x - Hawaii Chapter, American Rhododendron Society
x - Hawaii Chapter, American Rhododendron Society
x - Hawaii Chapter, American Rhododendron Society
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Vireya of the Year<br />
Cyril<br />
VIVA VIREYA!<br />
HAWAI’I CHAPTER AMERICAN RHODODENDRON SOCIETY<br />
Volume 17 Issue 09 September 2012<br />
Hawai’i <strong>Chapter</strong> Website: http://www.hawaiivireyaars.org<br />
September President’s Message<br />
by Sherla Bertelmann<br />
A wonderful time was had at Julie & Bill Miller’s home where our last meeting<br />
was held. The “little red fire ant” representative, Michelle, from the <strong>Hawaii</strong><br />
Department of Agriculture was full of information in how to detect and how to<br />
deal with the nasty critters. A big mahalo goes out to the Miller’s for their<br />
openness and hospitality and to Michelle for her great presentation. Speaking of<br />
the Miller’s, they will be leading our next meeting at the Kea’au Community<br />
Center while I am off island and I’m sure it will be one not to be missed. The<br />
October 21st zoo outreach day will be among the business to be planned.<br />
The last zoo work party was spent putting in<br />
many of the past “Vireya of the Year” into the new VOY bed. In order to do<br />
that, a few of the plants already there had to be removed including a huge<br />
‘Arthur’s Choice’ that had grown into a 3’ to 4’ piece of hapu’u that was<br />
laying along side of it in the bed. The entire plant and hapu’u came out as one<br />
piece that made it easy to transport out of the zoo and into a home garden.<br />
The bed looks great!!! Thank you, again, to our Zoo work party crew for<br />
doing another great, outstanding job.<br />
The last two photos I have for you is of the<br />
Vireya of the Year. 2013 and 2014. As our<br />
secretary, Richard Rhodes, noted in his report ‘Cephas’ was voted in as VOY for<br />
2013. It is a cross of (‘Dr. H. Sleumer’ X R. leucogigas) that was hybridized by<br />
Peter Sullivan and registered by Bill Moynier, both of California. It has large,<br />
fragrant flowers 5” to 7” across the face that are also long lasting.<br />
‘Haloed Gold’ was selected for VOY<br />
2014... It’s a cross of (R. christianae X<br />
‘Tropic Glow’) that was hybridized &<br />
registered by Oz Blumhardt of New<br />
Zealand. It has large flowers of 3”+ inches across the face. It’s a rich gold<br />
color with a vivid reddish orange halo along the edge and an excellent<br />
repeat bloomer. Thank you to all who participated by providing nominees<br />
and voting in the VOY selections. Both are excellent choices.<br />
It is that time again, membership renewal. The renewals will be going out<br />
this month. Please check over the information I have for you, make any<br />
corrections necessary, and mail it on back to me. Thank you, in advance, for your speedy returns. And lastly, a<br />
couple of “get well quickly wishes” go out to Lois Moyles, and Charles (Chuck) Martin.<br />
Viva Vireya & Happy Gardening!<br />
Officers of the <strong>Hawaii</strong> <strong>Chapter</strong> ARS<br />
President Sherla Bertelmann (808) 966-9225 sbertelmann@hawaii.rr.com<br />
Vice President Julie Miller (808) 557-7918 smile4bill@hotmail.com<br />
Secretary Richard Rhodes (808) 966-6801 ronnierichard@att.net<br />
Treasurer Richard Miller (808) 967-4371 richardandalison@hawaiiantel.net<br />
Newsletter Editor Jane Adams (808) 345-0959 jane@whitecloudnursery.com<br />
Directors: Joyce Gay, Bettye Wakabayashi, Jurahame Leyva, Kimberley Martin, Mitch Mitchell (Emeritus)<br />
Viva Vireya Page 1 September 2012
The <strong>Hawaii</strong> <strong>Chapter</strong> ARS meeting was held at Bill and Julie Millers tropical home and garden in Paradise Park on<br />
August 19th, 2012. It was amazing to see what two avid gardeners could do to reclaim a neglected garden and<br />
home and make it their own. Following a very abundant potluck our president Sherla Bertlemann brought the<br />
meeting to order around 1:00 pm. The members were asked to vote for Vireya of the Year for 2013 and 2014.<br />
