PNDC
Bulletin
November
2010
Bulletin
November
2010
| PACIFIC NORTHWEST DAHLIA CONFERENCE NEWSLETTER November 2010 FROM THE PRESIDENT Dear Fellow PNDC Members, For Northwest dahlia growers, it has been an unusual year. June was cold and wet, promoting slow growth and/or rot. Most cuttings planted outside seemed to survive, but the tubers were for me a losing proposition. Those tubers already up with the rains arrived made the cut, those still trying to break ground were a sad lot, many succumbing to the disappointment of rot. Late June I was performing exhumations to determine the status of the patient, (if he could be located) and then in most cases replanting with rooted cuttings. It would be an understatement to say my blooms were a bit late this year. Judging from the number of Giants placed into competition this season, I wasn’t alone. Following the popular organic approach, we began using rabbit manure in straw bedding to side dress the dahlias. Initial results looked encouraging, until we began to notice curled and gnarly distortions in the foliage growth tips. This distortion also eventually began to corrupt the formation of the ray florets, thereby presenting an alien floricultural perversion. Next step was to have the rabbit manure and bedding hauled off in the trash. Some plants were fortunately never affected; others as of this writing have thankfully outgrown the herbicidal ill-effects. I believe the problem can be traced to a new class of herbicides which have very residual effects for certain plant species, most notably tomatoes and dahlias. Curiously, the residuality seems less pronounced for the targeted species; namely, broad leafed weeds! These herbicides are manufactured and distributed by Dow Chemical and/or its licensees. Next season I plan to inquire if tests have been performed by sellers of composts and manures for presence of Aminopyralid or Clopyralid. I am aware of other dahlia growers that have experienced similar problems caused by these herbicides. Maybe we can ask our county extension agents and/or Master Gardener program participants what information they have regarding these residual herbicides and what screening (testing) measures are employed in the industry. Thankfully, our fall has extended the blooming season nicely and provided a few bright, dry days for seed collection, digging and dividing. Hope you each had a good year and, like me, are looking forward to yet another growing season. Warmest best wishes SECRETARY Tom Ball I know that I am a little late with the News Letter, but I encountered a few problems. I came up with some severe back pain, (old age) then, my computer crashed. After attempting to get it reworked, I gave up and installed a new machine. Hopefully I will be back on track once again and in addition to a few other things, I will get this news letter out in a more timely manner. I noted that there were several e-mails sent with some great suggestions and information about our organization. I have published some of these articles (with permission) in this copy of the news. Please keep in mind that we are always in need of suggestions and items to be brought up at our Spring Meeting. I know we won’t meet until April, but if something comes to mind, please send me a note so that I can incorporate it into a list for the meeting agenda. If you change your e-mail address, move, our change phone number, please notify me so that I may keep all records up to date. REMINDER: Dues and member information must be submitted to Elva by February 10, 2011. Information received later will not be entered into the PNDC Roster. Judges information must be sent to Joni Beasley as early as possible so that Judges Rosters can be up dated and submitted to the ADS. Be sure to include the National Show at Portland in 2012 in your plans. We urge all societies to participate and to assist as needed. This is a huge undertaking. Contact members of the Portland Portland Dahlia Society and volunteer your services. Remember also, the pacific Northwest Dahlia Conference Show hosted by the Nanaimo Gladiolus and Dahlia Society on August 20 & 21, 2011 at the Country Club Center, Nanaimo, B.C. PNDC TREASURER REPORT 8/27/10 Beginning balance as of 4/17/10$8,970.08 Income: Tuber auction$330.00 Luncheon$195.00 Interest 5/11-8/10$ 1.21 Dues$ 70.00 less bank charge-Canadian MO- 5.00 Total income + 591.21 $9,561.29 Expenses: 1221 4/17 Michael Riordan-luncheon deposit $200.00 1222 4/17 Joni Beasley-judging forms $ 25.87 1223 4/17 Joan Marsh-roster $174.55 1224 4/17 Portland DS-national show exp $1,000.00 1225 4/17 Douglas Co.DS-PNDC show exp $250.00 1226 void 1227 4/17 Michael Rioran-luncheon $115.00 1228 6/16 Ted Kennedy-website 6/08-4/10 $297.85 1229 7/19 Joni Beasley-judging exps $ 28.46 Total expenses-2,191.73 Ending Balance as of 8/27/10$7,369.56 ADS Image Library Claudia Biggs Its that time again. I am collecting the 2011 new introductions. The program should be finished sometime in December. So far, I have about 80+ new introductions. You will be able to purchase this program from the library or in the near future from the ADS Store thru paypal on the ADS web site. Cost is $13. Checks should be made out to ADS if purchased through the library. Contact me by e-mail, dbiggs@mindspring.com or by phone at 509-326-1953 to request this program. I am currently trying to catch up some other programs now that I am back to work. Look for additional programs in future newsletters. PNDC Judges Chair Report Joni Beasley Thanks to all of the judges that took the time to judge at their shows, other shows and seedlings in a Trial Garden or in someone's garden! I have received many