SHADES OF GREENThe Newsletter for the Upstate New York Hosta Society

(UNYHS)Prepared by Dave Jennings, Communications Chair and Newsletter Editor

December 2016

Your Officers & Committee Chairs:

President: Kathryn Mohr 518-952-4995 kemohrke@aol.com

Vice President: Debb Guard 518-783-6845 torinaj@aol.com

Secretary: Cindy Jennings 518-541-3598 UNYHS@aol.com

Treasurer: Ernie Jeffery 201-664-5720 erniethehostafarian@yahoo.com

Plant Acquisition:: Dawn Haas 518-374-8247 dawncraig1@verizon.net

Newsletter Editor and Communications: Dave Jennings 518-541-3598 UNYHS@aol.com

Hospitality:: Mabel Siler 518-399-4071 mabes@nycap.rr.com

Membership: Jim Wimet 518-584-2341 unyhsmemchair@aol.com

Door Prizes/Raffles: Bobbie Crain 518-346-0639 rcrain@nycap.rr.com

Facebook/Publicity: Cathy Fruhauf 518-858-3718 cathyfruhauf@hotmail.com

Website: Bill Ryan & Jon Sternfeld 518-374-2206 Use Contact Page on Website

Plant Sitter: Bobbie Crain 518-346-0639 rcrain@nycap.rr.com

Faddegon's Plant Sale: (Open at this time) Send an e-mail to UNYHS@aol.com to volunteer

Hosta Cut Leaf Show: (Open at this time) Send an e-mail to UNYHS@aol.com to volunteer

By-Laws Revision: (Open at this time) Send an e-mail to UNYHS@aol.com to volunteer

Librarian: Debb Guard 518-783-6845 torinaj@aol.com

Contact UsWebsite: http://unyhs.orgE-mail: UNYHS@aol.com

From your President: Kathryn MohrI hope everyone is planning to attend our Holiday Party to be held next Saturday, December 10th. Details are elsewhere in this newsletter.  Special Thanks Cindy, for planning this event.

Our scholarship committee has been hard at work and will be making their recommendation at our Holiday party. Thank you to Jon Sternfeld as Chair as well as Cindy and Dave Jennings for investigating this possibility for us.

I spoke to our treasurer, Ernie Jeffery last week. He’s purchased gift certificates at several garden centers and nurseries for our Holiday party as well as the doldrums meeting. Thank you!

Mabel Siler is retiring from her job as our regular Hospitality Chair after our Holiday Party this month. She’s done a wonderful job for us and we all appreciate her effort. I am still looking for someone to take this over as of the first of the year. Mabel’s shoes will be tough to fill but we really need someone to come forward and volunteer to try to do so.

I wish you all a safe and satisfying holiday season. Kathryn

Please Join us for our Holiday Celebration

Plan to attend to share a little Holiday Cheer

PLEASE MARK YOUR

CALENDARNOW AND

SAVE THESE DATES

Look for more details

in each future newsletter

To be held next Saturday, December 10th in the fellowship hall at: Our Redeemer Lutheran Church in Scotia, NY(103 South Reynolds Street) beginning at 12:00 Noon. The Theme again this year is "Helping Hands for the Holidays" Cindy has graciously agreed to Chair the Party again this year! We will be holding another Photo Contest this year so see the details later in this newsletter.

Warm Socks: Cindy requested that members bring donations of warm socks that will be given to the local city mission to help children and adults keep their feet warm this winter. If you would like to donate some socks and can't attend the party…please contact Cindy to make arrangements for pick-up.

Gift Exchange: Members who would like to be involved in a Holiday Gift Exchange should wrap a gift with an average price of $15.00 value and bring it to the party. Please do not place any nametags on your gift. Only those who bring a gift to exchange are eligible to participate. We will use the same exchange rules as last year with each gift only being permitted to be swapped once!

Dish to share: As is our tradition, each member is asked to bring their own place setting and a favorite holiday dish to pass. A stove is available if food must be held at a warm temperature.

If you have questions on the Holiday Party, please send an e-mail to Cindy at: UNYHS@aol.com or feel free to call her at (518) 541-3598

Winter Doldrums Meeting/Party - February 19th Cornell Cooperative Extension of Albany County Office in Voorheesville Lunch at 12:00PM, Speaker at 1:00PM

Our Chairperson this year will be Stephanie KronauOur Total budget for the doldrums party will remain at $500.00

Guest speaker that has been lined up is Kathy Purdy- She has offered several topics to us but as of this moment her topic has not been finalized at this time. Look for details in our next email update. She has requested an honorarium fee of $300 plus mileage (at the current state reimbursable amount). If the weather is predicted to be bad, Kathryn stated she could have her stay overnight with her the night before just in case!