After tallying the ballots ‘Cephas’ came in first and will be 2013 Vireya of the year. and ‘Haloed Gold’ came in<br />
second and will be 2014 Vireya of the year.<br />
Our speaker was Michelle Montgomery from the UH Hilo CTAHR Ant Lab. Her presentation renewed our fears<br />
that the current infestation of little red fire ants would continue to be an ongoing battle for the foreseeable<br />
future. After a tour of the impressive garden, members participated in our Vireya plant auction led by past<br />
President Joyce Gay and the ever popular truss exchange led by our President Sherla Bertlemann. Thanks to<br />
everyone who stayed over for the clean up, and an especial mahalo to Bill and Julie for opening their home and<br />
garden and being such wonderful hosts.<br />
Mahalo nui loa, Richard<br />
Secretary’s Report<br />
by Richard Rhodes<br />
Treasurer’s Report<br />
by Richard Miller<br />
There is no Treasurer’s Report this month as Richard is traveling. In addition, due to his work load, he is<br />
resigning as Treasurer as of September 1. Please step forward to fill this urgently-needed vacancy!<br />
What’s in bloom!<br />
by Jane Adams<br />
On the left: Anacapa. This is one of our favorite red<br />
vireyas. It’s got a beautifully domed truss, and is very<br />
florific. From what we’ve read, it is much prized for<br />
hybridizing purposes, and one can easily see why that is<br />
so. Shrub is nice and bushy, and is about 3-4’ high in 5<br />
years.<br />
Above: St. Cecelia. Need I say more<br />
Always lovely, but this time I caught her<br />
with several trusses open at once. Short<br />
plant right now, but then I’ve been<br />
raiding it for cutting material. Destined to<br />
be a large one.<br />
Above: Borneo Bright. A new for this year. Extremely<br />
rich, deep red-orange flowers on an upright shrub. It’s<br />
had little difficulty adapting to a full sun location.<br />
What’s in bloom for you!!!! Send a list or photo to me,<br />
and I’ll gladly use them in the newsletter.<br />
Viva Vireya Page 2 September 2012
Vireya and Red Leaves<br />
by Sherla Bertelmann<br />
We’ve all seen the “autumn” colored leaves on our vireya. These are usually the older leaves that turn color just<br />
before falling with hues of yellow, orange, and red. Here are photos of other varieties whose leaves show various<br />
other colors in their new growth or as “color breaks”. The color break does not seem to interfere in growth or in<br />
blooming and makes an interesting color splash on the leaves. The color break can appear in new growth but<br />
usually comes out later.<br />
The first two photos above are of ‘Ring of Fire’. The red color break can be seen on the lower leaves in the first<br />
photo and the second shows the whole plant and the new growth w/no color break. The third photo on the right is<br />
of a leaf on ‘John West’ showing the underside with the color break.<br />
New growth on many varieties may start off with fawn colored leaves that turn redder with age such as ‘Pink<br />
Jazz’. Even more dramatic in their red colored new growth are varieties such ‘Painted Lady’, ‘Richard Marques’,<br />
and ‘Margaret Lorraine’ shown above.<br />
Editor’s note: This email was received from Bill Moyles in response to the Get Well card sent to his wife, Lois by<br />
the chapter. Bill has been a long time Vireya hybridizer, and very much a supporter of our chapter since the very<br />
beginning.<br />
Received the "communal" card!!!! all those folks we just have never met.. Thank you much for the kind words.<br />
Pass along our appreciation: right word But you know what I mean.<br />
Lois is recovering from leg surgery now in the very fine Rehab Center near Kaiser (our provider) here in<br />
Oakland. Shell be coming home soon minus a left foot! Kaiser gives so much support .We’re amazed and<br />
grateful. We’re working through the recovery process. What to say It happens. I am hobbling about and my<br />
gardener is keeping the place intact. Vireya stuff not much, just keeping a small "collection", but no more big<br />
time gardening .<br />
Thank everyone again for the kind thoughts ..... Bill<br />
