October, 2006

NEXT MEETING:  October 10 at 7:30 @ 9th & Lincoln. 
Program: Last Harrah Mini Show.  Please limit yourself to 2 entries per category including x3 and x5.  Please come early to set up before 7:30 PM.

Lou Lombardo will conduct a soil clinic. To test your soil at our next DSC meeting for its key chemical compositions of  N, P, K, and pH the cost for supplies is $3 per soil sample; please do not bring more than four samples. You will need about one tablespoon of soil for each sample. Take each sample from a depth of about 2-3 inches (where the feeder roots are). If you bring more than one sample, be sure to label them. The results will indicate what amendments your garden needs.

NOVICES DUKE IT OUT:  Congratulations to Hank for his outstanding NX Clearview Magic and another Best B Rolf with a stunning Best AA Inland Dynasty for the trifecta.  Lou Lombardo’s garden pumped out Best Kenora Jubilee; M Glenbank Twinkle; P Lismore Moonlight; AN Powder Puff Polka; S Moonfire; CO Pooh; and x3 L.A.T.E.  Delivering Best in Show, Frank triumphed with Best Ball, Mary’s Jomanda.  Great show! Bring it on again in October!

PICNIC IN THE PARK:  Erik outdid himself this year with elaborate arrangements and sumptuous provender.  Soc delivered Erik’s 8 hams, monster turkey, 5 lavish salads and beverages galore and branded the parking with various cones.  Winning the farthest travel award, Barbara surprised us with a trip up from San Diego to help Tinnee, John and Deborah Kelly clamp bright African prints on tables.

Mike and Janet, driving down from Napa, dispensed Scrabble pointers to Bill, Jim, and Leonard.  Lou Cornish assembled an enticing Tower of Dahlia to lure new members.  Ron and JoAnn encouraged tuber sale buyers to mark down dahlia names.  From early unto dusk, Frank toiled on his hillside trying to deadhead whilst answering myriad questions. 

MASONIC TEMPLE TRANSFORMED TO DAHLIA TEMPLE:  With only 3 weeks, Kevin and Karen negotiated a new venue in Santa Cruz for the Monterey Society’s annual show.  Local media featured Sharon Lucchesi and Joe Ghio with lavish color newspaper spreads.  Bloomerati, Pat Cunningham, Bob Papp and Bob Miller arrived from Southern California.  In all 37 exhibitors displayed almost 2000 flowers.  Lou Lombardo captured his second Novice Sweepstakes with a glorious Dark Horse for Best BB, Pooh (CO) and Moonfire (S).  Roy Stier staged all night to garner Amateur Sweeps with Best AA, Zorro and Best NXO, Betty Boop.  

Bloodied but unbowed from an inadvertent dive on the Hillside Dell, Frank left the emergency room to score Best NX with Valley Porcupine.  Such courage, fortitude and undaunted spirit!  Deborah proudly waved ribbons for Best AN, Stillwater Pearl and Best Stellar Camano Pet AGAIN .  Chloe waltzed off with best Junior x3 Pam Howden and x5 Rembrandt.  The Best x5 Cornels put John and Joanna on the Head Table.  Congratulations to Janet for a lovely floating Pam Howden. Her Jane (BB IC) was the best I’ve ever seen.  Watching Janet truck home her container collections looked like she was driving an entire garden.  Imagine balancing three 14” Cheerleaders in one vase.  Kevin and Karen did. 

SANTA CRUZ SENSATIONS:  You know you’re near the country when people bring produce to a dahlia show.  Generous gardeners shared home-grown tomatoes and squash.  Karen shared a redolent sheaf of basil. Mmmm! Fundraising for their society, Katy and Denis sold dahlias to the public for $1 a stem or $5 a bunch using flowers exhibitors had left over.  Great idea!    Martha and Mike checked out the show to decide what to feature in their boutique dahlia biz, selling to oh-so-chic Florists like Rose & Radish or Bloomers.

This year Al Almand, HG Chad and Pink Jupiter have been selling out.  Magnificent Inland Dynasty and Jessica prove “too bright yellow” for florists to match in bouquets.  No accounting for taste.  Three dahlias caught my eye:  Wildwest introduced by Joe Ghio next year 233, BB ID very autumnal; Hilltop Ivan, 509, one of the largest balls I’ve ever seen; and lastly a new seedling from Corralitos, 04em2, 329 snazzy fuchsia stellars. 

