Hummingbird Herald KIND WORDS. Next Meeting April 20, 2011 Bonsai and Topiary Video presentation by Don Helsel. President s Message

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1 April 2011 Volume 11 Issue 4 Hummingbird Herald Crescent City Fuchsia Society President s Message Next Meeting April 20, 2011 Bonsai and Topiary Video presentation by Don Helsel March marks the anniversary month of our Club. Thirty-six years go, Chuck Hassett, who was then in Eureka, and Beverley Overstreet joined their collective energies together to form the Crescent City Fuchsia Society. And aren t we glad they did! Especially since we love fuchsias and sharing our fuchsia knowledge with others. Set-up for the Spring Sale will take place on Friday, April 22nd in the Floral Building at the Fairgrounds. The sale itself will take place on Saturday, April 23rd from 9:00 a.m. to 4 p.m. I look forward to seeing our members who can volunteer KIND WORDS their time either setting up on Friday or helping out on Saturday. Kind hearts are the gardens, Kind thoughts are the roots, Kind words are the flowers, Kind deeds are the fruits. Take care of the gardens, And keep them from weeds, Fill them with flowers, Kind words and kind deeds. - Longfellow - Also, I want to take a moment to express my sincere appreciation to fellow Board Members, Club members, and all our volunteers thank you all, each and every one, for working hard to make the Club a success. And don t forget to renew your membership. Until we meet Sat our next meeting, Your fuchsia friend, Mariallyce. Editor Karen Fleming cybergal131@yahoo.com Inside this Issue President s Message 1 Club Notes 2 Project and Spring Sale Plant Care Heirloom Fuchsia 4 What Not to do with Fuchsias March Checklist 5 3 4

2 JACK S (PETERS) FERTILIZER by Don Helsel Our Club has been fortunate enough to obtain 50 pounds of Jack s Professional fertilizer ( ) at a reasonable price. This is the same fertilizer we so strongly recommended for many years, Peters , until that company sold out to Miracle Grow. Miracle Grow then discontinued that formula. However, the Peters family then reopened under the Jack s brand and now sells the original formula plus others. They are back east so shipping is normally a killer, almost doubling the cost of 25 pounds. The Grange Co-op in Grants Pass sells it for less than $40 dollars; however, they are almost out of stock (four bags left as of this writing) and are having trouble with re-supply. A. M. Leonard Horticultural Supply also sells it for less than $40 dollars online and has a special shipping rate of $4.99 at the moment. I found other sources; however, shipping rates were high with one company in Oregon charging three times the cost of the product. Yes, you heard that right, about $160 total cost for 25 pounds of product. I guess that is the new game now, a reasonable price then sock it to you with shipping. Help Written contributions or photographs for the HH. Our Country Store will have one pound bags for sale for $3.50 at our next meeting, if you need some. Recommended application rate is one tablespoon per gallon about every 30 days. The Club recommends half strength, ½ tablespoon per gallon every 2-3 weeks. (1 tablespoon = 3 teaspoons = 15 milliliters) From the Jack s Professional website: The general-purpose industry standard, is great for maintaining plants in garden center and growing facilities. It provides fast green-up and great foliar expansion due to the high percentage of ammonium and urea nitrogen plus balanced phosphorus and potassium for excellent root and shoot growth. March Attendance Raffle Each month we, and our guests, sign in at our meeting. We thus have the opportunity to have our name drawn in the Attendance Draw. There are normally two prizes awarded. In March, Mark Devoir and Marie Ball had their names chosen. Congratulations! Mark Danner provided the door prizes. Submissions gratefully accepted. Page 2 Hummingbird Herald

