WILLAMETTE CHAPTERWILLAMETTE CHAPTERWILLAMETTE CHAPTER AMERICAN RHODODENDROAMERICAN RHODODENDROAMERICAN RHODODENDRON SOCIETYN SOCIETYN SOCIETY

http:members. http://www.arswillamette.org/ ARS Home Page: http://www.rhododendron.org

Keith & Mary Ellen's home

Potluck & plant Sale ALL VISITORS WELCOME

CHAPTER MEETING APRIL 10, 2019

NEWSLETTER Willamette Chapter American Rhododendron Society

Volume 14 Issue 127 May 8, 2019

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

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May 8, 2019 Keith White Potluck and Plant Sale

MINUTES WILLAMETTE CHAPTER

April 10, 2019

A large bunch of ARS’ers waddled their way to the

Carrier Room for our April meeting. Refreshments

were there (unlike our March meeting). I wasn't too

clear on who made those delicious cookies bur the

rumor was that Mary Ellen White and Kathy Reed

did the honors.

Wally Reed, our Prez-4-Life, quieted us down on

time, except for the chewing sounds. This rarely

happens, but may have been honor of our two

guests: Lynn (Reed) and Noel Povisen. In case you

haven't figured it out, Wally and Kathy's delightful

daughter and equally as delightful son-in-law. Their

grandson didn't attend the meeting as he chose to

stay at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

First up, the clipboard for Smith Garden Weekend

Volunteers To Assist Visitors. Anne Gross stated she

needed two warm bodies for the April 28th Open

Garden and one warm one for May 14th.

Our May meeting is the PAPA (Potluck and Plant

Auction) which will be at the estate of Keith and

Mary Ellen White. It will be on the 8th (our usual

meeting date). Keith will send out detailed instruc-

tions on how to get to their place. You can try to

use your GPS or ask Alexa, but trust me...you'll get

lost if you don't follow Keith's notes. Kathy Reed is

"doing" the main meet which will be either salmon

or marinated pork. Keith has hot dogs for those

with a lesser palate. Bring your favorite food (s) to

share and your checkbook or cash to purchase

plants.

Set up for the Truss Show is this coming weekend,

Friday and Saturday, April 12th and 13th. Set up

will be early and take down will be fast. It will be at

the finishing line of the Salem Soapbox Derby next

to the parking lot on Mission Street. Coffee and cof-

feecake will be available. Bring warm clothing and

something water-proof as it could be cold and/or

rainy.

Our "field trip" held Saturday, March 30th was

"wonderful" says Willy. The weather was perfect.

We enjoyed Smith Garden first; then ate our picnic

lunches by the Willamette River in a Portland city

park. After lunch, we toured Bishop's Close and

Crystal Gardens. (Hope we do that again.)

Since this was our April meeting, it was also our offi-

cial business meeting. Funny business was put

aside for the moment. First up was the election of

officers for the 2019-2021 years. All current officers

have agreed to stay for another 2 years. The only

office, of one of the Board seats, is held by Tom Bai-

ley, remains for another year. (Still don't know how

that happened.) Saving time and energy, one soul

moved all be re-elected and someone else seconded

that. So with a unanimous show of hands and hoots

and hollers, we remain as is: Dana Malby - Treas-

urer; Mary Crofts - Secretary; Board Members -

Susan Doellinger and Bill Vogt; and last but not

least, our President - Wally Reed, who is indeed go-

ing to be our President-For-Life!!

Dick Lundin, Newsletter Editor, has officially re-

signed. He and Carol are in Panama, probably be-

cause it's too far away for us to complain about this.

This May (2019) issue will be his last. So a new Edi-

tor is needed ASAP. Any volunteers or suggestions

let Anne Gross, Dick on Wally know. Keith White

suggested Dick be asked to serve as advisor to the

new editor when found.

Keith has also agreed to be our Program Chair for

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another year, at least. Carol Lundin remains as

Awards Chair and Anne Gross as Elections Chair.