reports and will soon be doing the tallies and making advancements where warranted. Hopefully a way has been figured out to ensure the correctness of everyone's status on all of the rosters. Sorry to all that may of been listed incorrectly. I will be working with the ADS membership chair and the PNDC membership chair to try and see to it the ADS judges chair is aware of any and all new additions, corrections etc. If by any chance you may not of remembered to get your report in to me there is still a little time before it is sent in. Let me know. Thanks again for everyone's participation and remember this is an organization we should all have fun with. Stellars and Formal Decorative by Ted J. Kennedy The stellar definitions have been refined in the last year or so to where most of us now know what a stellar blossom should look like. It seems that when you try to use words to describe a fairly complicated three dimensional object, it is more difficult that one would think. The key to the new definition appears to be the concept of “negative space”. That is a rather elegant way of saying that the ray florets should not be too close together. And that also means that if there are too many ray florets, there is no room for “negative space”. Since the new definition has been adopted, the classification teams have been at work identifying blooms that no longer fit the new stellar definition. And what happens to those blooms that fall out of the stellar class? Most of them are being placed into the formal decorative class. There are some excellent dahlias being moved over to formal decorative and one example is Verrone’s Sandra J. It is an exquisitely formed dahlia that has every petal in it’s place and there are lots of them, as it has a very high petal count. It has so many petals that even though it has a very nice, strong stem, it needs to be sheltered from the rain because it must weigh five pounds when those petals fill up with rain water. Will Verrone’s Sandra J. be competitive in the formal decorative class? I believe it will have some problems because of the way formal decoratives are defined. The book says: “ Ray florets are generally flat, broad, and smooth.... Here is the rub: Sandra J’s petals are not flat but have that stellar characteristic of an “involute “U” shape...” I believe that the formal decorative standard needs to be re-written, allowing more variation in the petal formation. It reality, many winning formal decorative dahlias do not have “flat, broad” petals. They win because of their superb, almost mathematical, regular formation of the ray florets. Many of these big time winners in the formal decorative class are nearly Ball or Miniature ball in formation and are not classified as balls because the florets are not involute enough. There should be room enough in the definition to include “almost ball” and “almost stellar” dahlias with little or no penalty. The key characteristic should be the formal lay of the petals and not the exact shape of the florets. DAHLIA MISCELLANY Wayne Shantz This last fall, Eleanor and I traveled to Chattanooga, TN where we enjoyed the ADS National Annual Show and Convention. What we always learn when we attend these national shows is that we need to spend more time in the region than we have allotted. Still, this September we rented a car and traveled to some intriguing spots, including Hilltop Gardens, the Smoky Mountains, Cumberland Falls, and Lexington, KY where we visited familiar ground for Secretariat. I mention this trip in order to encourage others of you who love the dahlia to also launch into dahlia happenings. In the following paragraphs, I will provide an overview of thoughts, information, and experiences that I have learned and felt in the past year. ADS National Annual Dahlia Shows: We have attended national shows in Minneapolis, Kalispell, Seattle, San Jose, Portland, Vancouver, B.C., Everett, Halifax, N.S., Akron, New York and Chicago in addition to holding our own show here in Eugene. In these excursions, we have garnered a network of dahlia friends. Anticipation reigns high when we begin planning for another show. Next year, the show will be in San Jose, in relatively close proximity to where we in the PNDC live. I would encourage you who are dahlia lovers to begin saving now and plan for this show next fall. You will enjoy the camaraderie and blooms. One of the other intriguing parts of attending these shows comes when I see the way dahlia growers display their blooms. I have seen blooms exhibited that are 3 feet in height with two or more pairs of leaves. I have seen blooms attached to pin frogs, displayed in glassware where the stalks are only inches from the first pair of leaves. I have seen blooms secured by wedges, staged in Oasis, or Styrofoam. Interestingly, each exhibitor thinks that his way is best. We in the Pacific Northwest almost always stage our blooms at home, away from the hurly-burly of the show venue. In the Midwest, California, and East, exhibitors travel with their blooms in buckets and containers and then stage in the containers provided by the hosting club, or in California’s case, each person has purchased his own glass containers. For those who exhibit, it tends to be a long night of frantic work. The beauty of such procedures comes at the end of the show. Except for California, an out-of-town exhibitor merely jumps in his semi-truck and leaves, not having any additional responsibilities. The other advantage evidences when one views the show. All the containers are uniform, which does not allow one to identify the exhibitor of these blooms. The great advantage for the PNDC way is that exhibitors