CHAPTER MEETING APRIL 10, 2019 Keith & Mary Ellen's home ...€¦ · Keith & Mary Ellen's home...
Transcript of CHAPTER MEETING APRIL 10, 2019 Keith & Mary Ellen's home ...€¦ · Keith & Mary Ellen's home...
WILLAMETTE CHAPTERWILLAMETTE CHAPTERWILLAMETTE CHAPTER AMERICAN RHODODENDROAMERICAN RHODODENDROAMERICAN RHODODENDRON SOCIETYN SOCIETYN SOCIETY
http:members. http://www.arswillamette.org/ ARS Home Page: http://www.rhododendron.org
Keith & Mary Ellen's home
Potluck & plant Sale ALL VISITORS WELCOME
CHAPTER MEETING APRIL 10, 2019
NEWSLETTER Willamette Chapter American Rhododendron Society
Volume 14 Issue 127 May 8, 2019
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
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May 8, 2019 Keith White Potluck and Plant Sale
MINUTES WILLAMETTE CHAPTER
April 10, 2019
A large bunch of ARS’ers waddled their way to the
Carrier Room for our April meeting. Refreshments
were there (unlike our March meeting). I wasn't too
clear on who made those delicious cookies bur the
rumor was that Mary Ellen White and Kathy Reed
did the honors.
Wally Reed, our Prez-4-Life, quieted us down on
time, except for the chewing sounds. This rarely
happens, but may have been honor of our two
guests: Lynn (Reed) and Noel Povisen. In case you
haven't figured it out, Wally and Kathy's delightful
daughter and equally as delightful son-in-law. Their
grandson didn't attend the meeting as he chose to
stay at Grandma and Grandpa's house.
First up, the clipboard for Smith Garden Weekend
Volunteers To Assist Visitors. Anne Gross stated she
needed two warm bodies for the April 28th Open
Garden and one warm one for May 14th.
Our May meeting is the PAPA (Potluck and Plant
Auction) which will be at the estate of Keith and
Mary Ellen White. It will be on the 8th (our usual
meeting date). Keith will send out detailed instruc-
tions on how to get to their place. You can try to
use your GPS or ask Alexa, but trust me...you'll get
lost if you don't follow Keith's notes. Kathy Reed is
"doing" the main meet which will be either salmon
or marinated pork. Keith has hot dogs for those
with a lesser palate. Bring your favorite food (s) to
share and your checkbook or cash to purchase
plants.
Set up for the Truss Show is this coming weekend,
Friday and Saturday, April 12th and 13th. Set up
will be early and take down will be fast. It will be at
the finishing line of the Salem Soapbox Derby next
to the parking lot on Mission Street. Coffee and cof-
feecake will be available. Bring warm clothing and
something water-proof as it could be cold and/or
rainy.
Our "field trip" held Saturday, March 30th was
"wonderful" says Willy. The weather was perfect.
We enjoyed Smith Garden first; then ate our picnic
lunches by the Willamette River in a Portland city
park. After lunch, we toured Bishop's Close and
Crystal Gardens. (Hope we do that again.)
Since this was our April meeting, it was also our offi-
cial business meeting. Funny business was put
aside for the moment. First up was the election of
officers for the 2019-2021 years. All current officers
have agreed to stay for another 2 years. The only
office, of one of the Board seats, is held by Tom Bai-
ley, remains for another year. (Still don't know how
that happened.) Saving time and energy, one soul
moved all be re-elected and someone else seconded
that. So with a unanimous show of hands and hoots
and hollers, we remain as is: Dana Malby - Treas-
urer; Mary Crofts - Secretary; Board Members -
Susan Doellinger and Bill Vogt; and last but not
least, our President - Wally Reed, who is indeed go-
ing to be our President-For-Life!!
Dick Lundin, Newsletter Editor, has officially re-
signed. He and Carol are in Panama, probably be-
cause it's too far away for us to complain about this.
