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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
Page 1 and 2: Vireya of the Year Cyril VIVA VIREY
Page 3: Vireya of the Year Candidates Arthu

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