Note received from Bill Moyles<br />
Viva Vireya Page 3 September 2012
Favorite Things -- Garden Related<br />
by Jane Adams<br />
We all have our favorites…especially when it comes to gardening! Tools, fertilizers, herbicides, weeders, pruners,<br />
loppers, mowers, weed whackers, chain saws, potting media, pots…you name it, we’ve all got an opinion on it.<br />
The true mark of something being a favorite is when you replace it when worn out with the identical item!<br />
This is the last of the “Favorite Things” columns on this topic. I’m sure another topic will crop up in the months<br />
to come, especially if I get some requests (hint….hint...hint…) This time I’m going to turn to “what’s on my<br />
potting bench that I can’t do without.”<br />
Pots:<br />
We use 3” square pots for rooting cuttings. They fit in trays of 18, making them easy to transport around<br />
the greenhouse. Normally, roots fill our 3” pots in 4-6 months. In some cases when the well-rooted cuttings<br />
are ready for our real media mix, but are naturally very small plants, we’ll repot into the 3” pots for another<br />
round before moving them up to the next size. You do not want to over-pot vireyas! We use 6” azalea pots<br />
for the next step after the cuttings are rooted. We like the round, short stature of the azalea pots, as we<br />
observed over the years that the roots rarely would go all the way down to fill a standard gallon container.<br />
Larger Pots: We would next step up to an 8” azalea pot, chose for the same reason expressed above. This<br />
gives about an inch around for the plant to grow into new media.<br />
Media:<br />
Being a certified nursery, we cannot use any true soil. All the media in our pots on the benches must be of<br />
non-soil content. We use a mix of coconut chips, perlite with a small amount of vermiculite added for<br />
better fertilizer/mineral retention. There are provisions for using specially treated cinder, but that way is<br />
fraught with danger. A year or two ago the entire dracena foliage group of nurseries on the Big Island were<br />
shut down because burrowing nematodes had been found in a shipment in California. The local purveyor of<br />
cinder had switched their storage area, which was not as pristine as the previous one. Now, cinder must be<br />
steam-treated to very high temperatures to be used. I am glad we went the route we did with nothing that<br />
had been in the ground!<br />
Miscellaneous tools on the bench:<br />
Fertilizer -- a tub of fertilizer to give each newly-potted plant a nice dose.<br />
Knives -- No, we haven’t gone all violent on you! They are used to scrape the stem of the cuttings so that<br />
the rooting hormone gets to the cambium layer and provides a good point for rooting to start.<br />
Plant stick tags -- Seems obvious, but then again we’d be lost without them. We get them in several colors<br />
to mark plants for various purposes. Our local source is Nursery Things where we buy them in quantity.<br />
Stakes -- everything from bamboo shish-kabob sticks for very small plants to larger bamboo ones for more<br />
mature plants. Oh, and of course the plastic tying tape to connect the plant to the stake.<br />
Database List -- This may seem extreme to many of you, but we’d be lost without it. If I’m going to toss a<br />
plant out, I can check to see whether I need to shift it to stock for planting out, take cuttings, or simply toss<br />
it. We also make notations on the list and do data entry from those notes.<br />
And all the stuff that needs to be close by:<br />
Bin of mixed up media<br />
Open sack of perlite for cuttings<br />
Water in hoses (up off the ground to keep nematodes away!)<br />
Brush to clean off the bench<br />
Buckets for prunings and weeds pulled from pots<br />
WD-40 to keep those pruners working properly<br />
Pens, pencils and sharpies<br />
Spray container for bleach solution (in case a tool falls to the ground, and things need cleaning).<br />
Finally, I do want you to know that there is never ONE way or ONE product that is better than any other. A<br />
