The Hosta Leaf H. Dawns Early Light

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1 The Hosta Leaf H. Dawns Early Light of Southeastern Minnesota Volume 3 Issue 4 Oct-Dec 2008 Thursday, Oct2, 2008 General Meeting featuring speaker Debbie Lonnee Made in the Shade New and Exciting Perennials for Shade Gardens Looking for ideas beyond hostas for your shade garden? There are lots of new perennial introductions to spice up your shady spaces (and actually some great new hostas too!). Colorful foliage, great texture and even some beautiful flowers grace these new shade tolerant perennial varieties. Debbie will present some of the newest and best plant introductions (as well as a few underused standards) for the shade. Debbie Lonnee is a knowledgeable speaker with years of experience in the horticulture industry. She is presently the Planning and Administration Manager for Bailey Nurseries, Inc and is actively involved in new plant introductions. Lonnee has a B.S. in Horticulture from the University of Minnesota. The first thirteen years of her career was spent working in the retail garden center business, managing a large Twin Cities garden center. For the last fifteen years she has worked as a production coordinator at Bailey Nurseries, working primarily with the perennial and bedding plant crops, as well as roses and woody plants. Debbie is a member of the Perennial Plant Association, the Ohio Florists Association and she is the Secretary/Treasurer of the board of directors of the Minnesota Nursery and Landscape Association. She also chairs its Publications Committee. Garden writing is her second job; she is the horticultural editor for Northern Gardener magazine. Debbie also writes the Plant to Pick article for each edition. Debbie is also an avid gardener with a collector s garden full of hostas, daylilies and perennials, as well as many new annuals. I just consider myself a plant geek! You won t find too much lawn in my yard! she says. Special Event Featuring Hosta Breeder Olga Petryszyn Sunday, Oct 26 1:30 pm RCTC Heintz Horticulture Center Auditorium Olga Petryszyn of Northwest Indiana made her first crosses in 1986 with encouragement from her dear late friend, artist and gardener, Bill Brincka. As an artist herself, Olga strives to keep true to form with her creations, leaving a mark of beauty on the earth. Locally known as The Hosta Lady, she pours creative passion into making new cultivars. Olga is a Master Judge and is known throughout the United States and Europe. Through scientific hybridizing, she goes through a detailed process of record keeping and culling for years until satisfied. Each new introduction is observed for 6 to 10 years to make sure it meets her standards. To Olga, hybridizing is a life long form of art. She strives for the really big or giant hostas. The names she chooses carry an Americana theme. A few of Olga s creations are H. Niagara Falls, H. Manhattan, H. Blue Hawaii, H. Key West and H. Brother Stefan. In the pipeline are H. Continental Divide, H. Gotham and H. Sky Blue Waters. (Look for pictures of Olga s hosts throughout the newsletter) This will be a very special presentation you will not want to miss.

2 NOTES FROM THE PRESIDENT Cindy Tomashek H. Brother Stephan Greetings Hosta Friends! The Founder s Day picnic on Sep 13 was awesome -- despite the misty conditions! Mother Nature simply couldn t dampen our enthusiasm for sharing time with hosta friends. Not only was there great FOOD and great FUN, there was success in raising FUNds ($774.00!). My sincere thanks to the many members who generously donated items and time: Silent Auction Donors: Doris Amundsen, Pat Ferguson, Jean and Gerry Meyer; Door Prize Donors: Doris Amundsen and Pat Ferguson; Plant Sale Committee and plant caregivers, Jason Leigh, Joan Dotzenrod, Jean and Gerry Meyer, Dave and Denice Cocker, ; Tables and chairs: Dave and Denice Cocker, tent: Ed and Barb Armbruster. Thanks, thanks, thanks to this great group! The Preston gardens were a little tattered this year after two rounds of hail and less than adequate moisture, plus damage due to slime flux. This is a relatively new problem caused by ooze from the elm tree canopy dripping onto the hostas and other plants. This year has been noticeably worse than in the past so I researched elm diseases and learned that many of the elm trees in this country are infected with Bacterial Wetwood, as are several other tree species. While the disease rarely kills trees, the continual dripping of the slime flux can kill turf plants, shrubs and flowers. After witnessing the decline of several hostas that are located in drip areas, they ll have to be moved or the tree must be replaced with something more hospitable. Neither remedy thrills me! In order to avoid facing this kind of challenge, think twice before planting under elms or any other tree infected with Bacterial Wetwood.. To learn more, check out this helpful document by University of Nevada Extension 03/fs0333.pdf, or information on elm diseases at the University of Minnesota Extension web site, wood.htm Recently I received notice that the Winter Scientific Meeting of the Midwest Regional Hosta Society WILL CONTINUE! This is a really popular event mark your calendar for January 17, Look for details in the MRHS Fall newsletters and online at I ve attended the one-day seminar/wsm meetings for the past three years and have found them to be very educational. It s especially delightful to connect with hosta friends at a time of year when our gardens are frozen beneath the snow, and surprisingly there have been no travel difficulties to date in getting to the Chicago area in mid-january! We are close to wrapping up our third full year as an organization, with a couple more important events coming up in October: our general membership meeting on Thursday, October 2, 6:30 pm at the Fellowship Hall of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 20 th St. SW, Rochester, and our year-end special event featuring hosta hybridizer Olga Petryszyn, Sunday, October 26, 1:30 pm (doors open at 1:00 pm), at the RCTC Heintz Horticulture Center Auditorium. Seating in the auditorium is limited (approximate capacity 75). A good turnout would mean a packed house an excellent way to close out 2008 I hope to see you there!

