x - Hawaii Chapter, American Rhododendron Society

Vireya of the Year
Cyril
VIVA VIREYA!
HAWAI’I CHAPTER AMERICAN RHODODENDRON SOCIETY
Volume 17 Issue 08 August 2012
Hawai’i Chapter Website: http://www.hawaiivireyaars.org
August President’s Message
by Sherla Bertelmann
Since our last meeting, a new vireya bed for “Vireya of the Year” plants at our Panaewa Rainforest Zoo and
Gardens got prepped and, not only that, we participated in our Hilo Orchid Show that spanned 5 days, from
building, manning and tearing down our display.
We were pleasantly surprised with how quickly things moved at the zoo. In fact, we were done and gone before
we even thought about lunch. It looks soooooo good... Here’s a message I received from Pam Mizuno, zoo
director.... “I want...to tell you how wonderful the garden looks. It makes a big difference and it looks great!
Please thank everyone that worked on the project this weekend.”
The zoo crew consisted of Ray and Cindy Schimpf, Richard Rhodes and Ronnie Nickson, Julie and Bill Miller,
Elaine Inouye, John Callahan, Jane and Peter Adams, Sherla and Richard Marques.
We’re not done yet, in fact, we’ve just begun.. Come join us at our next zoo work day ...10:00am* on August
26th -- the 4th Sunday of this month. You’ll feel so good being part of this project. (*Note: the regular time the
zoo work parties start is normally 12:00pm).
This year, for the orchid show, we asked for a 10’ X 20’ area vs the 20’ X 20’ (3X6m, 6X6m) we’ve used for
many years. The new size still gave us lots of room for educational material, plants, truss holders, a water
fountain and made set-up and tear-down much easier. Every 2 hour slot during the 3 day show was filled by our
members. Could not have done it without folks like: Ray and Cindy Schimpf, Dorothy and Bill Walker, John
Callahan, Julie and Bill Miller, Elaine Inouye, Richard Rhodes and Ronnie Nickson, Kim and Chuck Martin,
David and Joyce Gay, Mitch and Sandy Mitchell, Renee Kama, Bettye Wakabayashi, Pua Conley, Maryjean
Horton, Sherla and Richard Marques, Jane Adams and Pat and Don Albrecht.
At the orchid show lots of trusses were given away, as well as, the recycled ARS Journals from members. A good
number of people signed up to receive our newsletter, too.
Our next meeting will be at Bill and Julie Miller’s place in Hawaiian Paradise Park. This will be our first visit to
their garden. Dr. Cas Vanderwoude, State Ant Specialist, will also be there to educate us on the “little red fire
ants” and what we can do to protect our gardens. We will also be voting for the finalists in the search for “Vireya
of the Year” for 2013 and 2014.
Thank you for all you do to make reaching our goal of “educating & bringing awareness of Vireya” so successful
and fun. Viva Vireya!!!
Officers of the Hawaii Chapter ARS
President Sherla Bertelmann (808) 966-9225 sbertelmann@hawaii.rr.com
Vice President Julie Miller (808) 557-7918 smile4bill@hotmail.com
Secretary Richard Rhodes (808) 966-6801 ronnierichard@att.net
Treasurer Richard Miller (808) 967-4371 richardandalison@hawaiiantel.net
Newsletter Editor Jane Adams (808) 345-0959 jane@whitecloudnursery.com
Directors: Joyce Gay, Bettye Wakabayashi, Jurahame Leyva, Kimberley Martin, Mitch Mitchell (Emeritus)
Viva Vireya Page 1 August 2012