can leisurely stage their blooms and ready themselves for the show. Even though, stress still exists, they are most likely not as tired when they begin to judge, which is an important component of good judging. As an aside, I would also suggest that all of PNDC societies use black containers. It would make our shows more uniform and reduce judging prejudice. Classification Changes: Since many of us grow, show, and judge dahlias, we most likely have some attitudes about what the ideal form is for an American Dahlia Society accepted form description. This year, each of us who judge must make sure to look closely at the updated definitions for form. These definitions will appear on pages 3-6 of the 2011 Classification and Handbook of Dahlias. These definitions supersede all other definitions from prior ADS books. We must remember that the definition is stated as an ideal, a standard for dahlia identification and classification. Because of this condition, judges must think and evaluate closely. Most cultivars will not possess an ideal formation but will be closer to one form than another. Judges who classify a cultivar must inspect it closely and then decide what the form should be, basing their decisions on the latest classification book. The classification of a cultivar may be quite difficult, but the competent judge will have considered each detail of the definition and then made a calculated judgment. Especially note the definition changes of the incurved and fully double dahlias for the 2011 classification book. Incurved Cactus Dahlias: Ray florets are pointed, narrow at the base, uniform in length and arrangement, revolute for the majority of their length, and fully revolute for at least half their length. They will curve upward to the bloom face, but may also arc downward and then up, or they will swirl horizontally around the bloom circumference, usually exposing the involucre in either case. Depth must be at least half the diameter. Novelty Fully Double: Dahlias will display distinct and different form from present classifications. The new formation must display good symmetry, including a closed, tight center, ray florets uniformly shaped and/or arranged differently from other fully double form characteristics. Eye Zones: a uniform band of contrasting color(s), less than one third the length of ray florets that surround the open- centered disc flowers. (Note: This change was recommended by those present in Chattanooga at the classification meeting and then passed in the fall conference call by the Executive Board.) Color Description for Fully Double Dahlias: For some time now judges have wondered how to assign color when the majority of color they see is from the ray floret back rather than the front for fully double dahlias. The ADS is now encountering a number of fully involute ray florets in fully double dahlias. The prime example is Valley Porcupine. Lou Paradise is currently working on a plan for describing dahlias of this ilk. Most likely, he will use brackets for colors that appear on the ray floret back. What he will do about a dahlia that has a majority of color on the back and a contrasting color on the front is still undecided. Most likely, these cultivars will become blends. (Note: The ADS Executive Board has accepted that color descriptors be made for these involute ray floret cultivars and has recommended that Lou determine an appropriate procedure) 4-Digit Classification System: Beginning in the 2011 Classification and Handbook of Dahlias, ADS will employ the 4-digit system. All societies should report using this system. Also understand that Lou Paradise, ADS Classification Chair, will employ a 4-digit system in the 1976-2010 Composite Listing of Dahlias. This text should be ready for purchase in early January. Check www.dahlia.org for the latest publication information. Hilltop Gardens: Every once in awhile. I stumble across new information. As Eleanor and I wended our way and I mean wended from Chattanooga, TN to Cashiers, NC, we wound our way in curves much similar to Highway 101 as one who travels through the Redwoods. I would not take my motor home on this road. Buddy and Kelly Dean, owners of Hilltop Gardens, assure me that they can direct me in a more navigable way for I want to explore more. We enjoyed walking through their commercial garden, which is 2000 feet above sea level. Like the garden name, the garden site is located on a hillside. Buddy and Kelly have their own separate seedling patches where quite a number of good seedlings appear in the pipeline. The garden is clean and well cared for. One of Buddy’s latest seedlings, Hilltop St. Charles is a stunning A SC Flame dahlia. In his garden it borders on B size but in the Northwest, it should grow easily to an A. The bench evaluation at Chattanooga classifies it as an A SC FL. In addition, Buddy rents his dahlia plants to some of the businesses of Cashiers, planting them in ideal locations on their property. He looks after the plants and then digs them in the fall, all for an agreed upon fee. Cashiers is a high resort area with Highlands being the nearest town of any size to it. The rich will often build second, third and fourth homes in the area, 1 million plus in value. Numerous waterfalls surround it, one being higher than Niagara Falls. An ADS trial garden is also located at Cashiers, adjacent to a well-kept park. The higher elevation does emulate more of a northwest climactic condition. If I were in the seedling business, I would not hesitate to send some seedlings to this trial garden. Mignon Dahlias: It will not be too long before ADS begins to see named dahlias of differing forms than just