3 H. Grand Canyon SHADES OF GREEN PHOTO CONTEST 2008 Linda Orleff, chair ENTRY DEADLINE EXTENDED It seems that everyone has had an incredibly busy summer and many who were interested did not find time to send in their entries for the photo contest. The original plan was an August 31 st deadline with the slideshow presentation and voting at the October 2008 meeting. Because there were not enough entries submitted, this plan was cancelled. After talking too many of you at the SOGHS Annual Picnic, it appears that there is still interest in the contest. So, the entry deadline for submitting entries has been extended to midnight December 31, I hope that this will give you time to look through the hosta and garden pictures you ve taken over the summer and send in a few of your favorites for the contest. If we get enough entries we will have the contest slideshow and voting at the February 2009 General Meeting. February will be the perfect time to start thinking about hosta gardens again and you can use the photos you see for inspiration and start your shopping list for next year. We need your participation to make this event successful so don t delay! Photo Prizes To make things more fun this year, we added incentives to get member photographs of SOGHS events for the scrapbook and early entries for the photo contest. Each month in June, July, and August a name was drawn from those who sent in photos to win a prize (one chance per person per month). June s winner is Betty Olson. Betty s prize is the Timber Press Pocket Guide to Hostas by Diana Grenfell and Michael Shadrack. July s winner is Jason Leigh. Jason s prize is a 10 silver gazing ball with metal stand. August s winner is Karen Noltee. Karen s prize is a trio of decorative concrete garden balls. Categories: --Most Beautiful Hosta in member s own garden --Most Beautiful Hosta in tour & other gardens --Best Single Hosta Leaf or Flower --Best Hosta Grouping (can be multiples of same hosta or a variety of hostas) --Hosta Companions (can be with plants, people, animals, insects, garden art, etc.) --JUST FOR FUN: Tortoise and Hares (Anyone who enters will get $2.00 in SOGHS Hosta Bucks) Rules: This contest is open to members of SOGHS only. 1. Each picture submitted must include an identified hosta. 2. The photo must be taken by the person submitting it. (You cannot submit photos taken by another person.) 3. Photos must be taken in the 2008 calendar year. 4. Cropping of photos is allowed but photos submitted cannot be otherwise digitally edited or retouched. You can set the scene for your hosta photo it does not have to be spontaneous. 5. All photos submitted become the property of SOGHS and will not be returned. Copyright of the image remains the property of the photographer, but SOGHS retains the right to use the photo for SOGHS meetings and promotional materials. 6. Each photo submitted must include: member s name, category, the title of the picture, the name of hosta(s) included in the photo, and the location of the photo. The photo can only be entered into one category. 7. Members may submit up to five (5) photos in each category. 8. Photos that do not comply with category criteria will be eliminated. 9. All entries must be received by August 31, 2008 at midnight. Judging Criteria: Creativity, Composition, Originality, Artistic Quality, Humor To Enter: Send your digital pictures by to Linda Orleff at: linda@orleff.com as a.jpg. a.bmp or a.tif file with 300 or greater resolution, if possible. Send by printed photos or photo CDs to: SOGHS Photo Contest, Linda Orleff, th AV NE, Rochester, MN Questions? Call Linda at

