Viktoria Serafin
Spring is sprung! Hepatica is in bloom here. No sign of hostas, though.
Dave Jennings demonstrated and described asexual propagation of hostas at the April meeting. He had braved a three-inch snowfall to dig some that very morning, and all attendees went home with divisions of 'Kabitan', 'Abba Dabba Do' and undulata 'Albomarginata'.
We will have a great group of hostas for sale at the May meeting at the George Landis Arboretum, thanks primarily to the efforts of Janet Vinyard. The profit from the sales is earmarked for speakers' fees. It is not too late to look around your gardens to see what you have in excess and can contribute to the sale. Someone else is sure to want it.
At the Arboretum we will tour the Lilac collection. I did a great deal of work with the collection during my internship there. I shall lead the tour and tell you more about lilacs than you ever really wanted to know.
Tours are still being planned for June and July.
The Nominating Committee continues to look for candidates for the positions of President and Vice President. The present Officers will step down in September, when the election will be held in conjunction with the annual picnic and sitter plant sale, which will again take place at Glenbrook Farm. Dan Maier has stepped forward to take on Carol Mastromarchi's duties as Secretary, for which we should be eternally grateful! Carol has held the position since the inception of the Society, and has done an outstanding job of recording the proceedings. We all thank you, Carol!
The Executive Committee will meet a half-hour prior to the start of the general meeting.
June 22nd Garden Tour -
Albany/Delmar/Glenmont area
July 13th Garden Tour --
Schenectady/Glenville area
May 11th Meeting - 1:00 p.m.
Member Plant Sale and Tour
George Landis Arboretum
Esperence, NY
September 14th Meeting - 1:00 p.m.
Annual Member Picnic - Bring a dish to share
Glenbrook Farm
Fultonville, NY
October 26th Meeting - 1:00 p.m.
Schenectady Public Library
Liberty Street
Schenectady, NY
********************
Officers:
President: Viktoria Serafin
Vice President: Bill Storz
Recording Secretary: Dan Maier
Treasurer: Joan Stoffels
Membership Chair: Linda Storz
Newsletter Editors: Jim & Meg Dalton
Webmasters: Jim & Meg Dalton
Hospitality: Linda Montanaro
Librarian: Dawn Haas
Plant Acquisitions: Janet Vinyard
Hosta Sitter Program: Dan & Joanne Maier
and Janet Vinyard
Program and Summer Tours Chair:
Vacant
By Janet Vinyard
In last autumn's newsletter, we added a questionnaire about your hosta selection and purchasing preferences. Our goal was to get an idea of what members want to see in club sales and basically which types of hosta you prefer. I wish more of you had taken the time to answer it but the seven who did should see that the plants for the May Sale reflect their responses.
I was heartened to read that six out of seven members buy more than one of the same cultivar in an attempt to landscape with multiples of the same specimen. Most tried to feature their specimen plants and set them apart with complimentary greens, variegated, blues all dependent upon shade tolerance and size. One grower commented that they planted a special hosta in a prime visual site then built a pleasing color scheme of contrasts radiating outward. Another member likes to highlight a variegated hosta with the reverse in an attempt to set off the opposite patterning.
No one was particularly interested in hybridizing for themselves but appreciated the work involved; the mechanics, genetics and growing from seed techniques necessary to introduce a new hosta. Members mentioned their preferred grower/hybridizers: Tony Avent, Mary Chastain, Sandra Bond and Bob Solberg.
BIG was the hosta size preference and that was no surprise. Some qualified their remarks to say coloration is more important but large, well-grown hosta impress!
Society members who answered the questionnaire were willing to purchase special hosta in the $20 to $30 price range (upper limit). No one was willing to pay extra for fragrance.
Five out of seven individuals purchased hosta mail order from multiple (3 to 10) nurseries. The increase in postage only deterred one respondent.
As you would expect, hosta cultivars that were named under "favorites" and "wish list" were numerous and varied. H. Sum and Substance, June, Paul's Glory, Frances Williams, Krossa Regal, Great Expectations, Sagae, Northern Exposure, Island Charm, Whirlwind, Kabitan, Blue Angel and Fire and Ice were a few of the favorites named by more than one member.