the mignon single. Several originators now have pristine examples of mignon (under 2 ½ inches) orchids, collarettes, and anemones. I would suspect that some smaller fully double dahlias are also appearing in the seedling patch. Is it time to start thinking of a complete line of mignon dahlias? In my mind, that would be lush. ADS Banner: Local societies can use the banner and modify it for their own use. The original banner is well done and can augment society exposure. Lane County Dahlia Society asked to see the banner and felt it was worthy of a future purchase. Dahlia Books: The latest dahlia book publication may be The Dahlia Primer by Eleanor Welling from the Dahlia Society of Ohio. It is a paperback that sells for $10.00. Collectors may want to purchase it. The information is relatively limited and, on occasion, not accurate. And finally….if Eleanor and I do not see you soon, we do wish you joyous Christmas season and a prosperous and healthy New Year. National Show & More Tiffany Boatwright Here's what I've been working on for the national show lately: I have Max Ollieu working on obtaining high quality items for a raffle and have met with him regarding kinds of items and how the raffle will work. I've made contact with a person who will custom sew a set of dahlia embroidered dish towels as one of the prizes. We hope to pre-sell some tickets via our PDS site and the mail for a few of our 'big ticket' items. I have designed a logo incorporating our show theme and a design firm is currently refining it for our end use. Recent hotel contacts have been updated as the staff has changed. I have a person assigned to ordering and coordinating the event food. Ted will need to fill you in on what he's working on for the show itself. My two cents on the members only portion of the ADS website- I believe some parts should be kept for members only, otherwise there is no incentive for many people to pay for a membership. I believe they are working on posting the bulletin on line and the publications are what many people pay for. I haven't had a problem with access. Many of you know that I've experienced severe damage to my dahlias these last two years from what I believe is herbicide damage either in the mushroom compost or alfalfa that I used to construct my dahlias beds with. While I'm not certain this is the problem, it seems most likely after considering all possible causes and normal soil tests. The culprits identified in Washington, Oregon, and the UK are the pyridine class of herbicides (aminopyralid, clopyralid, picloram). Dahlias are in the plant family most severely damaged by these herbicides and Dow Science specifically lists dahlias as an adversely effected crop. Dow states that residual herbicide in manure and compost can break down in as little as 30 days, other sites list up to several years. My dahlias are as fully effected this year as last, so that's two years already for me. Dow states that regular rototilling will speed up it's breakdown. The Minnesota University agriculture site says that an effected area should be left as restricted for at least two growing seasons for sensitive crops. Dow addresses consumer questions about aminopyralid on their website and Washington State University has good information and pictures of damaged plants. Apparently there was a petition circulating in England to ban these herbicides, but I don't know what has become of the issue. A class action suit doesn't seem likely as Dow has covered themselves by clever wording of usage instructions and warnings on the labels of these products. In response to consumer complaints, they state "In those rare cases where garden plants have been damaged by aminopyralid, the herbicide was introduced through animal manure that should not have been used as a garden fertilizer amendment" and "Any introduction into a garden is due to a failure to follow label directions". Basically it's your fault and the other guys fault. Their product label does not say that the use of this product is to be passed on to any potential end users, so we are left wondering what we really are getting. There is a way of testing your soil/manure through a bioassay test which I have done. My results with this test are somewhat inconclusive so I sent many photos to Washington State and their answer was that some looked like they could be potential damage from herbicides. At any rate, I'm replacing my soil with a new product and crossing my fingers that this ordeal will be over with. One thing that Dow said that does make some sense to me is that if only some of your crop is effected, then the cause isn't likely herbicide damage. I tend to think that in the case of dahlias, some varieties may be more susceptible than others as I used compost evenly over my beds and almost all my dahlias have been effected. Hopefully there will be more studies in the future and I would love to see these harmful chemicals taken off the market. Trial Garden Spokane Joni Beasley We had a great year! After a dismal beginning with the usual June rain we had late blooming but wonderful entries! We had over 60% pass and that tells us the quality of entries are being improved on every year. Out of 38 entries all but one bloomed before the cut off date. We are taking reservations for 2011 now!!! Remember the date of April 1st as our requested ship -to date. If we don't get the entries in at approximately the same time we end up having the late entries behind in growth and bloom date. Once again we would like to compliment the entries sent in from the Pacific Northwest...they are among the very very best!!! We do grow great dahlias here don't we??? HERBICIDES