4 Tips for Garden Photography by Linda Orleff It s not necessary to spend a fortune on photography equipment to take garden photos that you will want to share with your friends. Even less expensive digital cameras such as Canon PowerShot, Fuji FinePix, and Nikon Coolpix are capable of producing excellent quality garden photographs if you follow a few basic rules of photography. Clear sunny days are great for beautiful blue skies but can introduce shadows into your pictures; diffuse cloudy light eliminates harsh shadows and helps strengthen color saturation. An open gate or curving path welcomes the viewer into the Photograph. Prepare your scene by taking the time to remove unsightly debris such as leaves and branches, or place an item of contrast or interest in the setting. Remember the rule of thirds. Align your focal point 1/3 of the way from the top or bottom or left or right for a more interesting composition. Some digital cameras have a grid display feature that makes this composition easier. It s not necessary to fit the entire plant into the picture unless You are trying to show the exceptional form or shape of a plant. Close-up compositions can create a more abstract and interesting look. H. Ivory Coast on and Try taking more than one picture of a scene to see which has more impact: try both horizontal and vertical views, or natural light then filler flash, or full size and close-up, or straight from above. Use the weather to your advantage to create dramatic, luminous photos by taking pictures just after a gentle shower or in an early morning mist or light fall frost. Using a tripod will give you sharper pictures and help you set up your composition. Small, inexpensive, portable tripods are available for digital cameras. All photos in this article were taken with a FujiFinePix Z5 camera.

5 Annual Hosta Sale This has been a beautiful summer for growing hostas. It seems some of us continue to procure new varieties of hostas and nestle them in our full gardens. We always seem to find a little space for just one more. I want to share a few hosta sale changes with you. The Hosta Sale Planning Committee met early June to discuss the process and results of our Annual Hosta Sale. There are four proposed improvement changes: 1) Establish a Perennial Area 2) Establish a Children s Education Area 3) Food Committee 4) Eliminate our garage sale table H. Blue Hawaii The generous member donation of perennials has alerted us to establish a Perennial Area to be coordinated separately from the hosta area. Thank You Jackie Angelotti and Paul Planting for volunteering to chair this new area. The purpose of the Children s Education Area is to give each child a free dwarf/miniature hosta or small perennial. Children can choose the plant of their choice. The intent is to create a fun atmosphere for children shopping with adults so they too get some value from our Annual Hosta Sale. Plant education and promotion to get children involved and excited about horticulture and gardening can be very exciting and fun. Who knows, perhaps they will join SOGHS someday. Currently we have one fouryear old member. Betty Olson has graciously accepted to chair the Children s Education Area. As you continue this seasons gardening and set plans for your 2009 gardens, please consider potting and donating a few 4 pots of small hostas or perennials for the Children s Area. Dwarf and Miniature plants should work great. A Food Committee will manage food for SOGHS workers during the annual hosta sale set-up and sale. Jackie Angelotti and Joan Dotzenrod will co-chair the food committee. $15. The garage sale portion of our hosta sale will be eliminated. We can make better use of this area for other purposes.

6 Shades of Green Hosta Society of Southeastern Minnesota WEBSITE President Cindy Tomashek Prestonplants@aol.com 1st Vice President/Garden Tours Casey Funk funk.kay@mayo.edu Oct 2 Thursday Oct 26 Sunday 2008 Calendar General Meeting 6:30 pm Fellowship Hall of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church 20 th St. SW, Rochester, MN Special Event Meeting with hosta hybridizer Olga Petryszyn 1:30 pm (doors open at 1:00 pm) RCTC Heintz Horticulture Center Auditorium 2nd Vice president Programs/Education Lynn Knott Kenyon Jan 17 Winter Scientific Meeting Schaumberg, IL Secretary/Historian Linda Orleff linda@orleff.com Treasurer Mona Keehn Chum721@charter.net 3rd Vice President Membership/Promotions Betty Olson Tensheep@hotmail.com Plant Sale Joan Dotzenrod Racine CDOTZ@prodigy.net Hospitality Jeanne Truestedt Pine Island jetrues@attglobal.net Webmaster Vicki LeCocq vicklecocq@hotmail.com Feb June June General Meeting Midwest Regional Convention Champaign/Urbana IL Convention%20internet.htm American Hosta Society Convention Lansing MI H. Hoosier Dome Newsletter Jean Meyer Pine Island jeanmeyer@att.net MEMBERSHIP Shades of Green Hosta Society $10.00/yr individual, $15.00 fam Send dues to: SOGHS/Betty Olson st AV SW Rochester, MN Other Important Hosta Memberships Midwest Regional Hosta Society American Hosta Society $10./yr Send dues to 1 yr $25. Individual/ $29. Family Peter Postelwaite 2 yrs $47. Ind/ $52. Family 2112 Andover Road 3 yrs, Ind/$65./ $75 Family. Kildeer, Il Send dues to: Sandie Markland, AHS membership Sec Pinnacle Rock CT Lorton, VA