Wish Lists included hosta from Kent's talk last spring. Many are not yet on the market, but we'll keep looking: Queen of the Sea, Coal Miner, Atom Smasher, Spring Fling, and Pete's Passion. Others pointed out well-grown hosta seen on the garden tours: Maui Buttercups, American Halo, Pilgrim, Pandora's Box, Niagara Falls, Tattoo, Flame Stitch, Abiqua Ariel, Paradigm and Alex Summers.
Newer members and beginner hosta addicts listed many classics on their WISH LISTS and I want to name them all here. Why? Because I feel that as plant acquisitions chairperson, these plants should be available to club members. I can*t see the club buying them wholesale then risk not selling them, as these hosta are not the latest cultivars. This does not mean they are no good, it means members already have them and are looking for that newer, more rare or hard to get hosta. What I ask, however, is that if you are growing a good clump of the following hosta or have an extra you are you willing to divide, please do so and donate it to the club sale in May or more traditionally, in September. It would be great if each member could bring at least one and help fill the gaps in our hosta collections and add to club funds at the same time.
ANY SPARES of the following?
Abiqua Moonbeam, Bold Ruffles, Bright Lights, Brim Cup, Chartreuse Wiggles, H. crispula, Dark Star, H. decorata, Evelyn McCafferty, Ginko Craig, Guacamole, H. helenoides var. albo picta, Mildred Seaver, Shining Tot, White Christmas, and Wide Brim.
Other wish list cultivars not yet classics but on the "desired" list include: Celebration, Dark Star, Fire and Ice, Flame Stitch, Guardian Angel, Helios, Inniswood, Island Charm, Little Sunspot, Masquerade, Medusa, Pilgrim, Platinum Tiara, Sea Gold Star, Stained Glass and Tattoo.
I'll finish off by saying that I plan to pot a few myself and PLEASE, PLEASE, fill in and return the questionnaire to me this year. You'll find it in the summer newsletter or at the Hosta Society picnic in September.
UNYHS MAY HOSTA SALE
Most of the hosta purchased for the May 2002 sale have broke dormancy. There are a few hosta that completed that transition last week and are stretching out green and fine with the warmer weather. It was suggested that we alert the members to the expected prices of the potted hosta at our sale. Those listed with two numbers mean that there are both small and big pots of the same cultivar. I hope this helps in planning your budget and other catalog purchases. Our goal is to sell them all, of course, at a reasonable price that is tempting to members, while at the same time, our way to fund the year's speakers and events.
Lakeside San Kao..............................
Maui Buttercups................................
Alex Summers...................................
Paradigm..........................................
Blackfoot..........................................
George Smith....................................
Abiqua Ariel......................................
Niagara Falls.....................................
Pathfinder TC (good size)...................
My Friend Nancy TC (good size)........
American Halo TC (good size)............
Silk Kimono TC ...............................
Kiwi Blue Baby TC (good size)...........
kikutii Kifukurin Hyuga......................
$17-20
$18
$18
$13-15
$17
$26
$7-10
$15-18
$10-13
$15
$22
$20
$25
$6
The following article has been reprinted with the permission of the author Mikiko Lockwood.
Mikiko�s website:
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/dosankomom/index.html
contains hosta information and many nice pictures. Please take time to visit her site.
How to Pronounce Japanese
Each Japanese sound is accompanied by a vowel, with an exception of "n", and there are 5 vowels:
a, i, u, e, and o.
There is only one way to pronounce a vowel.
i
u
e
o
sounds like "ee" just like eel, eat
sounds like "oo" just like wood, wool
sounds like "eh" just like echo, pen, Ken
sounds like "oh" just like oak, over
Amime Tachi
Gaijin
Geisha
Hime
Hirao
Ko Mame
Maekawa
Sagae
Saishujima
Giboshi
A - mi - me ta - chi
Ga - i - jin
ge - i - sha
hi - me
Hi - ra - o
ko ma - me
Ma - e - ka - wa
Sa - ga - e
Sa - i - shu - ji - ma
Gi - bo - shi
ah - mee - meh tah - chee
gah - ee - jin
gay - shah
hee - meh
hee - rah - oh
koh mah - meh
mah - eh - kah - wah
sah - gah - eh
sigh - shoe - je
The Japanese name giboshi came from an ornamental pillar capping on a bridge handrail. You can see the pillar capping "Giboshi" in a woodprint picture by an Ukiyoe artist Hiroshige. Somebody thought hosta buds resembled them. You don't think so? Well, at least somebody did.