3 DID YOU KNOW? by Madalyn Drago, Past President of the American Fuchsia Society Floral Preservatives: Use one part 7-Up mixed with four parts of water. The citrus keeps the bacteria at bay and the sugar feeds the flower. Vodka does the same for bulb flowers, one part Vodka mixed with four parts water in a vase for tulips and daffodils. Daffodils do not mix well with other types of flowers due to a substance secreted from the cut stem. Fungicide Alternatives: Fungicides are one of the more toxic chemicals used by gardeners but there are some alternatives: Listerine one teaspoon in one quart of water. Hydrogen Peroxide one teaspoon in one gallon of water. Baking Soda ½ teaspoon baking soda, ¼ teaspoon cooking oil, in one-quart warm water. Using your choice from these alternatives, mix in the noted ratio and apply with a garden sprayer every 10 days or until you no longer see any evidence of fungus. Manure Tea: This is a very good tonic for your plants. Place a quantity of cow manure in the leg of an old pair of panty hose, tie it off and place it in a watering can full of water. Allow it to sit overnight. Pour the resulting tea on your plants. What remains in the panty hose can be spread on the soil surface around your plants or thrown away. Plants love this kind of liquid treatment. Vacation Watering: Use a simple wick to water your plants while you are away. Poke simple twine in the mouth of a quart soda bottle full of water and then poke the other end in the soil of your plant container. The water will wick from the soda bottle to your plant slowly, keeping your plant health till your return. Make sure the wick goes all the way to the bottom of the water bottle. Plastic Peanuts: While these are often a pain to dispose of, they can help lessen the soil volume in a plant container and at the same time make it lighter if you have to move it. Place the desired quantity of peanuts in the bottom on the planting container. Cover with a layer of landscape fabric to prevent the soil from falling through into the peanuts. Fill the provide excellent drainage, lessens the soil volume and will not harm you plants. Newspaper: Thick layers of Newspaper used as a mulch will prevent weeds from sprouting. Milk Cartons or Tuna Cans for Cutworms: To prevent new seedlings from being devoured by Cutworms, surround the seedling with a Tuna can or Milk Carton with the bottom cut out. This creates a barrier to the Cutworm but allows the seedling full light. Coffee Grounds: Use Coffee grounds as fertilizer for acid loving plants, both indoors and outdoors. They are high in nitrogen and decompose quickly. Scatter the Coffee grounds on the ground around plants. Moth Balls: Scatter mothballs on the soil around trees and shrubs to discourage rodents from eating the bark of your plants. Alcohol for Mealy Bugs: Indoor plants are vulnerable to Mealy Bugs. Mealy Bugs can be identified as white, cottony looking fuzz on the underside of leaves and in plant joints. Dip a Q-tip in rubbing alcohol then directly on the mealy bug. It will disintegrate without hurting the plant. You may have to treat the plant more than once as the babies you miss grow up. Soap/Oil Spray for Insect Pests: Probably the best overall insecticide recipe is made from dish washing soap liquid and cooking oil. It should be applied more frequently than chemical sprays but you probably don t want to use poisons inside your home. Mix: ½ teaspoon dish washing liquid ¼ teaspoon cooking oil 1-quart warm water It is best to mix all the ingredients in a small spray bottle. Shake well before use. Spray the upper and underside of the leaves every ten days to control Mealy Bug, Spider Mite, Aphid, Thrip, and other sucking or chewing insects. Volume 11, Issue 4 Page 3

4 Heirloom Fuchsia Black Prince Black Prince is a perennial shrub which can grow to 2-4 feet in size, upright, erect or weeping, with red tubes and sepals and dark purple corollas. In fact, the corolla is almost pitch black when open. Black Prince may be a somewhat slow grower but it is a prolific bloomer. It flourishes in zones 9a to 11b, enjoying shade to partial shade, flowering from late spring through early fall. : Banks, ) Page 4 Hummingbird Herald

5 MARCH/APRIL CHECKLIST by Elsie Sydnor As March stalks in, most people are probably experiencing a sense of accomplishment that their pruning is done, pots are clean, soil has been replenished, and roots have been trimmed. Now sit back and let things grow. But, wait! DON T sit down in that chair! You have only begun. If there is one word that describes fuchsia grower s duties this time of year it is pinch, Pinch, PINCH, PINCH. Of course, water and fertilizer is important, too, but if you do not pinch, all the fertilizer and love in the world won t grow a lush, full, showstopper plant. When plants are small, it is easy to work down one side of the bench, and then up the other side. As plants are moved to their summer homes, take care to keep track of which are pinched as you work through them each week. YES! Every week! Other activities may have to be neglected, like bed making and patio cleaning, but fuchsias must come first for a while. Small fingernail or surgical scissors works best for us. After pruning, allow two to three sets of leaves to form then snip out the next set. Where you snip, two new little branches will grow. When then new branches have formed two or three sets of new leaves, snip out the next set of leaves and keep repeating this process until eight to ten weeks before you want the bloom to start. As you pinch, keep in mind the overall shape of the plant, keeping it symmetrical and full in shape. The decision to pinch after two or three sets of leaves must be yours. At first, pinching after only two or three sets of leaves puts fullness in the center of the plant, which gives a basket a well rounded look later. Later, some branches may need to be pinched after two set of leaves, while others will need to be pinched after three sets of leaves, just to even out the shape of the plant. If a fuchsia tends to have three leaves at some nodes, pinching at these nodes will give three new branches instead of two. Do not expect to pinch fuchsias on March 10 th, ignore their progress for three weeks, and expect the plants to perform perfectly. They need your help every week until this process is complete---then they are going to need your help every week to stay in top condition! You didn t have anything else planned did you? Excerpted from AFS Bulletin Vol. 62, No.2 March/April 1992 Plant Draw Some of the varieties of the 2 fuchsia pots we had at our March meeting for the plant draw were: Dancing Flame Anita Meadow Lark Waterways Flying Cloud King of Siam Yolanda In addition, we also has two bromeliads donated to the plant draw. (Tickets are 5 for $1.00.) Volume 11, Issue 4 Page 5

6 UPCOMING EVENTS April 20 Bonsai and topiary April 23 (Saturday) Fuchsia Club plant sale Miss California, from the garden of Club member Tony in San Francisco, a semi-double trailer or lax bush, sugar candy pink with white streaks, somewhat elongated, with corolla much shorter than sepals, showy flowers. May 18 Wild Bird and Backyard June 15 Fair prep Hodges, USA, Crescent City Fuchsia Society ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED P.O. Box 432 Crescent City, CA Members of the Board of Directors Officers and Directors President Mariallyce Sanger Vice-President Don Helsel Secretary Mary Anne Buckles Treasurer Barbara Helsel Directors Gay McWhirter Andrea Dahlberg Mark Danner Join us to learn more about growing beautiful fuchsias! We look forward to seeing you at our next meeting of the Crescent City Fuchsia Society.