Also passed was a vote to keep the Speaker Budget

at the $600 level, which is the current level. Keith

pointed out we've never had to use the full amount

during the year and suggested it remain at that

amount.

Your Secretary asked for an update on the Bob

Grasing Memorial. His family is paying for it; a

bench in Cecil and Molly Smith Garden with a

plaque, a place he loved and spent many unpaid

hours in upkeep of it. Dick Cavender has contacted

a contractor to build it and Salem Trophy will do the

plaque for the back of the bench. Wally suggested

the inscription should end with Bob's favorite saying:

"Think about it."

On the same subject, Kathy Reed moved we pur-

chase a brick at RSBG. This was seconded and

passed with flying colors. The brick will cost $300

and our Treasurer (still), Dana Malby, assured that

our budget can handle it. (I apologize for not re-

cording the names of all the motion-movers and all

the seconds each time we have a motion; every-

one's quick and no one raises their hand. Our group

works in mysterious ways)

Fred Katz inquired wether we had enough money in

the treasury to increase our RSBG Associate Mem-

bership donation from $300 to $400. Our Treasurer

again assured us this was possible. Fred so moved

and it was seconded and passed from the $300 to

$400.

Keith reminded us that there are still openings for

the RSBG Symposium at the end of the month.

$150 covers the main banquets and all the speakers

plus tours. The Hampton Hotel in Federal Way is

giving those attending a break in the cost of rooms.

Keith then introduced our speaker for the evening,

one of our own: Dick "Red" Cavender, who really

needs no introduction. Especially since he and wife,

Karen, have appeared a number of times speaking

on rhododendrons and rhodie gardens. They've also

visited many countries and many gardens containing

many types of flora, as both are on a bunch of dif-

ferent societies for the same. Dick has received a

boat-load of awards for rhodies and for many others

flowers as well. The Cavenders own "Red's

Rhodies" in Sherwood. So what does Dick chose

to talk about first: "MOLE CONTROL AND GOPHER

MADNESS"

To start, gophers and moles not only look a lot alike

and dig up lawns and fields leaving mounds of dirt

behind. They are really quite different in habit, tun-

nels and mounds left for us to deal with. Moles

have small eyes and long pointy noses. They like to

eat insects and leave mini-Mt. St.Helens behind as

that's what a mole mound looks like...a small moun-

tain. The gopher has big puffy cheeks and likes to

eat the roots on anything it can find, leaving the top

of whatever it eats looking healthy, until you pull up

the plant that's toppling over or the fresh spring car-

rot you want to eat. The gopher hole is a mound of

dirt also, but you can tell a gopher has been there

because there will be a hole at the base of the

mound to one side. Gophers also prefer the country

life rather than a city life.

There are lots of ways to get rid of them. Some

work. Some do not. Some people use loud sound-

makers in the tunnels or try to blast them out (good

way to lose a hand). You can also try a 12 gauge

shotgun. These methods don't work. The only sure

way is a trap(s). Both critters need there own type

of trap. The methods for locating the tunnel runway

where the trap will do the most good also differs.

Lest someone reading this thinks I'm now an expert

on mole and gopher traps, I won't say more about

how they are located in the tunnels, except one

part. You can tell a gopher's been at work by all the

mounds of dirt with holes at the bottom of each.

Stomp the dirt back down flat on each mound/hole.

The next morning look to see where one mound is

back for that's the gophers mainline. As for the

traps, Dick gave us demonstrations of both kinds

and at the end, invited us to come forth for a better

look at how they work. Your Secretary kept her dis-

tance. Didn't want to see the sight of blood should

one of those traps take some part of someone's

body away in little pieces. Those traps are big and

look like they could take the foot off a cow or deer

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rambling through the grass.