Mike Riordan Some growers in our area have had their dahlias severely effected by the residual long term consequences of the legal controlled use of herbicides distributed by Dow Agro Sciences under the generic names of Aminopyralid or Clopyralid. These are a class of herbicides that are not available to the home gardener but are used and made available to farmers with applicators licenses. The fundamental problem with these chemicals are that the are residual and do not break down from season to season. Some of my dahlias were effected through application of rabbit manure. Another member of our Society reported contamination through compost and enriched top soil. The same member reported that Dow Chemical does not know how long these chemicals will continue their residual effects! I will send everyone a separate e-mail with information shared on the dahlia-net and photos of some of my effected plants. I would urge the American Dahlia Society to respond by asking Dow Agro-Sciences to stop manufacturing and distributing these insidiously harmful chemicals. Further, the American Dahlia Society should contact the EPA or other appropriate governmental regulatory agencies to cause Dow Agro-Sciences to recall and withdraw these herbicides from the marketplace. Finally, the ADS should contemplate beginning a class action tort claim against Dow Agro-Sciences for the damage caused to dahlia growers and other similarly effected classes. FROM THE SOCIETIES Victoria Dahlia Society Ken Beswick Hi Tom, the Victoria Dahlia Society has had another eventful year. Started our" Learning Garden" this spring with the generous offering of space by Phil Newton and Teresa Thom. This gave the club a place for the experienced growers to pass on their techniques to new members. It was a weekly work party to tend the beds and enjoy the blooms, some of which were entered in the August show and also sold at the cut flower booth. We have just completed the tuber dig and will profit from their sale at the spring tuber sale. As mentioned the August Show went well even though a month more sun would have helped. Some of our big winners were Connie Young-Davis with 20 entries to the head table, Cathy and Dave Featherby with 5 and 2 by their Grandchildren. Many of our members participated in other shows and did very well. Three of our members made the trek to Chattanooga and brought back lots of picture and memories. They were treated so well they will be going back. We have just had our annual election of officers and I will be switching hats to Vice President but will make sure the new secretary keeps you informed. PORTLAND FALL UPDATE Larry Smith At this writing, since no one has yet developed a tuber that will self dig/divide/store most of us in the Portland area are somewhere in the midst of that cumbersome process. After suffering the least favorable growing conditions for dahlias in recent memory, we actually managed to pull together a very successful annual show on Labor Day weekend. Thanks to our members and participants from neighboring Societies for helping to make our show a success. Though our plants were slow to bloom, the flowers were spectacular later in the season and, at first glance, it appears that strong tubers were produced. Fortunately, we did have some bloom in time for our annual tour of member gardens, which occured on the third Saturday in August. Around 40 people participated in that event, highlighted by a potluck picnic lunch at Larry Smith's garden. We continued the tradition of holding our September meeting with a potluck dinner and Trial Garden judging party at the Swan Island Dahlia Farm. Highlights there included a presentation on growing by Nick Gitts and, of course, sampling Marge Gitt's fantastic pies made from lemons grown right there in the greenhouse. At our October and November meetings, there was a silent auction of tuber clumps brought in by members. We figured if anyone had extras and did not want to divide them, we could use that as a fund raiser. Around 50 clumps were brought in to sell at the November meeting. That gives a nice segue to the subject of the 2012 National Show, of which we are in full preparation mode. The main committee for that has been meeting regularly to develop the outline for our game plan. Our National Show fund raising has begun and we thank all of the Societies and individuals who have contributed and, important note: there is still plenty of time to help us out in that arena. Likewise, we are always looking for volunteers from other Northwest Dahlia Societies to help us put on the show, so contact us and we will be pleased to accept your help. 2011-2012 officers for our Society will be as follows: President: : Mike Riordan Vice President Larry Smith Recording Secretary: Shirley Bankston Corresponding Secretary: Tiffany Boatwright Treasurer: Larry Sawyer There was no column list of PDS show winners sent out this year, but I have copied the following excerpt from our newsletter, you can glean the winners out of this Ryecroft Dave’s Choice, as exhibited by Tiffany Boatwright won best fully double bloom in show. Mark Oldenkamp garnered top honors for his best disc bloom in show with Reddy. Max Ollieu’s exhibit of Barbarry Bingo, got the nod as best triple entry in the show. Larry Smith garnered best triple disc in show honors with Stillwater Plum. The best basket in the show was presented by Eleanor Shantz using Don C. and Hallmark. Margaret Kennedy won best design in show. Larry Smith won Open Sweepstakes with a total of 178 points. This was the second in a row sweepstakes win for Larry. Larry’s secret to success is growing a large diversity of