Aloha Everyone!
The Hawaii Chapter of ARS July meeting was held on July 15th at the Kea'au, HI Community Center. Following
the potluck our President Sherla Bertlemann brought the meeting to order around 1:00 pm.. Our speaker was Dr.
Steven Hess who spoke about his efforts and findings on Hawaiian endemic native Nene goose conservation. He
was an excellent speaker and very informative. The vireya auction was ably led by Dick Kruppa. Thanks to
everyone who stayed over for the clean up.
Zoo News: Our July Zoo work party meet on July 22nd at 10 AM. We had a sunny day and a larger than usual
group of volunteers. In addition to enlarging the species bed, Jane and Peter Adams re-planted R.orbiculatum,
along with some interesting open-pollinated seedlings of Aleksandr. With so many members working together the
work was completed way ahead of schedule and our lunch plans were postponed until next month. Come join us
for work and fellowship!
Mahalo nui loa, Richard
As of July 29, 2012 the club accounts are:
Secretary’s Report
by Richard Rhodes
Treasurer’s Report
by Richard Miller
Club = $4729.89 Zoo = $3680.83 Kimalia = $1382.18
What’s in bloom!
by Jane Adams
When in the course of a grower’s life, something
new blooms, we get a little crazy. In our case, if I
spot something blooming that we are excited to
see, we station it right at the front of the
greenhouse so that we can watch it like a hawk.
That tactic worked with the species R. wentianum.
It erupted with several trusses all at once. The
flowers glowed with a soft, deep orange, with a
bright yellow throat. Related to R. christi, the
leaves are slightly twisted at the end, and deep
glossy green. This is definitely one species that
should be considered for every garden.
Mahalo to Mitch Mitchell for providing the
original cutting.
Help!
Advertisement
I live in Kailua-Kona, HI on 1 acre of fruit trees and tropical flowers, including 150 Vireyas. I have 3 vacation
rentals on the property that rent from $1200 to $2000 a month. I am looking for gardener type people who would
be interested in renting a unit for $600, $350 for 2 weeks or $250 a week in exchange for an hour or two daily
weed pulling or doing general yard work. The acre has grown larger as I have grown older, and I could use some
help. The unit is 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom with full kitchen, and completely furnished as a vacation rental. All you
need to bring is a bathing suit, toiletries, and good sturdy work clothes and shoes. Contact me if you might be
interested and I can email you some photos.
Contact info: Dennis Rees, PO Box 4177, Kailua-Kona, HI 96745, 808-325-0443, drees@hawaii.rr.com
(Dennis is a long time Chapter member and former newsletter editor)
Viva Vireya Page 2 August 2012

Vireya of the Year Candidates
Arthur’s Choice - R.
christianae X R. viriosum F2
Compact, full grower, gooddoer
with flowers most of the
year. Brian Clancy, hybridizer.
Cephas - Dr. H. Sleumer X R.
leucogigas
Large, fragrant flowers,
upright, bushy grower. Peter
Sullivan, hybridizer.
Coral Sea - Pink Delight X
Simbu Sunset
A compact, bushy grower, heavy
bloomer. Sylvia Saperstein,
hybridizer.
Lucie Sorensen - R.
macgregoriae X R. bagobonum
Small, firm, waxy orange
flowers on a very bushy,
upright, full grower. John
Rouse, hybridizer.
Lulu - Parentage Unknown
Compact, good branching
shrub with subdued orange
w/butter yellow throats.
Good performer. Felix Jury
named and registered.
Haloed Gold - R.
christianae X Tropic Glow
Large, vivid yellow with
picoteed edge of vivid redorange.
Upright, gooddoer,
dependable repeat
bloomer
Karaka Gold - R.
laetum X Saxon
Dawn
Compact grower
with flowers held
high. Gold flowers
with red edging &
stamens. Richard
Currie, hybridizer
Rocky’s Mom -
{Felinda x (R.
aurigeranum x Dr.
H. Sleumer)} X R.
javanicum
Bright orange
flowers in a dome
shaped truss. This
is a full, upright
grower. Bill Moynier,
hybridizer.
Charming
Valentino - St.
Valentine F2
Large, big red
bells w/wide faces
on a compact, well
branching shrub.
Same cross as
Cape Cod
Valentine. Peter
Schick, hybridizer.
Saxon Glow - Hot
Tropic X R.
saxifragoides
Firm flowers are
held high on a
small leaf,
compact grower,
heavy bloomer.
Oz Blumhardt,
hybridizer.
Note -- Voting will be held at the
August meeting!!!
Viva Vireya Page 3 August 2012