I am no more than a regular hosta collector - not a botanist, nor a linguist. The words I list here are my own interpretation from what I know and what I see. And I do not intend to list every Japanese name. Some were apparently named after person's names, names of towns, islands, regions, etc. There are also some words that I can't figure out where they came from. But I'd like to cover here as many words I know that are used in many hosta names.
These definitions are only for hosta names. They may not be true when the terms are used for purposes other than hosta names.
---fu
chirifu
fukurin
Hime
ki / kin
kifukurin
koba
maruba
nakafu
Nishiki
oba
ogon
shiro
tachi
urajiro
Variegation, variegated (used at the end of a word): chirifu (speckled), nakafu (medio-variegated)
Speckled, streaked: montana 'Chirifu'
Variegation; variegated edge(d): kifukurin (yellow edge), shirofukurin (white edge), rohdeifolia 'Fukurin'
This word has two meanings -- "princess" or "small" -- depending on where it is placed.
1. Hime means "Princess" when it is used after another name: 'Kii Hime' (Princess Kii)
2. Hime means "small and cute" when it is used before another word: 'Hime Tokudama' ("mini" Tokudama) although Mark Zilis lists it as a medium sized plant in "The Hosta Handbook" page 228.
Yellow / gold: Kifukurin (yellow-edge), 'Kisuji' (yellow line, yellow vein), 'kinbotan' (yellow button), 'kinbuchi (yellow edge) Tachi'
Yellow edge: 'Kifukurin Ko Mame', 'Kifukurin Otome', rectifolia 'Kifukurin'
Small leaf: 'Ogon Koba'
Round leaf: 'Maruba Iwa'
Medio-variegated: longissima 'Nakafu'
This word has nothing to do with hostas. Nishiki is brocade, a kind of colorful expensive fabric. The word is used widely in a name for something that is gorgeous and magnificent.'Choko Nishiki'
Large leaf: 'Ogon Oba'
Gold: 'Ogon Sagae', rectifolia 'Ogon Tachi'
White: 'Shiro Kabitan', rectifolia 'Shirofukurin' (white edge)
Upright: 'Amime Tachi Giboshi'
White back, white underside: longipes 'Urajiro'
Many people have reported excellent results after adding alfalfa to their hosta gardens. Alfalfa is a growth stimulant that works as an agent to break down nutrients in the soil making them more easily absorbed by hostast (and other plants). Nutrients must be present for the conversion to take place. It is recommended that you fertilize your hostas at the same time you apply the alfalfa. Only apply alfalfa on the soil surface. If placed in direct contact with the roots, heat generated by the rapid decomposition of the alfalfa can cause root damage.
Some benefits of using alfalfa products are report to be:
* Early breaking of dormancy
* Greatly increased growth rates
* Larger root systems
* A doubling of the number and size of flower buds, flowers and seeds
* An increased number of leaves, along with improved substance and color
* Increased sporting
Alfalfa meal or pellets can be purchased in fifty pound bags from farm food stores.
Some suggested application methods:
* Apply a top dressing or light mulch of alfalfa meal, pellets or chopped alfalfa hay. Water in. Generally this approach is recommended for larger, more established plants. Water in well.
* For quicker results mix up an alfalfa tea. Various receipts are suggested. The consensus seems to be about 3-4 cups alfalfa meal or pellets in a 5 gallon bucket of water. Let it steep, covered, for 2 days. Pour the tea on your hosta beds. Use 1/2 gallon on smaller hostas or transplants and 1 gallon on the bigger established plants. For best results, combine the tea with an application of a water based fertilizer.
* Applications can be made every 6 weeks or so for best effect. However, a spring, mid-summer and early fall application would be sufficient to obtain good benefits.
website: http://www.hosta.org
Send dues, address changes, and inquiries about membership to:
Lu Treadway
AHS Membership Secretary
246 Etheridge Road
Auburn, GA 30011
Dues are:
$25 per year for an individual membership
$29 per year for a family membership
Reprinted with permission
from a post to the Phoenix Hosta Robin
by Peg and Doug Mossberg
Don't give up and sell the farm. There are some things you can do. Study what is on the land and in the neighborhood and go with things that work, like wild flowers and grasses. Grasses are a big deal in gardening now days.