types and great attention to detail. His city size lot also is home to numerous vegetables which he also grows competitively for the various county fairs. Eugene Kenyon won Amateur Sweepstakes with 84 points, this after winning Novice Sweepstakes at our show last year. Eugene is a welcome keen up and coming contender in the dahlia world. Eugene told me he was growing twelve hundred first year seedlings this season. Novice Sweepstakes winner is Victoria Castro. This was Victoria’s first year of showing. Victoria showed no shyness in trying new things, and even had a win in the Basket competition! Julie Toedtli with 24 points is our Junior Sweepstakes winner. Congratulations to all our sweepstakes winners! Richard Bach from Eugene got top honors for largest bloom in show with this entry of Inland Dynasty. Nick Sr., as presented by Tiffany Boatwright was best AA in show. Michael Canning garnered best A in show with Dagmar. Ray Sturman’s Elma Elizabeth was best triple A in show. Max Ollieu’s Peach Delight was the best B size in show. Narrows Tricia by Mark Oldenkamp was the best triple B in show. Lolita as presented by Michael Canning was the best BB in show. Ryecroft Brenda T by Wayne Shantz was the best triple BB in show. Best miniature in show was Tiffany Boatwright’s Ryecroft Dave’s Choice. Ryecroft Jan by Ted and Margaret Kennedy was the best triple miniature in show. Max Ollieu won best triple miniature ball in show with Narrows Kirsten. Ted and Margaret Kennedy’s Sir Richard took best miniature ball in show. Lexa Cookson had the best single entry pompon in show with Willo Borealis. The triple pom honors went to Elva Sellens with her exhibit of Tiny. Pam Howden made a clean sweep of the water lily honors with Lexa Cookson taking single entry and Larry Smith triple entry awards. Alloway Candy dominated the Stellar competition. Here Gary Murphy had single and Max Ollieu triple honors. Eileen C as shown by Tiffany Boatwright was the best anemone in show. Best triple anemone went to Max Ollieu for Comet. Best Collarette in show went to Larry Smith for his Sean C. Best triple Collarette was presented by Max Ollieu. Reddy was the best single entry Mignon Single shown by Mark Oldenkamp. Stillwater Plum exhibited by Larry Smith was the best triple Mignon Single. The Orchid form competition was dominated by the usual suspects. Midnight Star by Larry Smith was best single entry and Natalie’s Star by Max Ollieu was best triple entry. Larry Smith’s entries of Miss Muffet swept the Peony form competition winning in single and triple entry classes. Best Single in show was Delta Red by Mark Oldenkamp. Best triple Single in show was Tahoma Eldean as shown by Elva Sellens. Both triple and single entry top honors in open novelty went to Jacs Kelli by Tiffany Boatwright. Valley Porcupine was the winner in the fully double novelty category, single and triple entries, both for Ray Sturman. SOUTHERN OREGON DAHLIA SOCIETY M. Paulette Woodward In this show report I am featuring three areas that do not get much attention. Baskets, Seedlings and Arrangements. It takes not only horticulture skills but an eye beyond exhibit perfection. Thanks to all for taking the dahlia to a higher standard and having the imagination. Cora Vandervelden, has picked up from where Francis Vandervelden, her mother in law stopped and with the same talents. some of the talents are composing, creative arrangement titles and details. They are fun to read. I hope that you take the time to appreciate this artistic part of our show and the techniques of designers. They put many hours working a design, gathering the materials and flowers, then constructing the display on site. The loss of one flower can ruin the entire design. One of the interesting that happened this year was the thoughtfulness of the public. At the tuber sale the customers bought with a purpose, not just for the WOW factor and at the show they were reading exhibit tags and taking notes on their lists. At our annual display for Shore Acres State Park, the majority of the visitors inquired about purchasing dahlias. Outside of handing out the business cards of regional growers we gave them a contact person close to their home. Gardeners seem to more about their gardening. Another interesting thing was the exhibitors. We were just happy to have blooms to exhibit. As always, there is so much appreciation for all that participated in the show and especially to those who took the time with the public to answer questions and visit with them. We would like to thank Wayne and Eleanor Shantz for the judging schools. We appreciate their taking the time to share their knowledge, trying to keep us on the straight and narrow. We have our tuber sale scheduled for April 9th and our show date Septemter 10th and 11th. Have a great holiday. Southern Oregon Dahlia Society 54th Annual Show Basket Awards Best Basket in Show Bowen Christy Parks Best BB Basket Vista Lindsey Christy Parks Best Laciniated Basket Vesuvius Bob Chi bante Best Pom Basket Bowen Christy Parks Small Flower Basket Mingus Eleanor S Kathy Iler Grand Slam Basket Don C. ,Odyssey, Chimacum Troy Eleanor Shantz Novice Basket Sweepstakes Bob Chibante Amateur Basket Sweepstakes Kathy Iler Adv. Am. Sweepstakes Christy Parks Seedling Awards Single Undisseminated Neighbors Pride St Y Mike Iler Triple Undisseminated Mini Orchid Yello Wayne Shantz Highest Scoring ADS ’60-Steve Meggos A ID Br 85.66 Wayne Shantz Arrangement Awards Best Arrangement in Show An Old Cottage Garden Cora Vandervelden Advanced Amateur Treasure Chest of Old Cora Vandervelden Vase or Urn Antiques and Lace Ginger Clack Joy Gill Memorial Chall. An Old Cottage