This May (2019) issue will be his last. So a new Edi-
tor is needed ASAP. Any volunteers or suggestions
let Anne Gross, Dick on Wally know. Keith White
suggested Dick be asked to serve as advisor to the
new editor when found.
Keith has also agreed to be our Program Chair for
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another year, at least. Carol Lundin remains as
Awards Chair and Anne Gross as Elections Chair.
Also passed was a vote to keep the Speaker Budget
at the $600 level, which is the current level. Keith
pointed out we've never had to use the full amount
during the year and suggested it remain at that
amount.
Your Secretary asked for an update on the Bob
Grasing Memorial. His family is paying for it; a
bench in Cecil and Molly Smith Garden with a
plaque, a place he loved and spent many unpaid
hours in upkeep of it. Dick Cavender has contacted
a contractor to build it and Salem Trophy will do the
plaque for the back of the bench. Wally suggested
the inscription should end with Bob's favorite saying:
"Think about it."
On the same subject, Kathy Reed moved we pur-
chase a brick at RSBG. This was seconded and
passed with flying colors. The brick will cost $300
and our Treasurer (still), Dana Malby, assured that
our budget can handle it. (I apologize for not re-
cording the names of all the motion-movers and all
the seconds each time we have a motion; every-
one's quick and no one raises their hand. Our group
works in mysterious ways)
Fred Katz inquired wether we had enough money in
the treasury to increase our RSBG Associate Mem-
bership donation from $300 to $400. Our Treasurer
again assured us this was possible. Fred so moved
and it was seconded and passed from the $300 to
$400.
Keith reminded us that there are still openings for
the RSBG Symposium at the end of the month.
$150 covers the main banquets and all the speakers
plus tours. The Hampton Hotel in Federal Way is
giving those attending a break in the cost of rooms.
Keith then introduced our speaker for the evening,
one of our own: Dick "Red" Cavender, who really
needs no introduction. Especially since he and wife,
Karen, have appeared a number of times speaking
on rhododendrons and rhodie gardens. They've also
visited many countries and many gardens containing
many types of flora, as both are on a bunch of dif-
ferent societies for the same. Dick has received a
boat-load of awards for rhodies and for many others
flowers as well. The Cavenders own "Red's
Rhodies" in Sherwood. So what does Dick chose
to talk about first: "MOLE CONTROL AND GOPHER
MADNESS"
To start, gophers and moles not only look a lot alike
and dig up lawns and fields leaving mounds of dirt
behind. They are really quite different in habit, tun-
nels and mounds left for us to deal with. Moles
have small eyes and long pointy noses. They like to
eat insects and leave mini-Mt. St.Helens behind as
that's what a mole mound looks like...a small moun-
tain. The gopher has big puffy cheeks and likes to
eat the roots on anything it can find, leaving the top
of whatever it eats looking healthy, until you pull up
the plant that's toppling over or the fresh spring car-
rot you want to eat. The gopher hole is a mound of
dirt also, but you can tell a gopher has been there
because there will be a hole at the base of the
mound to one side. Gophers also prefer the country
life rather than a city life.
There are lots of ways to get rid of them. Some
work. Some do not. Some people use loud sound-
makers in the tunnels or try to blast them out (good
way to lose a hand). You can also try a 12 gauge
shotgun. These methods don't work. The only sure
way is a trap(s). Both critters need there own type
of trap. The methods for locating the tunnel runway
where the trap will do the most good also differs.
Lest someone reading this thinks I'm now an expert
on mole and gopher traps, I won't say more about
how they are located in the tunnels, except one
part. You can tell a gopher's been at work by all the
mounds of dirt with holes at the bottom of each.
Stomp the dirt back down flat on each mound/hole.
The next morning look to see where one mound is
back for that's the gophers mainline. As for the
traps, Dick gave us demonstrations of both kinds
and at the end, invited us to come forth for a better
look at how they work. Your Secretary kept her dis-
tance. Didn't want to see the sight of blood should
one of those traps take some part of someone's
body away in little pieces. Those traps are big and
look like they could take the foot off a cow or deer
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rambling through the grass.