July 16 WAS A VERY HOT DAY  Although the thermometer cracked at 103 degree on July 16, Ted and Rose paid a visit to Don and Carroll McAllister ‘s garden at Longmont, Colorado after attending a family wedding.  Don is the owner and web editor of Colorado Dahlia Society website and the moderator of the Dahlia-Alert Forum . This site has been constantly quoted as the most educational site for growing dahlias.  Don and Carroll have been growing Dahlias since 1982.  The secret of McAllisters’ success in growing Dahlias are simple : drip irrigation, tomato vine scaffolding, and foliage fertilization. He noted that foliage fertilization gives the leaves a bluish color. Don also has created a new bloom, named Night Train; and, has a new one coming that quite excites him.

Don’s drip irrigation is very extensive. It covers every one of the 200 plants, and 250 of his new seedlings.  He waters every other day for about 20 minutes. On a very hot day, he waters an additional couple of times.  His secret in forming the plants is the use of tomato cages. Placed upside down, he does not need even to tie the stems down at all and the metal cages can be reused every year. His favorite Dahlia bloom is a white Mary-Hammett.

Colorado sun can be very harsh, so he uses a “rolling cover over his tomato cages to protect them when they are young. He bought the white synthetic landscape cloth at a garage sale for $5and  has been using them for a ages. Just before the August competition, in order  to protect the blooms from wilting under the Colorado sun, he places umbrellas over his blooms. Ingenious! Tied to a metal stake, the umbrella protects the blooms for the two days prior to competition.

Speaking of competition, Don has won a lot of them, even winning prizes and praise from the local TV station. The plaques on his wall attest to this. To educate the public, Don and Caroll have built an educational display showing the different forms of Dahlia and their sizes (using the actual sizes for reality). They make use of -a second kitchen as their laboratory and greenhouse.   What a marvelous Dahlia loving and generous couple.  You can take a virtual tour of their garden.

SAN JOSE CARAVANSERY: In a tent encampment overlooking The Valley, Ken and Marilyn Masurat grow watermelon, cantaloupes, zuks, rattlesnake beans, meaty tomatoes, peppers, giant pumpkins and a few hundred dahlias.  When asked how many clumps, Ken said, “Look at all this work.  There’s no time to count.”  Thanks to Roy Stier who generously gave hundreds of superb cuttings and to Corralitos , Ken was able to replant a devastated garden.  Sometimes it gets so hot even under the shade cloth, that Ken adds umbrella protection for his potential Best in Shows.  When asked the secret of how he gets such monstrously BIG blooms, Ken disclosed triple or quadruple disbudding! 

Three varieties arrested me:  Brian R, B fd just a stunning color of deep purple;  Teasbrook Audrey, CO; and Windhaven Highlight, a tall B IC with stalks like soldiers’ thighs.  After slurping on watermelon fresh off the vine Ken disrobed one of his giant pumpkins.  The white skin has to be covered lest it crack and disease due to the rapid weight gain of over 20 pounds a day!  Pumpkin vines have sharp thorny serrations that discourage unveiling often bloodying Ken for his ministrations. 

OCTOBER OPPORTUNITIES:  Celebrate the last Hurrah from your plants.  Double disbudding and cutting off weaker stalks pushes the last energy into final blooms. Eventually most will show open centers; do not worry that your plant has suddenly gone bad.  It’s just the waning light.   Let a few blooms go to seed by not deadheading selected flowers.  Wait until these heads have lost all their petals and have turned brown.  Only then, clip and hang upside down in a sheltered spot (garage?)  These will be your genetic lottery tickets in the spring.  Now is the last chance to propagate cuttings of what you were proudest of this summer.  Look for shoots coming off the lowest stalk with at least 6 sets of leaves.  Remove the lowest set of leaves, dip in rooting hormone, pop into rooting mix (perlite & potting soil), and ensconce under light, spritzing with a highly diluted Miracle Gro solution.

Use these final blossoms to check your label with the ADS Classification Book to MAKE SURE you have the right name.  If you have two or more of the same variety, ascertain which is the best version and mark immediately on the tag.  This way you will know which tubers to plant again next season.  Decide whether the other plant is suitable for our tuber sale.  If it is not good enough, throw it away RIGHT NOW.  As your plants grow spindlier, taper off with the water; wait until they exhibit the need for water.  Decide when you will be digging up your clumps then count back at least 4 if not 6 weeks from then.  That is when you want to cut your plants back to 4-5 notches.  Your tubers will winter better if they have hardened off during this enforced dormancy.  For example, in the Dell, if we want to DIG OUT between Christmas and New Years, we need to lop down before Thanksgiving.  Throw your final garden party.  Enter the Last Hurrah! Mini show on Tuesday night.   

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, Rose, Erik and Ted.