Favorite Things -- Garden Related
by Jane Adams
We all have our favorites…especially when it comes to gardening! Tools, fertilizers, herbicides, weeders, pruners,
loppers, mowers, weed whackers, chain saws, potting media, pots…you name it, we’ve all got an opinion on it.
The true mark of something being a favorite is when you replace it when worn out with the identical item!
I’ll include a few of our favorites here, and welcome you to send your favorites my way to include in a follow-up
article. We can all learn some new tricks! We’ll start with one from each of the categories I came up with for this
issue. If at all possible we will not be naming any brands, just talking about features.
Tools: hand powered
Weeders
Favorite here has to be the tool that is about a foot long, made of a short steel rod with a broader end with a
v-shaped notch. The length of the shaft gives you good leverage on hard-to-pull weeds without making a
huge scar in the planting media.
Tools: powered
Chippers
In the case of chippers, you really have to know the scope of what you expect it to work for. With clearing
about 3 acres of guava, paperbark and other invasive species, we first went through one of the Home Depot
Yardmaster ones. It just wasn’t up to the task, and after about 2 years of use it was simply worn out. If all
you need to do is a few branches and normal yard waste, it would be an excellent choice. Mitch Mitchell
uses such a chipper on his hapu’u fern to create great mulch for his vireyas. Since we had a much more
very heavy clearing to do, we ended up with a DR chipper that can handle up to 5” diameter logs.
Expensive, but definitely can handle the task better for us and much more efficiently. Of course, that meant
we had to get the sharpening stones for the large single blade in the chipper, and learn how to sharpen it!
Remember that you can also take your yard waste to the transfer station for disposal. In the case of palm
fronds and bamboo, which will dull the blades, that’s what we do.
Chemicals:
Pesticides
I’ve got to say that we use very few pesticides out in the garden. Often the key to pest control is to keep
plants healthy and vibrantly growing. In the greenhouse, it’s important to not use the very same thing over
and over so that pests get immune to it. A greenhouse is an unnatural environment, so we’ve had to deal
with some things over the years.
Mealy bugs -- most affective control is a Q-tip and alcohol. It’s also pretty non-toxic. Those bugs are very
hard to control on rhododendrons, and the best practice is a weekly sweep for it. There are systemics that
work on eradication, but again, they need to be re-applied regularly (check directions!) to really be
effective.
Aphids outside: First you have to control the ants that milk them for their honeydew, and treat the tree or
shrub for aphids with something like a systemic such as Orthene for ornamental plants or Malathion for
non-fruiting trees. We use a variety of methods to keep ants at bay. Talstar P is good, but Jamie at Plant It
Hawai’i also recommended the grocery store ant baiting stations. Always be careful with pesticides.
Websites:
Hawai’i Chapter:
Vireya.net:
American Rhododendron Society:
Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden:
Newsletter -- Viveya Vine:
Newsletter -- Vireya Venture:
Newsletter -- Viva Vireya:
www.hawaiivireyaars.org
www.vireya.net
www.rhododendron.org
www.rhodygarden.org
www.rhodygarden.org
www.vireya.net
www.hawaiivireyaars.org
Have you got some favorite sites that aren’t list Send them to me (jane@whitecloudnursery.com) and I’ll
add them to next months newsletter.
Viva Vireya Page 4 August 2012

Hilo Orchid Show Photos
We are fortunate to be asked to have a display and informational booth every year at the Orchid show. Many
of our members also belong to the Hilo Orchid Society ( www.hiloorchidsociety.org/ ). The relationship
between the two societies is a long and happy one. Set-up and tear-downs are always fun, and the displays by
the orchid folks are awesome.
Set-up with John Callahan, Julie Mill, Dorothy Walker, Sherla Bertelmann and Bill Walker
Zoo Work Day
Lots of work going on to enlarge the main species bed. Left photo shows Bill Miller in the background,
Cindy Schimpf, Richard Marquez and Ray Schimpf in the foreground. Right photo show Bill Miller and
Richard Marques.
Viva Vireya Page 5 August 2012

Next Chapter Meeting:
When: Sunday, August 19, Regular monthly meeting
at Bill and Julie Miller’s home. Potluck will be at
12:00pm, and meeting will start at 1:00pm.
Where: Driving directions below.
Program: Dr. Cas Vanderwoude will be speaking on
new developments in the fight against the little fire
ants.
Clean-up Crew: Everyone pitch in!
Driving Directions to Bill and Julie’s Hale
Driving from either Keaau or Pahoa on Hwy 130
towards Hawai’ian Paradise Park, just south of
Kea’au. Turn onto Maku’u Street (south of Paradise
Street, first HPP street coming from Pahoa). Head
makai towards the water until 10th ave. Take a right
on 10th. We are the last gate on the left at 15-2075
10th Ave. Our street is a dead end, so lots of space to
park on end of road if you would like to walk down.
There is also room for a number of cars near the house
for those who would like a shorter walk. Bring your
own chairs.
Calendar of Coming Events:
Sunday, August 19: Monthly meeting (left column).
Sunday, August 26: Regular Zoo work party!
10:00am - 3:00pm. More work on the new portions of
the beds is planned. Note 10:00am starting time.
Sunday, September 16: Regular monthly meeting at
Kea’au Community Center. Potluck at 12:00pm and
meeting starting thereafter.
A few other dates to mark on your calendars:
Oct. 21st - Public outreach Vireya Day at the
Panaewa Rainforest Zoo and Gardens.
ARS Western Regional Conference: September
21-23, 2012. There is still time to register. Check
their chapter website for registration and details. I
guarantee you’ll have a great time!
http://arsnanaimo2012.ca/
“I typically have rarely opened my gardens to people
in the past, but in the Aloha spirit, I hope other
members join in and decide to share their gardens with
our group of plant lovers as well.” Julie
Viva Vireya!
Hawaii Chapter – ARS
P.O. Box 1963
Kea’au, HI 96749
Viva Vireya Page 6 August 2012