Everyone will be asked to bring their favorite dish to share and all Horticultural door prize donations will be appreciated. UNYHS will be coordinating everything this year.

From: Dave Jennings, Communications

Chairman

Shades of GREEN I am always looking for contributors to our newsletter. Anyone wishing to write an article or send pictures is encouraged to do so. Please keep in mind if you see an article somewhere that you think our members will enjoy reading, then send it to me and I will ask the author if we can publish it in our newsletter. I hope you enjoy the informative article on Growing Hostas in Pots in this newsletter. Special thanks to the Delaware Valley Hosta Society for granting me permission to reprint it here for your enjoyment!

Please send your Articles and Suggestions to: UNYHS@aol.com

Committee Reports

From Dawn Haas Plant Acquistion

Chair

Plant Acquisition Report

Here is the list so far of what we have ordered and paid for from Naylor Creek: Beach Boy, Christmas Pageant, Dancing Queen, Earth Angel, Fire and Ice, Frosted Dimples, Fruit Punch, Funny Mouse, Heat Wave, Imperial Palace, Key West, Luna Moth, Maya Infatuation, Milkmaid, One Last Dance, Picasso, Raucous Ruffles, Regal Supreme and Spartacus

This is the list so far of what we have ordered and paid for from Green Mountain: Limetini, Dragon Tails, Heart and Soul, Hugs Urajiro, Montana aureomarginata and Sum Ringer, these All of the plants listed here are ordered and paid for so go to www.HostaLibrary.org this Winter to start making your wish list of those you absolutely can’t live without! We also have plants on hold from Viktoria and Green Hill so this is just a partial list! Look for more in our next newsletter!

From Bill Ryan and Jon Sternfeld

Website Co-Chairs

Website Report

"Have you visited the society's website, http://unyhs.org? Is there anything you think could be improved? Is there any content you would like added?

Please email unyhsweb@gmail.com and let us know!"

From Jim Wimet Membership Chair

Membership Report (as of November 22, 2016)

We currently have 67 paid members. As you know, membership runs from January 1 thru December 31 each year. I will soon be sending reminders to only those members that will owe dues for next year as in Calendar Year (CY)2017.

If you know of anyone that would like to join our UNYHS, please have them complete a membership form found on our website.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Please Bring your Beautiful Photo's!Since members had so much fun at our first two photo contests, we thought we would repeat it again at this year's Holiday Gathering. So please sort through all those beautiful photos you took this summer and fall! Photos must be 5" X 7" size with no frames or mats. We still feel that the cheapest place to obtain the enlargements is at Wal-Mart, Target, Rite Aid or CVS but if you know of a better source…please let us know! When you arrive at the meeting, each member who will be entering photos will select their own mat color and mount their photos. A black or white mat will be supplied. Please place your name on the back side of each photo. Each member may submit up to two (2) photos per category.

The categories for this photo contest are as follows: #1 Best Plant Oddity #2 Best Water feature in a Garden Setting #3 Best photo of one individual Hosta leaf

With permission, Dave Jennings would like to again scan your photo's so that they can be used in one of our future newsletters. (A simple permission Form will be distributed at the meeting). He will return originals once they are scanned for future use in our Shades of Green Newsletter.

So please consider entering those beautiful photos and of course ribbons will be once again awarded! Please contact Cindy (UNYHS@aol.com) if you have any questions.

While we are on the subject of Photos...the following are a few pics Betsy Thompson sent us from our Fall Picnic at the Wimet’s. Thanks for sharing Betsy! If you didn’t attend, you missed a GREAT time…

Summary Report on Possible Dues Elimination prepared by James WimetThe idea of Eliminating Dues for UNYHS membership has become a topic of interest. Over the last several months, the UNYHS membership was asked to provide their comments; whether to keep dues or eliminate them.Out of 66 members, only seven (7) members responded. Of those:

5 members stated that dues should be retained 1 member stated that they should be eliminated 1 member stated that the Capital Hudson Iris Society does not charge dues

Commenters Reasons for Keeping Dues $10.00 a year is not much to pay. Benefits far outweigh the cost. Where can you go once a month for 8

to 12 months and enjoy a beverage and snacks; meet like-minded people; discuss gardening techniques; listen to guest speakers; receive an electronic newsletter; get plants at reduced prices; occasionally, visit member gardens; go to a picnic; or take a bus trip. All for less than $1.00 a month.

