November, 2007

Next Meeting:  

November 13th at 7:30 PM, SF County Fair Building, 9^th Ave. and Lincoln Way

Program:     Kevin Larkin explains how he and Karen started Coralitos Gardens, how they propagate via cuttings, and their revolutionary innovation to enable them to send live plants through the mail.  It should be educational, entertaining and enticing.  Society bylaws have been revised and will be approved at this meeting. Look here for preview. Who will bring goodies to share with fellow growers?

October Meeting Review:    by Joe Norton

Tim Culbertson From the Stanford Dahlia Project Tim Culbertson, a middle school teacher who also works with the Stanford Dahlia Project and the US National Arboretum, informed us about the background and purpose of the Stanford project and explained the mission of the National Arboretum and its Herbarium. The Stanford Dahlia Project focuses primarily on the genetics of color and has chosen the dahlia as a key specimen plant to conduct its study. The study has evolved to the point where Stanford is now actually growing dahlias of its own, and currently maintains a garden of approximately 80 cultivars. The project explores all aspects of color genetics, including dominant and recessive color traits, the relation between floral pigment and that of the leaf and stem, and differences in pigments within each of the various color categories. The project is also particularly interested in variegation and how flower color is turned on or off genetically.

The project has created a central database where it stores relevant information gather, and has also created a website that everyone is encouraged to visit and participate in. An ongoing focus through these efforts is to create a dahlia culture that, among other things, encourages the exchange of information. The address is www.stanford.edu/group/dahlia_genetics  Much more information is available at this site, including the full list of the 80 or so cultivars the project currently grows. Test your skills on their interactive matching dahlia name, variety, and form. Tim encouraged everyone to visit the website, and provided a list of questions or ways in which everyone’s help would be particularly beneficial.

These included identifying website problems, identifying new varieties that the project should grow, posing study questions for the project, adding images and/or information to the website, allowing the students to use our gardens for research and providing seedling samples, as the center is extremely interested in seedling research and offers to grow new seedlings. Tim also briefly reviewed his work with the US National Arboretum’s Herbarium. An Herbarium is essentially a library of plants that maintains a dried “type specimen” that becomes a reference for that species. The largest herbarium in the world is in Paris, France, with library of over 8 million specimens and Harvard University maintains the second largest, with about 5 million specimens. Currently the US Arboretum’s library has about 500 thousand specimens, and focuses on cultivated plants. 

Late Bloomers – Baker Bill Sweeps the Mini Show Thanks to all who brought entries to the October mini show. It has been a challenging season and many members commented on high levels of mildew. Baker Bill took four firsts and Best in Show with his excellent Jessica. Encore (A), Caproz Jerry Garcia (B), and Pam Howden (WL) won Bill his other first places. Bill nabbed seconds with Rockrun James (B) and Lemon Zing (BB). Pat Hunter won best ball with her Kenora Fireball, and endured a lecture for entering two of the same bloom! Both were excellent, however.

The Cornishes took first place for the Rumble Bumble (CO) and Bishop of Landorf (PE). Devi took a second with her Encore and a couple of thirds as well. Congratulations to everyone who successfully grew dahlias this season and especially to those who brought them for others to appreciate as well. 

Chicago National Show:

 Several growers from Northern California represented our fascination at the Chicago National Show in September including our president, Tinnee, our board members the Cornishes, the Paradises, the Juuls, Deborah and Kevin. Steve Meggos arranged a spectacular venue in the Pheasant Run Resort, where one ballroom housed the show and the adjacent ballroom the staging one night and the banquet the next evening.  Because growers drive from many states away, safe transport and effective stabilization of large flowers sometimes divide the winners from the losers.  Many participants tied dowels with pipe cleaners around each stem and then tied them into traveling buckets.  Buddy Dean allowed as how he actually tied his dowels to his big flowers as they were growing in the field.  He even used the dowel up under the bud’s chin if it needed a bit of attitude adjustment.  When cutting for the show, he simply snipped the whole shebang: stem, flower, pipe cleaners, and dowel already wound about.  Rick Peters from Grand Valley improved on this system using hair clips instead of pipe cleaners to hold his dowels in place.  Ingenious!  More National Show

Seeds & Stems:  Recently the Chronicle had an article on dahlias including pictures straight from our Dell in Golden Gate Park.  The author cited our website and recapitulated the 5 Easy Steps to Growing Dahlias from Ted Marr.

Dell Doings:   Thanks to Rose, Greg, Pat and Orlando for all their help in disbudding and deadheading.  Thanks to Frank and Erik for watering.  Major thanks to Paula for labeling.  I shall soak the Dell for the last time the last weekend in October and then let nature take her course.  I’ll be lopping down the weekend before Thanksgiving, Saturday, November 17 from 9 am on.  I would surely appreciate anyone who would like to come and help and learn the brutal art of lopping off.  Paula will give a talk to the Master Gardeners of Marin on dahlia propagation this month.  Deborah toured dahlia gardens in Brevard and Cashiers North Carolina.  DJ lops his Beresford San Mateo garden at the end of October.

  Yours in Dirt

  Deborah

Dahlia Society of California, Inc., San Francisco, CA  -- Copyrighted

 Editor: Deborah Dietz
e-Newsletter Editor: Jytte Rasmussen
Acknowledgement: Photos in this issue by Deborah, Joe and Jytte