What has worked for me for seven years and what Peg is going to try this spring is an electric fence. I fence about 1/4 acre with visible (that's important) not plain electric fence wire. You want the deer to see the wire, so use the kind that looks like binder twine with fine wires in it. Use fiberglass posts that are about as big around as your thumb and about five feet long. Put the posts about ten feet apart and string wire (using clips made to go on the posts) about one foot above the ground, two feet above ground and three feet above. The fence will then be three feet high. Deer don't jump over the low fence because they smell it first and get a jolt in the nose and decide to go elsewhere for lunch.
The fencers are electric, battery or powered by sunlight. They will cost about $100. The posts are about $0.70 cents each and the visible wire about $20, so about $100 for the whole deal. I have not had a deer in my vegetable garden since I started using this system. Maybe once per summer a running deer will hit the fence and knock part of it down, but it leaves as fast as it entered. It takes about ten minutes to repair the fence. Put the fence up early in the spring and leave the power on all summer.
Good luck..Doug
Auction Plant
GENERAL MEETING
MARCH 2, 2002
The Secretary's Minutes were accepted as printed in the last newsletter.
The Audit Committee reported that the Treasurer's books were fine and a written report will be available at the next meeting.
OLD BUSINESS:
The position of Secretary is still open. Carol Mastromarchi would like to step down. Her second, three-year term is up in September. The nominating committee is looking for candidates for President and Vice President. Both of these terms end in September. We are also looking to fill the position of Program Chair to set programs for next year. Programs are all set for this year. Members should contact Jim Dalton or Bill Storz if they are willing to serve in any of these positions.
HVCC Garden and Flower Show - Linda Montanaro needs people to man our booth. She has a sign up list. Members volunteering will need a badge. See Linda Montanaro to get your badge. Dave Jennings and Linda Montanaro have worked on a new display board for the booth.
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Membership - Linda Storz reminded members that yearly dues will increase to $10 per member, effective April 1, 2002. The Executive committee has found that the dues are not covering the cost of newsletter and meeting notice mailings. Linda also reported that for 2002, we currently have only 50 dues paid members out of 125 members on our list.
Newsletter - Jim and Meg Dalton reported that they are running out of ideas on what to include in the newsletter. Members are asked to submit gardening articles.
Website - Jim and Meg Dalton reported the website has been updated. Members complimented the Daltons on their excellent job. New pictures are needed to update the website. Members can send photos by U. S. mail or email them to the Daltons.
Hospitality - Linda Montanaro thanked all members who brought refreshments. She needs a substitute for the May meeting.
Library - Viktoria introduced our new Librarian, Dawn Haas. Dawn reported that books are available for borrowing. Donations of books are welcome.
Plant Acquisitions and Distributions - Janet Vinyard reported that the Special Hosta Order sales are lagging. We do not have 5 of any variety. Deadline is today, March 2. Members interested in ordering specialty hostas should see Janet today.
Hosta Sitter Program - Janet Vinyard reported the sitter program has been pared down. Dan Maier said people who are no longer members are being contacted to return their sitter plants and consider renewing
their dues.
Vendor representation and sales at our meetings: A committee was formed with Dave Jennings and several others who will look into this idea and present a proposal to the Executive Committee at their winter meeting. Dave Jennings does not yet have information to report.
A member reported that Shady Oaks is no longer doing retail sales; they are now wholesale only.
NEW BUSINESS:
2002 Hosta Finders are now available from Steven Greene.
Respectfully submitted,
Carol Mastromarchi, Recording Secretary
Local Hosta Vendors
3712 Consaul Road
Schenectady, NY 12304
(518) 346-1996
Faddegon�s Nursery
1140 Troy-Schenectady Road
Latham, NY 12110
(518) 785-6726
Glenbrook Farm � Viktoria Serafin
Call ahead for an appointment
142 Brooks Road
Fultonville, NY 12072
(518) 922-5091
E-mail: [email protected]
Glenville Gardens � Dave Jennings
Please call to make an appointment
20 Pine Street
Scotia, NY 12302
(518) 393-0905
E-mail: [email protected]
Picard Road
Altamont, NY 12009
(518) 765-4702
Janet�s V Corner Garden Center
1509 Route 50
Ballston Spa, NY 12020
(518) 885-4007
Shades of Green
Wynne Trowbridge
2036 Cook Road
Charlton, NY 12019
(518) 882-5433