Happily Dick had two talks planned. First, the mole

and gopher talk. Then the pretty talk: OCCIDEN-

TALE WONDERS. Much better...could breathe

again. As I recall from hearing other talks and

rhodie people talking about R. Occidentale, It is na-

tive to only Oregon and Washington, and maybe

northern California. Dick did say this rhodie is hard

to grow east of the Cascades due to the humidity.

For the same reason, they're hard to grow east of

the Coast Range. So they bloom in the wild in a

very small range compared with a lot of rhodies.

He showed us first, photos taken near Cave Junc-

tion, Oregon at a place called the "Biscuit Fire".

(Wonder why "biscuit"?) Where a large forest fire

came along and burned all to the ground. Over

these past years, R. Occidentale is growing naturally

is the part of the soil that is "serpentine" which is

this rhodies favorite soil. In this area, Dick and

other rhodie enthusiasts and scientists are "tagging"

the rhodies to document how they do in this burn

area.

He also had photos of many, many delicious Occi-

dentales found there and in his yard. He noted all

the different variations in color and markings be-

tween this particular rhodie species. One huge bush

showed the same rhodie with many different colors

and markings. They like sun and water, but not an

excess of either, which is why our valley is so good

for growing them and hybridizing them...something

Dick also does. R. Occidentale is considered an

azalea in most rhodie books. It has something to do

with the number of petals and such. But as Herb

Spady will also remind us: "There's no such thing as

an azalea. They are ALL rhododendrons." Your

Secretary has one of Dick's hybrids and it is glorious.

We closed the meeting with a big thanks to Dick for

sharing some of his adventures with us. But there

not being anything to raffle off tonight, we just went

straight back to the cookies.

Respectfully submitted, Mary Crofts - Secretary

INVITATION TO A FIELD TRIP

Pat and Dave Eckerdt live in Salem in a home begun

in 1891 and now surrounded by a two-plus acre

‘collector’s garden’. The ever-changing garden is

some twenty-five years old and has become a regu-

lar stop for garden groups. Come take a tour of the

garden we have named Deerly Missed and be intro-

duced to some plants you may not have met before.

Most of our plants are labeled. A restroom is of

course available.

The garden is open to all visitors Saturday and Sun-

day, May 4th and 5th and on Friday and Saturday,

June 14th and 15th from 9am until 6pm each day.

The garden is generally level and easily accessible.

GPS seems to work quite well to our address. Com-

ing south on I-5 we take exit 260A, the Salem Park-

way. Staying on the parkway takes you through

downtown Salem. As you pass through the older

part of town you will pass the Police Dept, City Hall,

and the Library complex to your left. The next light

is Mission Street, continue straight ahead to the next

light which is Owens. Turn right on Owens, it will

quite quickly become River Road South, continue for

3.5 miles. As you pass Roberts Crossing Restaurant

on your right, turn left onto Riverdale Road. In 1.2

miles Riverdale forks, keep left (do not go under the

railroad bridge). We are the next house on your

right, about ½ mile. 4539 Riverdale Road S. Salem.

The cell number is 503-559-5878 should you go

astray.

WCARS Needs An Editor for Newsletter Sept. 2019

Dick Lundin, WCARS Newsletter Editor for the past

13 years is retiring this May 2019. We need some-

one to step forward in Sept. 2019 and take up

where Dick left off. Please let Dick or Wally know if

you will begin doing our essential Newsletter. wal-

lacereed@comcast. net (503-588-3666) or

lynlun@wavecable.com (503-585-8439)

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WILLAMETTE CHAPTER ARS TRUSS SHOW AND PLANT SALE APRIL 12-13, 2019

Our Willamette Chapter American Rhododendron

Society’s (WCARS) Truss Show and Plant Sale was

held April 12 and 13, 2019 in conjunction with Sa-

lem, Oregon’s Mission Street Parks Conservancy’s

Bush Park Benefit Plant Sale. It was held in a new

venue on the Soap Box Derby Track in Salem, Ore-

gon’s Bush’s Park Benefit Plant Sale. (This Soap Box

Derby Track is the only Official track west of the

Mississippi.) We anchored one end of the Sale with

our 12 x 24 foot tent and sales area. (Our tent is

the gift of Helen Malby who was our WCARS Chap-

ter Treasurer for 21 years.)