Provide funds. With 66 members, UNYHS roughly collects $660 annually. Every organization incurs expenses, e.g. printing, postage, guest speakers, hospitality, etc. Dues are one means of offsetting some of those expenses.

Provide a sense of ownership. When someone pays dues, it can result in the feeling that they “own” a share of the organization. As such their interest is heightened to where they care: what the mission and goals are; what direction the organization is taking and how the organization is perceived by others. Those paying members are more likely to serve as officers and on committees and actively promote the growth of the organization.

Provide benefits only available to paid members. Each member (with dues kept current) has the ability to: purchase select Hosta(s) at reduced prices; participate in bus trips at discounted prices, participate in drawings for gift certificates at annual Holiday Party; and participate in door prize drawings at various meetings.

Commenters Reasons for Eliminating Dues Paying $10.00 a year over several years can be costly, i.e. $200 over twenty years. However, I don’t

recall anyone ever complaining that $10.00 a year is too expensive. Reduces burden on Membership chair and Treasurer. They would no longer have to: remind members to

pay dues, collect dues and maintain records. To date, neither individual has complained that it is too much work. In fact they both volunteered knowing the tasks involved.

Financial Impact of Eliminating Dues At 66 members, $660 less revenue collected. UNYHS would need to rely on its annual Faddegon’s

Hosta sale for enough revenue to offset costs. Refunding dues collected in advance. This amounts to $440 for those members paid in advance for CY

2017, 2018 and for 2019 and beyond.

Action Needed to be Taken at The December 10, 2016 meeting In order to eliminate dues a member must make a motion to amend the UNYHS Bylaws. Specifically,

Article III - Membership, Sections A and B. Another member must second the motion. The floor is then open for comments. After which members will be asked to vote.

If a majority of members present vote yes to amend the bylaws to eliminate dues, the president would have to designate someone to draft the necessary amendment(s). The membership would later have to approve the new bylaw language for it to become effective.

Note: Absent a motion to amend the bylaws, the subject of eliminating dues would then be closed.2019 HOSTA OF THE YEAR NOMINATIONS It is time for members of the American Hosta Growers Association to narrow down the nominations for the 2019 Hosta of the Year (Affectionately known as HOTY). Members must vote for their 3 Favorites on the list below of those nominated by December 15th and then there will be one more round of voting once the list is narrowed down to just 3 Choices. Which 3 would you vote for?Here are the five criteria they must use to guide their nominations.

The hosta should grow well in all parts of the country. The hosta should have a retail price in the year for which it is selected of approximately $15-20. The hosta should be distinct and recognizable. The hosta should be widely available in the year for which it is selected. All hostas except previous winners are eligible to be selected.

The hosta should be widely available in the year for which it is selected. That can be a tough one since two of the major wholesale suppliers went out of business recently. If you aren’t familiar with any of these I suggest you go to www.hostalibrary.org to check them out!American Hosta Growers Association 2019 Hosta of the Year

Vote For 3

HOTY 2019Nominations

2016 Hosta Finder

Average Price

U.S. Patent

Appletini $13.25Autumn Frost $16.15 PP#23224

Battle Star $14.63Blueberry Waffles $22.07

Cathedral Windows $17.38 PP#17295Clear Fork River Valley $16.46Count Your Blessings $10.00

Cranberry Wine $20.20Dancing Queen $14.73Deep Blue Sea $15.11Designer Genes $15.46Dream Weaver $14.12

El Nino $16.70 PP#14632Empress Wu $16.84 PP#20774

Fat Cat $15.00Final Summation $18.42 PPAF

Gentle Giant $20.33Guardian Angel $15.66

Hush Puppie $13.94Irish Luck $16.96

Island Breeze $16.52 PP#27151Key West $16.27

Lakeside Paisley Print $19.32Millennium $15.83

Neptune $14.88 PP#19674Niagara Falls $13.68

Rainbow’s End $16.00 PP#17251Risky Business $15.05Summer Breeze $12.89

Wheee! $17.00 PP#23565Wishing Well $16.64

Growing hostas in pots: minis to maxisReprinted by permission from the

DELAWARE VALLEYHOSTA SOCIETY WEB SITE Why not grow hostas in pots? Here are some advantages:

You can grow hostas where soil is poor, or even absent (on a patio, deck, or driveway). You can rearrange hostas with the season, without digging. Hostas in containers constitute numerous divisions in a Hosta Show. Many younger hostas, and miniature hostas, will appreciate growing in ideal conditions without root

competition.

