & Lincoln. 
Program:  Digging & Dividing:  How to untangle & separate those twisted masses of roots found underneath your wizened dahlia plants.
Lou Paradise will lecture and provide hands on practice with tubers.  We’ll discuss:
..When is the optimal time to take out? 
..Should you divide or leave some clumps intact? 
..How to preserve your tubers: Clorox, sulphur, Captan, other method?
..How to store: vermiculite, cedar shavings, shredded paper? 
..How to box them? paper bags, plastic zip-lock, pizza flats? 
Bring questions and your clumps of Dahlia root tuber to practice on.

Tinnee won the Best of show, Mary's Jomanda.
at the 2005 last (Oct) Mini Show


 
THE LAST MINI SHOW:  We enjoyed one last flourish of lovely blooms before the mud months set in.  Congratulations to Diana  for her first show taking Blue for her stunning Lady Darlene.  Barbara  triumphed in the AA’s with Penhill Dark Monarch.  DJ struck again with a sassy Sean C, collarette.    Frank scored with Valley Porcupine NX, Poppet P, Elvira  PE, and Alpen Pearl, AN.  Tinnee swept the rest of the categories with  Pink Jupiter, C G Elegance, Skipley Spot of Gold, Franz Kafka, Pam Howden and x3 Alpen Diamond.  How could Tinnee have saved the perfect Mary’s Jomanda from last month’s Best in Show to capture the title again this month?  Thanks to the Dingwalls for judging and Franck for clerking.

SPECIAL DELIVERY:  DJ’s excellent article in the last ADS Bulletin outlined how to make personalized dahlia stamps that legally transport letters through the mail.  His photos of his dahlia stamps graced the back cover color page.  DJ graciously reprised how to make ones own custom photo stamps.  John led a discussion on why the dahlias and pumpkins in the Pacific Northwest grow larger than here: an extra 1 ½ hours of sunlight being that much further north.    

John also reported that powdery mildew has been sighted in oak trees in the dry Sierras.  No escaping it, it seems.  Tinnee and Lou L. were asked again how to build small but terrific greenhouses from book shelves.  Editors in New Zealand so appreciated the photo essay on Tinnee’s greenhouse, they requested permission to use it in their next bulletin!  Raffle man struck again.  DJ had some early tubers.  Who should win the huge vase of flowers but new member, Patricia Hunter.  Congratulations and welcome! 
CAPITALIZING IN CAPITOLA!
Although dahlias were scattered all over the mall, many of the DSC entries made it to the Fountain of Honor.  Barbara’s Penhill Watermelon trumped Frank Schulkin’s gigantic Islander for Novice Best AA. But Frank’s spectacular Hollyhill Electra clobbered the other big bruisers at the Fountain for Best in Show! To prove he knows small as well as large, Frank nabbed Best Peony with Elvira.   DJ knew he had Best Double Novelty aced when one of his Valley Porcupines was pitted against the other.
 
In explanation, DJ said,  “Deborah opened a new world for me when she informed me I could enter both Open as well as Novice.” Lou Lombardo said DJ showed a new universe for him by letting him in on the secret of Open exhibits, thereby capturing Best Anemone with an almost plastic-perfect Powder-puff Polka.  Chloe Lombardo continued her triumphal march with Best Junior Bloom, Vernon Rose.

With her son Ricky’s help, Gerda mounted impressive wins: Best Small Seedling; Best O-Juul Star; Hall of Fame Candidate—Kenora Clyde; and Best Disc and x3 Disc with inimitable Mathew Juuls.  The Lou Paradise Show entertained the crowd with: Best ADS Seedling, Best x3 Pink Paradise; x3 Ruskin Marigold; B Chimacum Julia; BB Dark Horse; Min, G W’s Babe; P, Hallmark; WL, his new yellow seedling; MB, Franz Kafka; and Best Small C G Spirit.  “I was surprised to see so many win, because I only brought a few, ” Lou commented.  The right few, obviously.

 

Roy Stier stunned the throng with Best x5 Kenora Jubilee just edging out his magnificent x5 Edna C’s; Best AA, a monstrous Inland Dynasty; A, Spartacus; BA, L’Ancresse; Open Novelty, his yellow seedling; and Best Small Rose Toscano.  Janet Thalen exhibited great Little Caesars x1, x3 and x5—that’s depth for you!  She won Best Vernon Rose and Smallest with Chimacum Pumpkin.  Team Larkin-Zydner triumphed with Largest, Penhill Watermelon and oldest Union Jack, a gay red and white striped single originated in 1882.  Wresting winners from impenetrable clay, Guy Chibante scored with Best Small x3, C G Coral.  His Alfa Soccoro, 374 LC, captured my fancy as well as Frank’s Felida Stars & Stripes 575 and his Robert Too, 413.  DJ’s Buffy 671, earned Best Novice Collerette again.

READ THE COMPLETE LIST OF WINNERS.

Visiting bloomarti, Bob Papp and Pat Cunningham drove up from L.A. to tour Bay Area Dahlias and judge. “I took out a mortgage on the house to pay for gas,” semi-joked Pat.  His seeds augmented an outstanding public demonstration of Dahlia Lore including examples of all the forms, a tuber clump freshly dug, and sign ups for the Colorado Dahlia News Alert web link.  Janet Thalen masterminded fabulous publicity; two newspapers, The Sentinal and the Pajaronia covered the show with beautiful colored pictures as well as well written articles.