Happily Dick had two talks planned. First, the mole
and gopher talk. Then the pretty talk: OCCIDEN-
TALE WONDERS. Much better...could breathe
again. As I recall from hearing other talks and
rhodie people talking about R. Occidentale, It is na-
tive to only Oregon and Washington, and maybe
northern California. Dick did say this rhodie is hard
to grow east of the Cascades due to the humidity.
For the same reason, they're hard to grow east of
the Coast Range. So they bloom in the wild in a
very small range compared with a lot of rhodies.
He showed us first, photos taken near Cave Junc-
tion, Oregon at a place called the "Biscuit Fire".
(Wonder why "biscuit"?) Where a large forest fire
came along and burned all to the ground. Over
these past years, R. Occidentale is growing naturally
is the part of the soil that is "serpentine" which is
this rhodies favorite soil. In this area, Dick and
other rhodie enthusiasts and scientists are "tagging"
the rhodies to document how they do in this burn
area.
He also had photos of many, many delicious Occi-
dentales found there and in his yard. He noted all
the different variations in color and markings be-
tween this particular rhodie species. One huge bush
showed the same rhodie with many different colors
and markings. They like sun and water, but not an
excess of either, which is why our valley is so good
for growing them and hybridizing them...something
Dick also does. R. Occidentale is considered an
azalea in most rhodie books. It has something to do
with the number of petals and such. But as Herb
Spady will also remind us: "There's no such thing as
an azalea. They are ALL rhododendrons." Your
Secretary has one of Dick's hybrids and it is glorious.
We closed the meeting with a big thanks to Dick for
sharing some of his adventures with us. But there
not being anything to raffle off tonight, we just went
straight back to the cookies.
Respectfully submitted, Mary Crofts - Secretary
INVITATION TO A FIELD TRIP
Pat and Dave Eckerdt live in Salem in a home begun
in 1891 and now surrounded by a two-plus acre
‘collector’s garden’. The ever-changing garden is
some twenty-five years old and has become a regu-
lar stop for garden groups. Come take a tour of the
garden we have named Deerly Missed and be intro-
duced to some plants you may not have met before.
Most of our plants are labeled. A restroom is of
course available.
The garden is open to all visitors Saturday and Sun-
day, May 4th and 5th and on Friday and Saturday,
June 14th and 15th from 9am until 6pm each day.
The garden is generally level and easily accessible.
GPS seems to work quite well to our address. Com-
ing south on I-5 we take exit 260A, the Salem Park-
way. Staying on the parkway takes you through
downtown Salem. As you pass through the older
part of town you will pass the Police Dept, City Hall,
and the Library complex to your left. The next light
is Mission Street, continue straight ahead to the next
light which is Owens. Turn right on Owens, it will
quite quickly become River Road South, continue for
3.5 miles. As you pass Roberts Crossing Restaurant
on your right, turn left onto Riverdale Road. In 1.2
miles Riverdale forks, keep left (do not go under the
railroad bridge). We are the next house on your
right, about ½ mile. 4539 Riverdale Road S. Salem.
The cell number is 503-559-5878 should you go
astray.
WCARS Needs An Editor for Newsletter Sept. 2019
Dick Lundin, WCARS Newsletter Editor for the past
13 years is retiring this May 2019. We need some-
one to step forward in Sept. 2019 and take up
where Dick left off. Please let Dick or Wally know if
you will begin doing our essential Newsletter. wal-
lacereed@comcast. net (503-588-3666) or
[email protected] (503-585-8439)
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WILLAMETTE CHAPTER ARS TRUSS SHOW AND PLANT SALE APRIL 12-13, 2019
Our Willamette Chapter American Rhododendron
Society’s (WCARS) Truss Show and Plant Sale was
held April 12 and 13, 2019 in conjunction with Sa-
lem, Oregon’s Mission Street Parks Conservancy’s
Bush Park Benefit Plant Sale. It was held in a new
venue on the Soap Box Derby Track in Salem, Ore-
gon’s Bush’s Park Benefit Plant Sale. (This Soap Box
Derby Track is the only Official track west of the
Mississippi.) We anchored one end of the Sale with
our 12 x 24 foot tent and sales area. (Our tent is
the gift of Helen Malby who was our WCARS Chap-
ter Treasurer for 21 years.)