lot of this discussion has been about what works for us. If something is working well for you, keep at it, or<br />
try something new. Variety and experimentation is the spice of the gardening life!<br />
Viva Vireya Page 4 September 2012
Interesting communicatons from last month’s What’s in bloom!<br />
What’s in bloom!<br />
by Jane Adams<br />
When in the course of a grower’s life, something new blooms,<br />
we get a little crazy. In our case, if I spot something blooming<br />
that we are excited to see, we station it right at the front of the<br />
greenhouse so that we can watch it like a hawk. That tactic<br />
worked with the species R. wentianum. It erupted with several<br />
trusses all at once. The flowers glowed with a soft, deep orange,<br />
with a bright yellow throat. Related to R. christi, the leaves are<br />
slightly twisted at the end, and deep glossy green. This is<br />
definitely one species that should be considered for every<br />
garden.<br />
Mahalo to Mitch Mitchell for providing the original cutting.<br />
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br />
When I published the above photo and description last month, little did I expect that I would end up with nearly<br />
the whole tale of how it got here! Here’s one of the benefits of being part of an international community of vireyaholics!<br />
Below is an exchange of email between Neil Puddey, Australian vireya grower, and Lyn Craven, Research<br />
Botanist in the Australian National Herbarium. For those of you on email delivery, you will get Lyn’s document<br />
as a last page. The first email below from Neil.<br />
Hi Lyn,<br />
You may have seen this article yourself but just in<br />
case I have copied to send to you as this species came<br />
to me from you. I grew on small plants you sent<br />
maybe 8 years ago () and I supplied from my plant,<br />
rooted cuttings to Mitch Mitchell of <strong>Hawaii</strong>. ( father<br />
of Vireya in <strong>Hawaii</strong> ) It has never flowered for me<br />
and has been very slow growing but then I did work<br />
it for cuttings, <strong>Hawaii</strong> has had much more success, it<br />
is an interesting example of people and plants.<br />
Lou Searle collecting in Indonesia -West New<br />
Guinea in 1974, Bob Withers of Melbourne growing<br />
this material on, Lyn Craven of Canberra correctly<br />
identifying, growing and distributing, Neil Puddey of<br />
Woolgoolga propagating and exporting, Mitch<br />
Mitchell of <strong>Hawaii</strong> importing and growing (it flowers regularly for Mitch), then generously distributing to<br />
commercial nurseries in <strong>Hawaii</strong>. Great to see photos of this species growing vigorously and flowering freely after<br />
such an adventure. George Argent reports in ‘<strong>Rhododendron</strong>s of Sub Genus Vireya’ that it has been growing in<br />
Edinburgh since 1995, did this material also come from your collection Cheers Neil Puddey<br />
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br />
To which Lyn replied:<br />
Hi Neil. Thanks for forwarding Jane’s email text & photo. R.wentianum is certainly a lovely plant. As it is a<br />
montane species, it may not be expected to do well at low altitudes in the subtropics although I would have<br />
thought it should flower well enough at Woolgoolga. There were certain inaccuracies in your origin information ,<br />
and I have attached the text of an article I wrote that was published in ‘The <strong>Rhododendron</strong>’ with a colour photo. I<br />
do not have a pdf of the published article but the reference is: Craven, L. 2002. <strong>Rhododendron</strong> wentianum -<br />
from low altitude to high flyer. The <strong>Rhododendron</strong> 42: 64-65, fig. inside rear cover.<br />
The text of the Word document should be able to stand as a surrogate for the published article as far as<br />
information content is concerned. Best wishes, Lyn<br />
Viva Vireya Page 5 September 2012
Next <strong>Chapter</strong> Meeting:<br />
When: Sunday, September 16, Regular monthly<br />
meeting at the Kau’au Community Center. Potluck<br />
will be at 12:00pm, and meeting will start at 1:00pm.<br />
Where: Kea’au Community Center<br />