More dahlias that caught my eye: both Janet Thelan and Joe Ghio’s Starring, 564;  Joe Ghio’s  Hanna Baker, 30 and his spectacular Tropica; Dean Barn’s red and white Bert Pitt, 235; Paradise’s swirliest yet Bird Nest; Mingus Julie M,170 from the Zydner/Larkins; and Juul’s Pearl, 521, a very very tight MB.  Seedlings to covet are: Lou Paradise’s third year seedling to be named Prometheus, a blazing flame incurved 266 as well as a BB ID, 335;  and the Larkin/Zydner Purple Swirl 569.  Joe Ghio has a very promising B FD pk but it’s only the first year—can we wait 3 more?

DRIVING FOR DAHLIAS:  For the last 10 years the Monterey Dahlia Society has arranged a Dine Around whereby members potluck a meal course at each of 5 private gardens.  This year Tinnee, Rose and Ted and their son Kevin, DJ, Diana, and Deborah were privileged to participate.  For breakfast we visited Kevin Larkin and Karen Zydner at their Corralitos ranch where they erected a tent “garage” for our dining pleasure.    
Planted from March through July, 1,100 plants produce 25-1500 cut flowers per week.  Instead of individual stakes, they employ 3 rows of longitudinall twine which they buy in commercial 5000’ “balls.”  Predatory mites & drip systems keep many problems in check.  Some eye catchers were: Ryecroft Gem, MB Pk; Leota Mace, WL scarlet; Ayers White Knight, 13” humongous SC's which thrive in the hotter weather; Vista A Rod BB FD dark luscious red; and Stephanie shich Kevin said, “ Not a great show flower, but fabulous substance and staunch stems.  We sell a bundle!”.

Devil Liam from Grahm Carey in England; and Vera’s Elma, that rare and elusive category AA FD, lav. Some of the enticing new seedlings are a bronze BSC from Joe Ghio, JG02-3; a fuchsia and white BB FD; and a red single with dark foliage and a dark center. Corralitos Gardens has 4 long rows of pot roots so they can start cutting production in heated beds in the greenhouse at Christmas time  to fulfill your orders by March.  Walking through the Corralitos 1500 seedlings is like walking into the future: so many possibilities for the dahlia germ plasm.

Read and see the rest of the stops: Second stop was at the Thelen Hacienda, Third stop was the Wilson place. Fourth stop was at Sharon and George Lucchesi's Aptos California Oak and Aviary. Fifth stop was at Cynthia Geske's Love Apple Tomato Farm where Ozzie grew Dahlias among the giant Redwood trees.

NOVEMBER NOSTRUMS:  Check your labels for accuracy whilst you can still discern what the blooms should look like.  Rogue immediately; get rid of trash plants.  Dig up and throw in the garbage any dahlia bush which you feel did not do as well as it should and which would not please someone buying its tubers at the Tuber Sale.  Do it now.  Fill the hole with luscious compost for next year.  Water only those plants still thriving and GREEN.  Anything brown, cut it down to 4-5 notches or joints.  These will act as water seals over the winter.  I like to wait a minimum of 4 weeks after I have lopped back before I dig up and divide my clumps.  They seem to develop tougher skin if they are allowed to go fully dormant. DJ, on the other hand, likes to dig out within a couple weeks of lopping down.   

 
  If you have well-drained sandy soil—for example in the Richmond—you might leave your clumps in until March.  If you have compressed, heavy or adobe soil, get your clumps out before the rains or they will rot.  When you decide to pull up your clumps, you have 2 choices what to do with your clumps.  1.  Dig, divide, bleach, daub with sulphur or Captan, and store in vermiculite or cedar shavings.  2.  Maintain as much dirt adhering to your tuber clump as possible and put the whole megalith in a cardboard box, close it up and stack in a cool but not freezing spot until March.  This method avoids dividing the clump immediately.  You can wait until the spring when little green shoots appear and the dividing spots are more obvious.  Start thinking of a stealable garden-related gift to bring to the Christmas party (@$10).  Last year Erik’s basket of narcissi, DJ’s dahlia cards with matching stamps, a magnificent cymbidium and a snazzy leather tool belt all got snatched and “frozen” very quickly. 

DUES ARE DUE:  Dahlia Society of California dues are $10 for the calendar year January-December or any part of it.  These dues cover your informative newsletter (either snail mail or email), 12 monthly fascinating 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. Please use this form for your information update.

 
   ADS membership brings quarterly ADS Bulletins 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.  Please send checks to Diana BrogoItti  290 Maywood, San Francisco CA 94127 or bring to our meetings the second Tuesday evening of each month.
 

N MEMORIAM:  Last month we lost a wonderful DSC friend, Dr. Karl Hanson.  Besides pioneering psychiatric counseling to the OB-Gyn department at UCSF, Karl helped at many dig-outs—even spilling blood whilst performing tuber surgery.  His astute insights into people, his wonderful sense of humor, and his love of dahlias will be missed.  Our best wishes and loving memories of Karl go out to his wife of 20 years, Mary.  DSC has sent a contribution in his name to the Florence Crittendon Services.

 

Click to return to DSC Home PageDahlia 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