Our Truss Show and Plant Sale are enabled by many
wonderful people, both Chapter and non Chapter
folks. Our tent and sales equipment are stored in
Wally and Kathy Reed’s basement. Our display
racks and signs are stored in the barn of Maxine and
Chuck Dehn. Our set up and take down labor force
this year was comprised of Dana Malby, Bill Vagt,
Fred Klatz, Keith White, Mary Ellen Ramsayer, Mary
Liepins, Wally and Kathy Reed, and Lynn and Noel
Povlsen from Seattle. Our transport support was
provided by Roger Lintault moving Monrovia Nursery
donated plants from McMinnville, Or. by Keith White
moving plants from Bear Creek Nursery donated by
Keith White, by Anne Gross transporting plants for
everywhere, especially from Smith Garden, and by
Dana Malby with his wonderfully big pickup. Wally
Reed’s ‘68 Chev moved materials in Salem. It took
days to assemble the event equipment. It took 4
hours to assemble it all, and it took 45 minutes to
take it down with the encouragement of rain.
Our Truss Show and Plant Sale’s knowledgeable
plant people force included, Wilbur Bluhm (age 93),
Kathy Reed (age 78), Lynn Reed Povlsen (from Se-
attle), and especially, Anne Gross (age not dis-
closed). Maxine Dehn, Dana Malby, and many oth-
ers helped with information and advice on pruning
and plant care. We are getting older and are ex-
hausted after the event. We have about 25 active
members and their families, but we are getting very
thin for this type of event.
Our Truss Show was held 2 weeks earlier in April
than had been normal, and we feared that trusses
would be few. Although our count of trusses and
exhibitors was “liberated” at the take down of the
show, we must have had nearly 100 trusses. We
had only 5 WCARS Members exhibiting trusses,
Anne Gross, Dana Malby, Keith White, Kathy Reed,
and Maxine Dehn.
We are greatly thankful to our Truss Exhibitors and
especially to our Plant Sale donors, Monrovia Nurs-
ery in Dayton, Oregon and Keith White with plants
from Bear Creek Nursery in Stayton, Oregon which
were from Terry Henderson’s Log Cabin Nursery in
Springfield, Oregon.
We will not know for a couple weeks if we made any
money on the Plant Sale. With the donations of
Monrovia Nursery and Keith White, we should. And,
we had over 250 good folks educated and voting for
the trusses we displayed. Many also requested in-
formation of pruning, planting, and other care. IRS
should be happy with our 501(c)3 status as the
WCARS.
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7 or 8 each 4, 5 or 6 each
Taurus Noyo Brave
Avalanche Butterflies
Bar Berry Dame Nelly Melba
Silver Sword Racemosum
Exbury Cal Stocker Davidsonianum Mulicoma-tum
Yellow Hammer Alpine Glow
Lutenscence
3 or less
Camellia (a ringer) Strigillosum
Malahat Pieris (a ringer)
Pacansomthur Viburnum
Floribundum Laramie
Congratulations to all 5 WCARS exhibitors
and great thanks.
WILLAMETTE CHAPTER ARS MAY 8, 2019
POTLUCK AND PLANT AUCTION
WILL BE AT THE KEITH WHITES THIS YEAR After a number of years greatly enjoying the hospi-
tality and facilities of Loydee and Glen Stonebrink,
for our May 8th WCARS Meeting, this year we will
gather at the home of Dr. Keith White and lovely
wife Mary Ellen Ramseyer. Again, the main course
and soft drinks will be provided by our WCARS
Chapter. Please bring your favorite potluck dish,
chairs to sit on, and especially your plants for the
auction and your check book.