Our Truss Show and Plant Sale are enabled by many

wonderful people, both Chapter and non Chapter

folks. Our tent and sales equipment are stored in

Wally and Kathy Reed’s basement. Our display

racks and signs are stored in the barn of Maxine and

Chuck Dehn. Our set up and take down labor force

this year was comprised of Dana Malby, Bill Vagt,

Fred Klatz, Keith White, Mary Ellen Ramsayer, Mary

Liepins, Wally and Kathy Reed, and Lynn and Noel

Povlsen from Seattle. Our transport support was

provided by Roger Lintault moving Monrovia Nursery

donated plants from McMinnville, Or. by Keith White

moving plants from Bear Creek Nursery donated by

Keith White, by Anne Gross transporting plants for

everywhere, especially from Smith Garden, and by

Dana Malby with his wonderfully big pickup. Wally

Reed’s ‘68 Chev moved materials in Salem. It took

days to assemble the event equipment. It took 4

hours to assemble it all, and it took 45 minutes to

take it down with the encouragement of rain.

Our Truss Show and Plant Sale’s knowledgeable

plant people force included, Wilbur Bluhm (age 93),

Kathy Reed (age 78), Lynn Reed Povlsen (from Se-

attle), and especially, Anne Gross (age not dis-

closed). Maxine Dehn, Dana Malby, and many oth-

ers helped with information and advice on pruning

and plant care. We are getting older and are ex-

hausted after the event. We have about 25 active

members and their families, but we are getting very

thin for this type of event.

Our Truss Show was held 2 weeks earlier in April

than had been normal, and we feared that trusses

would be few. Although our count of trusses and

exhibitors was “liberated” at the take down of the

show, we must have had nearly 100 trusses. We

had only 5 WCARS Members exhibiting trusses,

Anne Gross, Dana Malby, Keith White, Kathy Reed,

and Maxine Dehn.

We are greatly thankful to our Truss Exhibitors and

especially to our Plant Sale donors, Monrovia Nurs-

ery in Dayton, Oregon and Keith White with plants

from Bear Creek Nursery in Stayton, Oregon which

were from Terry Henderson’s Log Cabin Nursery in

Springfield, Oregon.

We will not know for a couple weeks if we made any

money on the Plant Sale. With the donations of

Monrovia Nursery and Keith White, we should. And,

we had over 250 good folks educated and voting for

the trusses we displayed. Many also requested in-

formation of pruning, planting, and other care. IRS

should be happy with our 501(c)3 status as the

WCARS.

6

7 or 8 each 4, 5 or 6 each

Taurus Noyo Brave

Avalanche Butterflies

Bar Berry Dame Nelly Melba

Silver Sword Racemosum

Exbury Cal Stocker Davidsonianum Mulicoma-tum

Yellow Hammer Alpine Glow

Lutenscence

3 or less

Camellia (a ringer) Strigillosum

Malahat Pieris (a ringer)

Pacansomthur Viburnum

Floribundum Laramie

Congratulations to all 5 WCARS exhibitors

and great thanks.

WILLAMETTE CHAPTER ARS MAY 8, 2019

POTLUCK AND PLANT AUCTION

WILL BE AT THE KEITH WHITES THIS YEAR After a number of years greatly enjoying the hospi-

tality and facilities of Loydee and Glen Stonebrink,

for our May 8th WCARS Meeting, this year we will

gather at the home of Dr. Keith White and lovely

wife Mary Ellen Ramseyer. Again, the main course

and soft drinks will be provided by our WCARS

Chapter. Please bring your favorite potluck dish,

chairs to sit on, and especially your plants for the

auction and your check book.

