December, 2006
NEXT MEETING:  12 Dec. @6:30 @ 9th & Lincoln.  ALERT! ALERT!  This is an hour earlier than we normally meet.  Hors D’oeuvres and libations at 6:30, then we’ll feast at 7.  For our Holiday Celebration, please bring a lip smacking comestible to share and a wrapped item relating to dahlia growing (@$10?) for Present Predation.  Our 2-steal imposition will limit the mayhem, but not preclude trading after the festivities.  Many people like to dress up in sparkling, snazzy apparel for our festivities.
DUES DUE:  Please use the linked e-form or the enclosed form to join Dahlia Society of California for 2007.  Your $10 for individuals and $15 for families yields a program the second Tuesday of each month, an informative on-line newsletter or snail mail version each month, and entry into our 3 mini-show competitions and our major Floribunda Extravaganza each year.  Membership in the American Dahlia Society of California is $20 for individual and $23 for families.  An ADS membership includes the ADS Bulletin quarterly, the ADS Classification Guide, and the roster of judges.  ADS membership helps further interest and research in dahlias. Send a combined check to Diana Brogoitti.
DIVIDE AND CONQUER:  No matter how many times Lou Paradise reprises his inimitable dividing seminar, we always learn (or maybe just hear) new tips.  Lou recommended cutting down your dahlias to their last 4-5 notches.  Even though these 4-5 should act as water stops against inclemency, Lou suggested capping each stem with tinfoil—to foil both rain and dew.  What a festive air your garden could attain with mini silver shower caps dancing in the breeze.  Before wrenching your plants out, Lou suggested digging straight down with your shovel at least l’ radius around your stem.  Then use 2 shovels, 2 garden forks or a combination and pincher up your clump using opposing pressure.  (Check out DJ’s great photo essay on disinterring in the Fall ADS Bulletin.)  DO NOT LIFT THE CLUMP OUT BY THE STEM!  Instead of breaking necks by wresting the mass out by its shoots, slip your hands under the root mass and cradle the roots from the bottom up. 
                                     Wash the roots from the outside to the center to avoid extra weight on the ends which would snap fragile necks at the stalk.  Remember, even a tiny piece of tuber with an intact eye should prove viable; a great tuber with a broken neck is compost. The genetic material of the dahlia is in the eye at the crown; the tuber is just a warehouse of food.   To keep labels correctly, try processing only one clump at a time: dig, clean, divide, label, dip, and dry.  Lou uses a very sharp knife with a cutting block and/or snippers.  (I sometimes use chisels and a hammer to get exactly the cut I want.)  Chris commented that some tubers are tougher than they look.  Greg, Ron and Katherine studied at the hands of the master.  Lou coats his cut surfaces with Captan to prevent bacterial colonization.  Other people use both a 5% Clorox solution for 5 minutes immersion followed by a sulphur cum fungicide dip.
Bottles-of-ink-in-a-pencil sold briskly from our Treasurer,  Diana.  These special pencils only write on WET tubers and if your mother tuber has not rotted, you can often read the label after an entire season in the ground.  WARNING:  indelible means it will permanently stain any clothing it comes in contact as well.  For the last couple years, Lou has stored his luscious tubers in curly wood shavings from the pet store .  Other people store in vermiculite, shredded paper, or peat moss.  Thanks to Joann and Ron for the fresh lemon squares and to Diana for the basket of Ghirardelli mint chocolates. Who brought the English treats?  Mmmmmm
TIMES THEY ARE A CHANGING:  Those present unanimously elected the following officers for 2007:  President: Tinnee Lee; 1st VP, Frank Schulkin; 2nd VP Elsie Mueller; Treasurer, Diana Brogoitti; Corresponding Secretary, Joe Norton; Recording Secretary, Patricia Hunter.  The 2007-2008 Board of Directors are:  Erik Gaensler, Lou Lombardo, Jytte Rasmussen and Deborah Dietz.  Lou Cornish has agreed to finish the 2006-2007 term.  Please contact your officers or board members when you have questions or even better when you have great ideas for your Dahlia Society of California.  Frank will be scouting great speakers and program topics for 2007.  Let him know what else you’d like to learn about or whom you’d like to hear present.  Joe Norton has boldly assumed editorship of our DSC newsletter beginning in January.  Let him know what you’d like to read about.  Jytte has already begun as Web Mistress, taking over from our intrepid e-pioneer, Ted Marr, who took DSC onto the net with so many in-color photos back in 2003