Garden Cora Vandervelden Advanced Amateur Sweeps Caora Vandervelden Inland Empire Dahlia Society Joni Beasley 2010 is winding down and we feel our society under President Greg Smith had a great year. Thank you Greg!!! The show was well received with over 1300 blooms. Entrants came from Montana, Idaho and the other" Washington. Often we here wish we had the growing conditions the Puget Sound Area has. ( Hard to compete with the spider mites and earwigs we get. ) Thanks to all that came and made the show the talked about vision it presented. Elections were held and the new year will begin for the new slate of officers after the 1st of January. Plans will begin for the first show using the 4 digit system and the PNDC show in 2012. Lots to do but I hope they will be up to the task. Tuber sales will be held in April and May and the society is planning to have a good save rate of the tubers in storage. Thank you again Greg for the past successful years. Happy Holidays to each of you and Happy 2011 Seattle Dahlia Society Kathy Ryan The Seattle Dahlia Society annual show was held September 4th and 5th, 2010 – Lake City Community Center, Lake City, WA Show Co-Chairs: Tom Ball and Diane Blackmer Name of Prize: Name of Dahlia: Exhibitor: Best Dahlia in Show Martina Ken Greenway Best Single AA Inland Dynasty Marc Norman Best Triple AA Show and Tell Vern and Judy Stephens Best Single A Harvey Koop Richard Williams Best Single B Camano Concord Ken Greenway Best Triple B Skipley Bonanza Hills Collins Best Single BB Aitara April Scarlett Pflugrad Best Triple BB Jomanda Hills Collins Best Single Miniature Martina Ken Greenway Best Triple Miniature Badger Twinkle Richard Williams Best Single Ball Mary’s Jomanda Vern and Judy Stephens Best Triple Ball Greendor Richard and Monica Tailleur Best Single Mini Ball Chimacum Troy Ken Greenway Best Triple Mini Ball Barbarry Gem Richard and Monica Tailleur Best Single Pompon Dutch Baby Denis and Karen Girard Best Triple Pompon Yellow Baby Ken Greenway Best Waterlily Wildwood Marie Hills Collins Best Triple Waterlily Carmen Bunky John Sullivan Best Stellar AC Rooster Richard Williams Best Anemone Quick Step Kathy Ryan Best Triple Anemone Goldie Gull Vern and Judy Stephens Best Collarette Alpen Diamond Dave Blackmer Best Triple Collarette AC Coy Ken Greenway Best Peony Elvira Louie Eckhoff Best Triple Peony Elvira Louie Eckhoff Best Single Single Lulu Island Mom Vern and Judy Stephens Best Triple Single Lulu Island Mom Vern and Judy Stephens Best Orchid Midnight Star Ken Greenway Best Mignon Matthew Juel Dave Blackmer Best Triple Mignon Rembrandt Mike and Sally Paulus Best Novelty (NX) Valley Porcupine Carol Fiske Best Triple Novelty (NX) Valley Porcupine Hills Collins Best 25 Years + Entry Pop Willo Richard Williams Best Triple 25 Years+ Entry Salmon Rays Richard Williams Best NW Origination Skipley Spot Richard Williams Best Triple NW Origination Mick’s Peppermint Hills Collins Best Foreign Origination L’Ancresse Mike Alexander Best American Origination Wildwood Marie Hills Collins Best Basket in Show Chilson’s Pride Diana Blackmer Smallest Most Perfect Dutch Baby Denis and Karen Girard Largest Most Perfect Kenora Clyde Hills Collins Best Dahlia by a Junior Carmen Alexandra Alexandra Sanchez Best Dahlia by a Novice Martina Ken Greenway Best Dahlia by an Amateur Wildwood Marie Hills Collins Best 2009-2010 Introduction BJ’s Reina Jerry Morris Best Laciniated Entry Vista Lindsay Richard Williams Best 5 BB Dahlias Red River Ken Greenway Best 5 Pompons Yellow Baby Ken Greenway Best “Dahlia of the Year” Midnight Star Richard Johnson Peoples Choice Skipley Spot Richard Williams Best Undisseminated Seedling Richard Williams We would especially like to thank everyone who brought flowers – even with the cold wet spring, we had over 975 blooms - and those who participated in judging, clerking, setting up/breaking down, flower sales, and the information desk. It took a lot of volunteers to make our 53rd Annual Show a success and a truly beautiful event. Nanaimo Glad and Dahlia Society Judy Stephens Nanaimo Glad and Dahlia Society will be hosting the 2011 PNDC Show on August 20 & 21 2011 at Country Club Centre. Challenge flower will be Kenora Clyde and flowers of the year will be a single of Vassio Meggos & a triple of R Joan. Mark your calendars, come see the island, and share with us a good time!! Nanaimo Glad and Dahlia Society members are busy winterizing tubers and digging glad corms. The weather has cooperated to a degree but rain or shine it has to be done. Apparently it's supposed to be a cold and long wet winter. Hopefully the tubers will survive! Our membership is steadily growing and we have a group of very inquiring dahlia minds. We're always looking for new programs to keep the more experienced growers keen as well. We changed our display garden at the Vancouver Island University Paine Horticultural Centre to a seedling garden for our members who are into growing seedlings. This can be a teaching tool for new growers and we can use it as well to explain the color chart and classifications of blooms. Denis Girard and Jim Gilchrist will be in charge of this endeavor and the cost per seedling entry will be $5. The entry must consist of seedling tubers hybridized by the club member. Due to the sales of our tuber sale, we were able to donate $500 to a horticultural student in the VIU hort program. Our recipient was Robert Conner. If tuber sales prove as lucrative each year, we will try and make this an annual donation. In recognition of the passing of Garry Whiteoak, we created an award to emphasize the outgoing compassion of dahlia teaching, growing and sharing of