Program: Bill Miller will present a program on the<br />
Seymour Conservatory in Tacoma, WA. Having had a<br />
sneak preview, you’ve got to see this!<br />
There will also be a “garden problems” open Q &<br />
A session following that. Please, if you bring<br />
diseased plant material or critters, place it in a<br />
zip-lock baggie for transportation to and from<br />
your house. We do not want to infest anyone’s<br />
plants or the Senior Center with undesireables!<br />
Calendar of Coming Events:<br />
Sunday, September 16: Monthly meeting (left<br />
column).<br />
Sunday, September 23: Regular Zoo work party!<br />
1:00pm - 3:00pm. Still lots to be done before the<br />
Vireya Outreach day next month. Note 1:00pm<br />
starting time.<br />
Sunday, October 21: Vireya Day at the Zoo! Can’t<br />
miss this one! More information will be in next<br />
months newsletter after the planning at the September<br />
meeting. In the meantime, talk it up to your friends<br />
and neighbors. It’s such a great event, and everyone<br />
goes away with a free plant. Speaking of which, how<br />
are your cuttings doing that you stuck last spring<br />
Clean-up Crew: Marijean Horton. She’ll need help!<br />
Please stay and assist if you can!<br />
(Apologies to our print edition recipients: the month<br />
in the listings above was mistakenly listed as August,<br />
not September.)<br />
Viva Vireya!<br />
<strong>Hawaii</strong> <strong>Chapter</strong> – ARS<br />
P.O. Box 1963<br />
Kea’au, HI 96749<br />
Viva Vireya Page 6 September 2012
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Editor’s Note: Following is a re-print of the document mentioned in Lyn Craven’s email about R. wentianum. This<br />
is being provided to our email newsletter recipients as a positive benefit for subscribing in that manner. We are<br />
able to add content without increasing costs, which is a necessity. The article reference is: Craven, L. 2002.<br />
<strong>Rhododendron</strong> wentianum - from low altitude to high flyer. The <strong>Rhododendron</strong> 42: 64-65. (The <strong>Rhododendron</strong> is<br />
the publication of the Australian <strong>Rhododendron</strong> <strong>Society</strong>, Inc., www.ausrhodo.asn.au, and is available by print and<br />
email subscription.)<br />
<strong>Rhododendron</strong> wentianum: from low altitude to high flyer<br />
by Lyn Craven<br />
One of the more enigmatic plants that the late Lou Searle discovered in the highlands of Papua New Guinea and<br />
introduced to horticulture is the so-called “low altitude christi”. From memory, my first plant of this came from<br />
Bob Withers. For many years my plant grew quite well but never showed the slightest sign of producing flowers.<br />
Bob flowered it and discussed it within an article on R. christi (Withers 1986). In his article, Bob records the plant<br />
as having been found by Lou at an altitude of c. 2150 m “in a tribal area known as Sina Sina” and sent to<br />
Melbourne in 1974. The flower and leaf form is quite well shown in the photograph on the front cover of The<br />
<strong>Rhododendron</strong> 25(3) but the colour reproduction either was not good or the dyes have faded. Bob noted some of<br />
the differences between the low altitude plant and R. christi and ended his article questioning as to whether the<br />
former was a variety of R. christi, a natural hybrid of R. christi, or a new species.<br />
Subsequently my own plant flowered and I wrote to Lou Searle to ask for additional information about it. In his<br />
reply in May 1992, Lou quoted from the notes under his collecting number 89 “found on native land, in forest<br />
litter on No. 2 Dom. Similar to christi but lacks the red-flushed new growth”. The plant was not in flower when<br />
Lou found it and to the best of my knowledge he never saw it flowering in cultivation.<br />
Graham Snell grew some seedlings of the plant and gave me a few of them to grow onto flowering as I was<br />
interested in seeing if they came true from seed. If so, this would be an additional point in favour of the plant<br />