The Whites address is: 1751 Noble Fir Lane S, Sa-
lem, Or 97306-9807. [email protected]
You take Liberty Road south of Salem, Or to its in-
tersection with Cole Road. Southbound you turn
right onto Cole Road. When it begins to curve, turn
left onto Twin Fir Lane S. Continue on Twin Fir until
you reach Noble Fir Lane S and turn right into Noble
Fir. It is truly a lane, and is at the top of a hill that
goes down to the end of Twin Fir. Continue on No-
ble Fir to its end past residences. The Whites have a
large field and parking area.
Keith and Mary Ellen’s place GPS/ Goggle maps
don’t work to get you to our driveway
Truss Votes
President Roosevelt 42
Double Winner 23
Calophytum 21
Irroratum 19
THE “PEOPLE’S CHOICE” ENJOYMENT OF OUR WCARS TRUSSES APRIL 12 AND 13, 2019
Even in driving rain, we had over 250 visitors vote
for their favorite truss, about 17 per hour for the 15
hours of the Show. Our Truss Show was held 2
weeks earlier in April than had been normal, and we
feared that trusses would be few. However, 5
WCARS Members exhibited trusses: Anne Gross,
Dana Malby, Keith White, Kathy Reed, and Maxine
Dehn. We lost our count of which exhibitor brought
which trusses, but over 100 trusses were displayed.
So, the exhibitors need to path themselves on the
back as needed. Many trusses had many exhibitors,
because of the weather.
AND THE TRUSS WINNERS ARE
WILLAMETTE CHAPTER ARS FIELD TRIP TO SEE PORTLAND AREA RHODIES MAR 3OTH
2019
The Willamette Chapter ARS Field Trip March 30, 2019 to visit the Cecil and Molly Smith Garden, the Bishops Close Garden, and Crystal Springs Rhody
garden in the Portland, Or area was great fun. The
weather was wonderful; everyone was out enjoying
the sun and a Saturday. The trip was organized and
marvelously led by Dr. Keith White. The trippers
were Keith and Mary Ellen White, Paul and Susan
Doellinger, Ali Sarlak and Mary Crofts, Dana Malby
and Bill Vagt, Tom Beatty and Kathy and Wally
Reed. Everyone enjoyed their own sack lunch at Wil-
lamette Park in Portland gazing at the Willamette
River, geese and hundreds of Portlanders just out in
the sunshine. Each garden had many early blooming
rhodys and trees, each garden had a different dis-
tinctive mix of rhodys and other plants, and each
had lovely views throughout.
As the season progresses, each of the gardens are
open on weekends. The Smith garden is open 11 to
4 every weekend through May. Bishop's Close is
open until 5 PM and Crystal Springs is open until
dusk both 7 days a week year round. Go and enjoy.
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Keubler
N
S
E
W
Liberty Road 4 miles from Keubler to Cole Rd.
Cole Road
0.2 mile
Twin Fir
Noble Fir 0.1 mile
Right leg of fork to K. White
A SPECIAL LORD AND SCHRYVER CONSERVANCY GARDEN TOUR OF 8 HOMES
IN SALEM’S ENGLEWOOD DISTRICT
JUNE 1 AND 2ND.
The first annual Lord & Schryver Conservancy
Neighborhood Garden Tour will take place on Satur-
day and Sunday, June 1 and 2, 2019 from 10 a.m.
to 4 p.m. both days. This year our family-friendly
event will feature 8 home gardens in the charm-
ing Englewood neighborhood of northeast Salem.
Our tour is the successor to the popular garden
tours run by Gilbert House Children’s Museum for 21
years.
The ticket price is $20 per person ages 16 and older
and free under age 16. Tickets may be purchased
at lscgardentour.eventbrite.com or at the Welcome
Tent in Englewood Park on June 1 and 2.
If you want to buy tickets now to save time, just
click on the link above and you will be guided
through the necessary steps.