On the other hand, hostas in pots need some extra care, especially during winter. Even with the best care, you will lose a hosta from time to time, but by following some basics you can keep losses to a minimum. Here are some basics for growing hostas in pots. For a longer discussion, see what the folks at Bridgewood Gardens have to say. First, if you are choosing a decorator pot (not just growing in nursery pots), make sure it is frost-proof. Even the best ceramic pots may break eventually, but you don't want to make it a given. If you are going to move it for winter (see below), make sure the full pot won’t be too heavy for you. You can always fit a good-quality plastic nursery pot into a ceramic pot and move them separately, if you need to. Don't plant hostas in pots that are too big, but there should be room for roots. Roughly, it should be at least half as deep as the hosta mound will be tall. And make sure that the pot has good drainage. Drill extra holes if you need to.A common way to grow mini hostas is in hypertufa troughs. This is a porous concrete mixture, usually lightened with peat moss. If properly cared for, these can last for years. 

Note that in any case, you will want to make sure that your container, once in place, can drain easily. Don't set them right on the ground, as the drain holes will quickly plug. You can find attractive pot feet, or set them on inexpensive paving stones. Second, use a well-draining potting mix. There is a lot that can be said about this. Many growers will use a mix that contains a lot of pine bark fines (a fine-grind mulch, really). You may even find a “nursery mix" at the garden center. Note that this material breaks down fairly quickly, so you'll have to repot more frequently. Another recommendation is to use commercial potting soil mixed with poultry grit, about 3:1 by volume. You may have to go to a farm/feed store to find some; the grade of grit really doesn't matter. However, this is heavier than the potting soil you're used to, so it does make the pots heavier. Other DVHS people like to use the Organic Mechanics potting mix, which is based on grain hulls, and so is both light and quick-draining. 

Once you have selected your hosta(s), pot and potting mix, put some kind of open mesh across the bottom drain holes, to limit how much potting mix leaks out. (You can use the plastic mesh bags you might get in buying onions or the plastic mesh that comes under cooked pizza you have delivered.) Partially fill the container and place your hostas as you would typically plant in a pot, being sure to untangle the roots and spread them out in the pot. If you're creating a miniature garden (sometimes called a trough garden), use your creativity. You can also include some companion plants, choosing ones that will have the same winter needs as the hostas. The downside to a quick-draining soil mix is that you must not neglect the watering! Water the plants in well after planting, then water frequently during the growing season, every day or two during hot periods. Frankly, opinions are quite mixed on using moisture-retaining additives in potting soil. If you have used such products and like the results, then give it a try. Fertilize lightly, even if you don't routinely fertilize your in-ground hostas, but stop by mid-August to let the plants head for their winter nap.Come winter, you will have some work to do. The hostas will go dormant, perhaps sooner than those planted in your garden. Don’t worry; you'll probably find they come up a little earlier in spring. Once the plants are dormant, they need almost NO water. It is very important that the containers not get water-logged during winter, when freezing temperatures are likely. Remember that hostas require a cold dormancy period, generally about 30 days of temperatures below 40 °F. This means that your basement is likely far too warm. Ideally, move your containers to an unheated shed or garage. Less ideally, move them to a protected location outside, and cover them with a good blanket of leaves or even a white plastic sheet. If your plants are in nursery pots, some gardeners will lay them on their

sides before covering with leaves. Remember: cold is not the enemy, water is. And, it must be said, so are critters: voles just love to find your hosta pots and stay fat and happy all winter eating through them. If your plants are inside a shed, it's easier to protect from rodents. Do note, though, that such winter storage means all your companion plants must also go dormant, able to survive several months in the dark.During winter, if there is an extended warm spell where temperatures will be above 50 °F for a few days, you can water the pots, making sure they'll be pretty dry before freezing temperatures return. If you have snow piles around and know the temps are climbing, put a handful of snow on the pot. Not enough to cover, just enough to seep in as it melts. Keep an eye out for invasion by voles, using poison bait if you must. When temperatures warm in spring, you can resume gentle watering until the plants break ground. Protect the emerging plants, if you can, from spring freezes, since your container hostas will likely be up before those in your garden. Watch for signs of crown rot, which is more likely to be a problem with your larger plants than with your minis. Be a little stingy with water at first, until the plants are leafing out. Enjoy your hosta containers!