AZTEC ACRE:  Jamie and Rosa invited Rose and Deborah to tour their Aztec Dahlia Farm towards the end of October.  Situated up in Sonoma on a busy road, the O’Brien’s blur of colors snags many a passing driver.  Amongst the thousand strong plants, Spring Reign, a floriferous B sc pk caught my eye.  Summer’s End (peach wl), C Electra (bb c scarlet), Vanquisher (B sc lav) and a lovely Mikado were new to me.  A humongous Tari He Yoo resembled the big purple paper flowers you find in Tijuana: great color and flat enough to wear as a hat.  Neither Black Satin (BB fd dr) nor tall Paul Smith faded in the triple digit sun.  On my MUST HAVE list from Aztec are Clearview David (lav with magenta edges); a gigantic FDNY—red of course; Salsa Picante (BB fd brilliant orange); and Skywalker (a rare M lc red). Jamie deploys a rolling sprayer but prognosticates that he will upgrade to a fertigation system next year.  He cites his row of Blackberry Ripples where blooms run the gamut from dark red to clear white and all the stages of variegation in between as one of the reasons that he rogues every year to maintain consistently superior stock.  Rosa reports that dahlias with strong stems and great substance like Mrs. Bates, Campos Hush and Sea Fuego sell well.  Always on the alert for purples, I loved Hot Tomale and Jennifer’s wedding.  Daughters Sarah and Katie frolicked with puppies down the isles.  Christian arranged great bouquets under the awning.  What a family affair!

MASTER GARDENER TOUR:  On our way home from Sonoma, Rose and Deborah stopped in Tiburon to preview Paula’s garden before it debuted on the Master Gardener’s Grand Tour.  Wow!  What a spectacular cloud of Helen’s Alvin Sr.s.  Paula’s Dark Horses contrasted beautifully with Show ‘n Tells and frilly Arena’s Sunspots.  As we leisurely wended our way down down down her meandering trails, we hunted, gathered and gobbled cherry tomatoes fat and warm from the sun, cone shaped fraise du bois tasting like strawberries to the third power, bursting black plums, succulent dark figs, burnished pears and gloriously tart apples.  What a privilege to feast our eyes and palates through Paula’s magnificent kingdom! 

VISIONS OF SUGER PLUMS:   It’s hard to believe, but several of the commercial growers have already sold out of some of their scarcest stock.  What did you see this year that you lusted after?  What did you read about that you NEED for your patch next year?  Which dahlias do you want to replace?  Go on-line or request a printed version of your favorite purveyors of hot tubers.  Check the ADS Classification list for the best in each class.  Use the latest ADS Bulletin to find the new releases for 2007.  The Big List contains all the commercial growers and their stock.  Corralitos Gardens sells primarily live cuttings. Hilltop Gardens offers many of the winners from the National Show.  Aztec Dahlias grows flowers that thrive in Sonoma. Arrowhead Dahlias in Colorado has quite an extensive list. My brother, Mike, recommends  High Dessert Dahlias in Washington as inexpensive and reliable.  Please let your fellow DSC comrades in dirt know whom you have dealt with in the past favorably (or not).

PERIPATETIC BLOOMERATI:  Down from Seattle Dick Porter arrived via BART to tour late season dahlias in San Francisco.  He marveled at Roger’s multi-tiered mountain of terraces many of which were studded with succulents.  Even late season, Roger grew by far the finest HG Chad E’s and Bodacious that I have seen in San Francisco.  Then David Shulkin escorted us through Frank’s multi-sectioned front yard, proudly introducing each plant by name.  Dick noted that dahlias seemed to have migrated into the neighbor’s yard as well.  Sustained with hearty burritos, Dick and I munched our way around the Dahlia Dell.  He recalled fondly the chilly day during the 2002 National Show when so many people first discovered our Dell.  Because poms dominate Dick’s expertise, he paid particular attention to Willo Violet, WJN, and Mi Wong.  He marveled over the blooms on the hillside, explaining that the frost had already blackend gardens in Washington.  What truly astonished him was learning that DSC processes ALL the plants in one weekend of massive DIG OUT.  Finally we climbed through the hole in the fence of my Secret Garden in Bernal Heights, still displaying fine Marinella  and wonderful Dark Horses.  Over tea, Dick shared stories of the early days of computers and tantalized me with proposed tours and activities to be offered at the 2009 National Show in Northern Washington. 

DIG OUT 2007:  Mark your calendars for Saturday January 6 and Sunday January 7 and get ready for the best filthy fun yet.  Rain or Shine we’ll begin at 9 am.  This is a great opportunity to familiarize yourselves with every aspect of dahlia processing: digging, lifting, cleaning, dividing with surgical masters, Clorox dipping, and labeling.  Boots, gloves, layers of clothes, dividing tools, marking pencils, hats, bun warmers, a change of sox or more (with wet weather a must) and noshes prepare you for almost everything.  Bring your friends who’ve admired your blooms throughout the summer as long as their handwriting is legible.  The label table needs good story tellers.

DECEMBER DELIBERATIONS:  Make one of your top New Year’s resolutions to send Diana your renewal to DSC and ADS.  When your plants turn brown, cut them down to 4 or 5 notches.  I place 5 gallon pots over the tops to act