The Whites address is: 1751 Noble Fir Lane S, Sa-

lem, Or 97306-9807. rhodoc@msn.com

You take Liberty Road south of Salem, Or to its in-

tersection with Cole Road. Southbound you turn

right onto Cole Road. When it begins to curve, turn

left onto Twin Fir Lane S. Continue on Twin Fir until

you reach Noble Fir Lane S and turn right into Noble

Fir. It is truly a lane, and is at the top of a hill that

goes down to the end of Twin Fir. Continue on No-

ble Fir to its end past residences. The Whites have a

large field and parking area.

Keith and Mary Ellen’s place GPS/ Goggle maps

don’t work to get you to our driveway

Truss Votes

President Roosevelt 42

Double Winner 23

Calophytum 21

Irroratum 19

THE “PEOPLE’S CHOICE” ENJOYMENT OF OUR WCARS TRUSSES APRIL 12 AND 13, 2019

Even in driving rain, we had over 250 visitors vote

for their favorite truss, about 17 per hour for the 15

hours of the Show. Our Truss Show was held 2

weeks earlier in April than had been normal, and we

feared that trusses would be few. However, 5

WCARS Members exhibited trusses: Anne Gross,

Dana Malby, Keith White, Kathy Reed, and Maxine

Dehn. We lost our count of which exhibitor brought

which trusses, but over 100 trusses were displayed.

So, the exhibitors need to path themselves on the

back as needed. Many trusses had many exhibitors,

because of the weather.

AND THE TRUSS WINNERS ARE

WILLAMETTE CHAPTER ARS FIELD TRIP TO SEE PORTLAND AREA RHODIES MAR 3OTH

2019

The Willamette Chapter ARS Field Trip March 30, 2019 to visit the Cecil and Molly Smith Garden, the Bishops Close Garden, and Crystal Springs Rhody

garden in the Portland, Or area was great fun. The

weather was wonderful; everyone was out enjoying

the sun and a Saturday. The trip was organized and

marvelously led by Dr. Keith White. The trippers

were Keith and Mary Ellen White, Paul and Susan

Doellinger, Ali Sarlak and Mary Crofts, Dana Malby

and Bill Vagt, Tom Beatty and Kathy and Wally

Reed. Everyone enjoyed their own sack lunch at Wil-

lamette Park in Portland gazing at the Willamette

River, geese and hundreds of Portlanders just out in

the sunshine. Each garden had many early blooming

rhodys and trees, each garden had a different dis-

tinctive mix of rhodys and other plants, and each

had lovely views throughout.

As the season progresses, each of the gardens are

open on weekends. The Smith garden is open 11 to

4 every weekend through May. Bishop's Close is

open until 5 PM and Crystal Springs is open until

dusk both 7 days a week year round. Go and enjoy.

7

Keubler

N

S

E

W

Liberty Road 4 miles from Keubler to Cole Rd.

Cole Road

0.2 mile

Twin Fir

Noble Fir 0.1 mile

Right leg of fork to K. White

A SPECIAL LORD AND SCHRYVER CONSERVANCY GARDEN TOUR OF 8 HOMES

IN SALEM’S ENGLEWOOD DISTRICT

JUNE 1 AND 2ND.

The first annual Lord & Schryver Conservancy

Neighborhood Garden Tour will take place on Satur-

day and Sunday, June 1 and 2, 2019 from 10 a.m.

to 4 p.m. both days. This year our family-friendly

event will feature 8 home gardens in the charm-

ing Englewood neighborhood of northeast Salem.

Our tour is the successor to the popular garden

tours run by Gilbert House Children’s Museum for 21

years.

The ticket price is $20 per person ages 16 and older

and free under age 16. Tickets may be purchased

at lscgardentour.eventbrite.com or at the Welcome

Tent in Englewood Park on June 1 and 2.

If you want to buy tickets now to save time, just

click on the link above and you will be guided

through the necessary steps.

