WILLAMETTE CHAPTERWILLAMETTE CHAPTERWILLAMETTE CHAPTER AMERICAN RHODODENDROAMERICAN RHODODENDROAMERICAN RHODODENDRON SOCIETYN SOCIETYN SOCIETY

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

Speaker: Ali Sarlak

My Trip to Germany ALL VISITORS WELCOME

NEXT CHAPTER MEETING , SEPTEMBER 12, 2018 7:00 pm in the Carrier room (State Street entrance) of the

First Methodist Church on the corner of Church and State Streets, Salem

Hello September

NEWSLETTER Willamette Chapter American Rhododendron Society

Volume 14 Issue 119 September 12, 2018

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

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September 12, 2018 Ali Sarlak My Trip to Germany

October 10, 2018 n/a

November 14, 2018 n/a

December 12, 2018 n/a

January 9, 2019 n/a

February 13, 2019 n/a

March 13, 2019 n/a

April 10, 2019 n/a

May 8, 2019 n/a

the tallest of the West Coast native rhododendrons. It has large, jade-green leaves and twenty or more flowers are held in each dome-shaped truss. These blooms can vary in color on different specimens from various shades of pink to white. I first learned that macrophyllum grew on the Sun-shine Coast from reading an article by Dr. Ben Hall, a geneticist, in the Winter 2006 issue of the ARS Journal. What an exciting revelation that was a grove of wild rhododendrons within an hour's drive of my home! The article referred to Dr. Hall's DNA studies on macrophyllum flower and leaf bud sam-ples, showing the Mount Elphinstone population to be a distinct genetic variation of the species. Along with small populations in Washington State and Manning Park, these rare rhododendrons, referred to as the Clade 1 type, prefer to live near saltwater. After reading Dr. Hall's article, I was curious to find out how the Mount Elphinstone rhododendrons had been discovered. I learned from Joe and Joanne Ronsley of the Vancouver Chapter that four years ago they had been contacted by a Sunshine Coast environmentalist concerning a stand of pink-flowering rhododendrons on the mountain near her home. She wanted to know if these rhododendrons were wild ones, worthy of protection, or merely es-

THE WILD RHODODENDRONS OF

MOUNT ELPHINSTONE Ron Knight

Pender Harbour, British Columbia Canada

Rhododendron enthusiasts who enjoy hiking in Ore-gon and Washington have probably encountered the beautiful Pacific rhododendron, Rhododendron macrophyllum. Although this plant is reasonably common on the West Coast of the United States, it is rare farther north in Canada. In fact, in south-western British Columbia, there are only four known wild populations. Two of these are found on Van-couver Island and another is in Manning Park on the mainland. The most northerly, and smallest, stand of R. macrophyllum, just recently discovered, is found on Mount Elphinstone on British Columbia's Sunshine Coast. Rhododendron macrophyllum was named in 1792 by Archibald Menzies who was the doctor and botanist aboard Captain Vancouver's ship when he visited the Pacific Northwest. Menzies called the plant macrophyllum (large leafed) be-cause at the time of its discovery there were no known rhododendrons with bigger leaves. Of course we now know that many Asian rhododendrons ex-ceed macrophyllum in leaf size; however, the Pacific rhododendron at least has the distinction of being

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caped garden plants. The Ronsleys invited Steve Hootman, curator of the Rhododendron Species Bo-tanical Garden, to join a mini-expedition to Mount Elphinstone with their environmentalist friend serv-ing as the guide. Once there, they ascertained that the plants were all wild R. macrophyllum and ar-ranged for tissue samples to be sent to Dr. Hall. All through the winter of 2006, I tried to persuade the same environmentalist to have a member of her group take me to the Mount Elphinstone rhododen-dron grove when the plants were in bloom. How-ever, after 4 months, 12 emails, 2 meetings, and several phone calls, I realized it wasn't going to hap-pen. The environmentalists were now only willing to guide "outsiders" who were committed to joining their group and helping them further their anti-logging agenda. Since political protest wasn't high on my list of preferred retirement activities, I de-cided to look elsewhere for a guide and in late May 2006 found a local landscaper who agreed to take me to see the rhododendrons. On a sunny Sunday in the last week of May, we drove several miles from the main Sunshine Coast highway, along rugged logging roads, until we reached a tiny island of forest totally surrounded by clear-cut. As we walked into the dimly lit grove, I felt as if I had entered an outdoor cathedral. Under my feet was a thick carpet of yellow moss. Far above my head, shafts of sunlight broke through the second growth Douglas fir canopy, spotlighting salal, Oregon grape, and ferns on the forest floor.