information to the club members. The recipient had to be someone in our very own membership. The honoured club member was myself. Some Award Winners From Our Show. Best Dahlia in Show- Kenora Jubilee--Cathy/Dave Featherby (Victoria) Best Giant AA Dahlia- Inland Duynasty--Paul McKittrick (Vic) Best 3 Giant AA Dahlia- Zorro--Connie Young-Davis (Vic) Best Medium B Dahlia- Hamari Accord--Bob Sampson (Nanaimo) Best Triple Pom- Glenplace--Karen/Denis Girard (Nanaimo) Best Waterlily- Figurine--Ray/Jane Lauzier (Nanaimo) Best Single Dahlia- Lulu Island Mom--Judy/Vern Stephens (Nanaimo) Lane County Dahlia Society Michael Canning The Lane County Dahlia Society has closed the door on another growing season. Many of us are now focused on bringing in the crop of next year's tubers. As with every season, there was success and failure at many turns. There were varieties that did not quite live up to expectations, others that surprised and delighted us with their stunning beauty. The weather, as always, was a mixed bag as well. It seemed like this year everything was late as we suffered through a cold, wet early spring. Some of our best blooms came on in the weeks after the shows were over. One loss this year will be extremely difficult for our organization to overcome. Our last surviving charter member, Alfretta Spores passed away on September 29 at the age of 90. She suffered a stroke on the eve of our show, and died later of complications. Alfretta was everyone's favorite LCDS member. She was very active in our organization, and attended every show, every meeting, and every committee function. She has been our go-to person for the design and basket sections at our show for more years than anyone can remember. Alfretta was also a very active member of the Eugene Garden Club, and was the floral superintendent for the Lane County Fair for many years. We have been hurt deeply by her loss, and it will take much more than the winter months ahead to soothe our pain. Through it all the Lane County Dahlia continues to grow and spread the good word about our flower. We have an active, engaged membership, and a committed core group who are dedicated to moving forward to the wonders of the new season. Your friends at the Lane County Dahlia Society wish you and those close to you a healthy and bloom filled 2011!! Here are some of our winning entries from our show September 18 & 19 2010: Best of Award Dahlia Variety Exhibitor Best of Award Dahlia Variety Exhibitor 1 Bloom Double Lakeview Glow Christy Parks 1 Bloom Novelty Open Lorona Dawn Wayne Lobaugh Jr 1 Bloom Disc 08 Kelsie Kristie Wayne Lobaugh Jr 3 Blooms Novelty Open Christmas Star Wayne Lobaugh Jr 3 Blooms Double Aitara Caress Ginger Clack 1 Bloom Novelty Double Valley Porcupine Ray Sturman 3 Blooms Disc Christmas Star Wayne Lobaugh Jr 3 Blooms Novelty Double River’s Novelty Eugene Kenyon 1 Bloom AA Ivory Palaces Ron Clack 1 Bloom Peony Granville Mark & Laura Oldenkamp 1 Bloom A Janal Amy Mike Iler 3 Blooms Peony Elvira Ray Sturman 3 Blooms A Kenora Jubilee Robert Chibante 1 Bloom Anemone Comet Max & Marie Ollieu 1 Bloom B Colwood Hope Hiedi Oldenkamp 3 Blooms Anemone Mexico Wayne Lobaugh Jr 3 Blooms B Alfred Grille Max & Marie Ollieu 1 Bloom Collarette Kelsey Sunshine Wayne Lobaugh Jr 1 Bloom BB Lakeview Glow Christy Parks 3 Blooms Collarette Dark Suspense Wayne Lobaugh Jr 3 Blooms BB Ryecroft Zoe Mike Iler 1 Bloom Water Lily Ruthie G Cora Vandervelden 1 Bloom Miniature Bristol Tangerine Robert Chibante 3 Blooms Water Lily Sandia Shomei Ray Sturman 3 Blooms Miniature Aitara Caress Ginger Clack 1 Bloom Stellar Camano Pet Linnea McIntosh 1 Bloom Ball Mary’s Jomanda Robert Chibante 3 Blooms Stellar Crazy Legs Ray Sturman 3 Blooms Ball Mary’s Jomanda Robert Chibante 1 Bloom MB Odyssey Lexa Cookson 3 Blooms MB MS Kennedy Ted Kennedy 1 Bloom Pom Valda Ginger Clack 3 Blooms Pom Moor Place Mike Riordan 1 Bloom Single 08 – Kelsey Kristie Wayne Lobaugh Jr 3 Blooms Single Alley Rose Wayne Lobaugh Jr 1 Bloom MS Rival Jeff Jeffs 3 Blooms MS Lo -Blush Wayne Lobaugh Jr 1 Bloom Orchid Natalie’s Star Max & Marie Ollieu 3 Blooms Orchid Natalie’s Star Wayne Shantz AND FINALLY! I would take this opportunity to thank everyone who submitted articles for this Newsletter. I know that it is a most busy time of year with digging, and caring for tubers and holidays coming up. THANK YOU! THANK YOU! The next Newsletter will be published in February 2011. Please submit articles by 12 February 2011. Be sure to include the National Show at Portland in 2012 in your plans. We urge all societies to participate and to assist as needed. This is a huge undertaking. Contact members of the Portland Portland Dahlia Society and volunteer your services. Be sure to include the National show at Portland in 2012 in your plans. We urge all societies to participate and to assist as required. This is a huge undertaking. Please be reminded that many hands make light work. Contact members of the Portland Society and volunteer your services as necessary. Remember also, the pacific Northwest Dahlia Conference Show hosted by the Nanaimo Gladiolus and Dahlia Society on August 20 & 21, 2011 at the Country Club Center, Nanaimo, B.C. Remember also the Pacific Northwest Dahlia Conference Show hosted by the Nanaimo Gladiolus & Dahlia Society on August 20 & 21 2011 at the Country Club Center, Nanaimo, B.C. I wish everyone a wonderful and joyous holiday season. May you and your families enjoy the spirit of the season in every way. The majority of this Newsletter is being sent via e-mail. If you do not wish to have it e-mailed, but prefer regular mail, please let me know as soon as possible. tntball@comcast.net |