This will be a great opportunity to explore many dif-

ferent residential garden designs. Check it out, the

Lord and Schryver Conservancy is greatly expanding

their activities to open beautiful gardens to Salem

area plant lovers.

Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden 5801 SE 28th Avenue in Portland

Will be at peak bloom time. Come and join us to view the garden.

THE SHOW: A judged flower show in the Exhibit Hall To enter bring your rhododendron trusses to the

Exhibit Hall 6:00 to 8:00 pm Friday night or 7:00 to 9.30 am on Saturday.

THE SALE: in the front parking lot. All proceeds benefit the Garden

More information: www.rhodies.com or 503-771-8386

Presented by The Portland Chapter of

the American Rhododendron Society

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Willamette Chapter Officers

President: Wally Reed......... …...503-588-3666 V-President: Programs Chair: Keith White ……….…..503-363-2815 Secretary: Mary Crofts….… . …...503-838-4122 Treasurer: Dana Malby ……….... 503-393-6463 Librarian: Dick Lundin ....... …...503-585-8439 Newsletter: Editor: Dick Lundin ....... ……503-585-8439 Print. & Mail: Dick Lundin ....... …...503-585-8439 Board Members: Tom Bailey ........ …...503-364-7741 Bill Vagt ………………..503-581-8654 Susan Doellinger …..503-838-4884 Greeter Susan Doellinger…...503-838-4884 Past President: Chuck Dehn ....... …...503-362-9217 Web Site Kathy Lintault………..503-434-5472

ONLINE SHOPPING AND THE ARS STORE

A REMINDER TO HELP FUND THE ARS

Anytime you shop online for just about anything, please

consider first going through the American Rhododendron

Society Online Store. The ARS Online Store is reached by

the link: http://arsstore.org/

On this site you will find a very wide range of merchants

who have agreed to give the American Rhododendron

Society a referral fee of 4% to 25% on each sale

"referred" by ARSStore.org. Just use a link from the ARS

Online Store site to go to a merchant’s site and buy

something like you normally would. You get the same low

price and help the ARS. Wally Reed - President

MONTHLY EVENTS

EUGENE CHAPTER

The Springs at Greer Gardens 1280 Goodpasture Island

Rd. Eugene, OR Third Wednesday Oct to May at 7:30 pm

SIUSLAW CHAPTER

First Presbyterian Church 3996 Highway 101,

Florence, OR

Third Tuesday of the month at 7 pm.

PORTLAND CHAPTER

All Saints Episcopal Church

4033 SE Woodstock Ave, Portland, OR

Third Thursday, and the program begins at 7 pm.

SALEM HARDY PLANT SOCIETY

First Tuesday of the month 7:00pm

Salem Heights Community Hall

3505 Liberty Road S.

TUALATIN VALLEY CHAPTER

First Tuesday of the month at 7 pm Washington County

Fire District 2 31370 NW Commercial Street

North Plains, OR 97133

DISTRICT 4 CHAPTER WEB SITES

Arswillamette.org

eugene-chapter-ars.org

rhodies.org (Portland)

siuslawars.org

sworegonars.org

tuatitinvalleyars.org

All other web sites can be found on

rhododendron.org

Under chapters under web sites

All ARS Bulletins are

now available on line at:

http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/JARS/

Black Sport Predominant Flower Color: Purple

Flower/Truss Description: Flower very dark reddish-

purple with an almost black eye. Held in ball-shaped

truss. May bloom in fall.

Fragrant: No

Bloom Time: Late Midseason to Late

Foliage Description / Plant Habit: Leaves small, dark

green, twisted, retained 2 years. Upright, open,

round habit.

Height: 5 feet in 10 years.

Cold Hardiness Temp: -5°F ( -21°C)

Parentage (Seed Parent x Pollen Parent):

Britannia x Purple Splendour

Parentage (Seed Parent x Pollen Parent):

Britannia x Purple Splendour

Elepidote (E) or Lepidote (L): E

Hybridized or Selected by: Nelson