This will be a great opportunity to explore many dif-
ferent residential garden designs. Check it out, the
Lord and Schryver Conservancy is greatly expanding
their activities to open beautiful gardens to Salem
area plant lovers.
Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden 5801 SE 28th Avenue in Portland
Will be at peak bloom time. Come and join us to view the garden.
THE SHOW: A judged flower show in the Exhibit Hall To enter bring your rhododendron trusses to the
Exhibit Hall 6:00 to 8:00 pm Friday night or 7:00 to 9.30 am on Saturday.
THE SALE: in the front parking lot. All proceeds benefit the Garden
More information: www.rhodies.com or 503-771-8386
Presented by The Portland Chapter of
the American Rhododendron Society
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Willamette Chapter Officers
President: Wally Reed......... …...503-588-3666 V-President: Programs Chair: Keith White ……….…..503-363-2815 Secretary: Mary Crofts….… . …...503-838-4122 Treasurer: Dana Malby ……….... 503-393-6463 Librarian: Dick Lundin ....... …...503-585-8439 Newsletter: Editor: Dick Lundin ....... ……503-585-8439 Print. & Mail: Dick Lundin ....... …...503-585-8439 Board Members: Tom Bailey ........ …...503-364-7741 Bill Vagt ………………..503-581-8654 Susan Doellinger …..503-838-4884 Greeter Susan Doellinger…...503-838-4884 Past President: Chuck Dehn ....... …...503-362-9217 Web Site Kathy Lintault………..503-434-5472
ONLINE SHOPPING AND THE ARS STORE
A REMINDER TO HELP FUND THE ARS
Anytime you shop online for just about anything, please
consider first going through the American Rhododendron
Society Online Store. The ARS Online Store is reached by
the link: http://arsstore.org/
On this site you will find a very wide range of merchants
who have agreed to give the American Rhododendron
Society a referral fee of 4% to 25% on each sale
"referred" by ARSStore.org. Just use a link from the ARS
Online Store site to go to a merchant’s site and buy
something like you normally would. You get the same low
price and help the ARS. Wally Reed - President
MONTHLY EVENTS
EUGENE CHAPTER
The Springs at Greer Gardens 1280 Goodpasture Island
Rd. Eugene, OR Third Wednesday Oct to May at 7:30 pm
SIUSLAW CHAPTER
First Presbyterian Church 3996 Highway 101,
Florence, OR
Third Tuesday of the month at 7 pm.
PORTLAND CHAPTER
All Saints Episcopal Church
4033 SE Woodstock Ave, Portland, OR
Third Thursday, and the program begins at 7 pm.
SALEM HARDY PLANT SOCIETY
First Tuesday of the month 7:00pm
Salem Heights Community Hall
3505 Liberty Road S.
TUALATIN VALLEY CHAPTER
First Tuesday of the month at 7 pm Washington County
Fire District 2 31370 NW Commercial Street
North Plains, OR 97133
DISTRICT 4 CHAPTER WEB SITES
Arswillamette.org
eugene-chapter-ars.org
rhodies.org (Portland)
siuslawars.org
sworegonars.org
tuatitinvalleyars.org
All other web sites can be found on
rhododendron.org
Under chapters under web sites
All ARS Bulletins are
now available on line at:
http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/JARS/
Black Sport Predominant Flower Color: Purple
Flower/Truss Description: Flower very dark reddish-
purple with an almost black eye. Held in ball-shaped
truss. May bloom in fall.
Fragrant: No
Bloom Time: Late Midseason to Late
Foliage Description / Plant Habit: Leaves small, dark
green, twisted, retained 2 years. Upright, open,
round habit.
Height: 5 feet in 10 years.
Cold Hardiness Temp: -5°F ( -21°C)
Parentage (Seed Parent x Pollen Parent):
Britannia x Purple Splendour
Parentage (Seed Parent x Pollen Parent):
Britannia x Purple Splendour
Elepidote (E) or Lepidote (L): E
Hybridized or Selected by: Nelson