being a species and not a hybrid. The seedlings flowered some years ago and were sufficiently uniform<br />
vegetatively and florally to indicate that there was no segregation and therefore I concluded the plant was not a<br />
hybrid.<br />
Clearly the plant has very little relationship with R. christi, differing greatly, inter alia, in the corolla shape, lack of<br />
hairs on the corolla, corolla colour and stamen disposition. Using the keys in Sleumer (1966) I had not been able<br />
to identify the low altitude plant with a known species and I had put the matter aside until I had more time to dig<br />
deeper. Around two years ago, when curating some Vireya specimens in the Australian National Herbarium,<br />
Canberra, I had occasion to look at specimens of R. wentianum and realised that I had found the identity of Lou’s<br />
plant. We had specimens of R. wentianum from two localities: 1500 m, Mt Antares, Star Mountains, Papua<br />
(formerly Irian Jaya), Indonesia, common small epiphytic shrub; and 1300 m, Erave, Southern Highlands<br />
Province, Papua New Guinea, solitary terrestrial shrub on limestone ridge. It became apparent that the herbarium<br />
material I had collected from my glasshouse could not be identified using Sleumer’s keys because it has broader<br />
leaves than are recorded by Sleumer for R. wentianum.<br />
<strong>Rhododendron</strong> wentianum was described by the Dutch botanist S.H.. Koorders in 1909 (Koorders 1909) based<br />
upon material collected in Papua (then called Dutch New Guinea) by a Dutch physician, G.M. Versteeg, who<br />
participated as physician-botanist in the 1907 leg of the Dutch New Guinea Expedition led by H.A. Lorentz<br />
(Steenis-Kruseman 1950). Koorders named the new species for F.A.F.C. Went, who had spent several years<br />
working in Java (as Director of a sugar cane experiment station) and later became Professor of Botany at Utrecht<br />
University (Steenis-Kruseman 1950). Sleumer (1966) records the species as occurring in the Main Range of<br />
Papua from Mt Carstensz to the Star Mts, and in the upper Sepik River region of Papua New Guinea. The<br />
Southern Highlands Province record mentioned above extends the range of the species in PNG further south than<br />
was previously known and Lou’s collection extends its range further east. A more full locality for Lou’s collection<br />
is: Eastern Highlands Province, Kundiawa subdistrict, No. 2 Dom, Sina Sina.<br />
Viva Vireya Page 7 September 2012
The species is well worth growing. Not only does it have very attractive foliage and a pleasing spreading habit<br />
but it has extremely beautiful flowers (Figs 1 and 2). In my view the species is one of the few Vireyas to which<br />
the word ‘exotic’ can be applied; many other species are more showy but this does not equate to their being exotic<br />
per se. The orange-red to coral corollas, aptly described by one collector as ‘tangerine’, with the bright yellow<br />
patch basally on each of the lobes are eye catching. The flower form also contributes to the appeal as the corolla<br />
is short-tubed and relatively broad across the limb, presenting quite a strong effect. The foliage is a good foil for<br />
the flowers as well, being smooth and glossy. The spreading habit is pleasing too. Definitely, this is a high flyer<br />
among the Vireya species.<br />
I do not know if R. wentianum is available commercially in Australia but should any Australian reader like to add<br />
this species to their collection I will be pleased to send cuttings or propagate tubestock for them.<br />
References<br />
Koorders, S.H. 1909. Ericaceae. Nova Guinea 8: 183-191.<br />
Sleumer, H. 1966. <strong>Rhododendron</strong>. Flora Malesiana ser. I, 6: 474-668. (Noordhoff:<br />
Groningen).<br />
Steenis-Kruseman, M.J. van. 1950. Malaysian plant collectors and collections. Flora<br />
Malesiana ser. I, 1. (Noordhoff: Groningen).<br />
Withers, R.M. 1986. <strong>Rhododendron</strong> christi. The <strong>Rhododendron</strong> 25(3): 43-44, photo<br />
on front cover.<br />
Lyn Craven<br />
Melba, Canberra, ACT Australia<br />
Email: Lyn.Craven@csiro.au<br />
Viva Vireya Page 8 September 2012