And then all of a sudden, the rhododendrons ap-peared in front of me (Fig. 1). They were gigantic - some over 15 feet (5 m) tall, and all in full bloom! Many had side branches that extended an equal dis-tance outwards (Fig. 2). There seemed to be about a dozen individual specimens although it was hard to tell because many had layered new plants from low-growing branches.

Figure 1. R. macrophyllum at Mount Elphinstone. Photo by Ron Knight

Figure 2. R. macrophyllum at Mount Elphinstone. Photo by Ron Knight

All of the rhododendrons appeared to be in good health and sported vigorous new growth. Their leaves were glossy green with little insect damage and no indication of fungal disease. Flowering was profuse, with huge light pink blooms appearing on every plant (Fig. 3). In addition, there were some 4-inch (10 cm) tall seedlings growing out of two well-rotted logs that were near the southwest edge of the grove. I spent the next hour taking dozens of photographs.

Figure 3. R. macrophyllum flower at Mount Elphinstone. Photo by Ron Knight

After that visit, I contacted Brian Smart, Planning

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Forester for the District of Sechelt's Community For-est. He told me that he knew about the Mount El-phinstone rhododendrons and had taken aerial pho-tographs of the grove (Fig. 4). He assured me, "The Community Forest Advisory Committee is excited to have these rare and beautiful rhododendrons within the Community Forest Tenure area. We are looking forward to working with the rhododendron societies to develop a proper protection and management strategy and we are also interested in the idea of assisting with propagating these rhododendrons within the Community Forest area."

Figure 4. An aerial photo of the R. macrophyl-lum site at Mount Elphinstone.

Photo by Brian Smart

In October 2006, Dean Goard, past-president of the Victoria Rhododendron Society, joined me on Mount Elphinstone to collect seedpods and cuttings. Since then, he and the Victoria Propagators Group have been able to root some of these cuttings and over 100 plants have been grown from seed. They should be ready for transplanting in 2008. Some will be of-fered to local foresters to be placed in a remote but already-protected forest area on the Sunshine Coast, hopefully to form a satelite macrophyllum population. Much additional work needs to be done. For exam-ple, with a grant from the Community Forest Com-mittee, a path with signage has to be built around the rhododendrons. Although few Sunshine Coast residents, at present, know the location of the grove, tours are planned for local politicians and garden club members, and a marked path will prevent tram-

pling of seedlings. Rooted cuttings and seedlings need to be distributed to interested ARS chapters and to university horti-cultural centres for garden testing. The Pacific rho-dodendron has a reputation for not adapting well to garden environments, but perhaps this Clade 1 vari-ety will be different. A very contentious debate will be entered into soon by Sunshine Coast politicians: Should the Elphin-stone rhododendron grove remain relatively inacces-sible and hidden from the general public, or should it be developed and publicized as an environmental education destination? And in the back of everyone's mind will be the big-ger question: How did R. macrophyllum get to Mount Elphinstone in the first place, and are there other undiscovered populations on the Sunshine Coast?

It's time to lace up my hiking boots and find out. JARS v62n2

SPRING 2018 WILLAMETTE CHAPTER ARS FUND RAISING

Thanks to the wonderful hard work of WCARS Mem-bers who put on our April 20-21 Truss Show and Plant Sale with the Friends of Bush Gardens, we were able to net $305.70. Thanks also to Monrovia Nursery, Anne Gross and others who donated plants. And, thanks to the generous bidding of our WCARS Members at our May 9 Plant Auction at the Stone-brinks, we netted $556.95. Thanks to all who do-nated plants to our Auction and to our encouraging Auctioneers. With a grand total of $862.65 new resources, we look forward to being able to fund our activities for the 2018-2019 season including our programs, liabil-ity insurance, Carrier Room rental, membership in the Rhododendron Species Foundation, and inciden-tal expenses. Thanks again to you all.

Wally Reed - President

Here we are again heading into the fall season. Hope you had a good summer now a good fall.

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LEGAL TENDER 17 Feb, 2017 Posted by Glen Jamieson

In September 2012, the Royal Canadian Mint released the $20 Rhododendron Blossoms Pure Silver Proof as the third coin in the Crystal Dewdrops Series and Wildflower Series and the eighth release in the Swarovski Crystal Flora Program. The image is that of the Pacific rhododen-dron (Rhododendron macrophyllum) from the North American Pacific Coast, which is enjoyed in gardens across much of North America. The Water Lily Pure Silver Proof (2010) was the first in the Crystal Dewdrops Series and the third release in the Swarovski Crystal Flora Pro-gram, while the Wild Rose Blossoms Pure Silver Proof was the second in the Crystal Dewdrops Series and the fifth release in the Swarovski Crystal Flora Program.

The coin's special features are an artistic rendering of two pink-coloured Pacific rhododendron flowers and a bud, three crystals nestled among the rhodo-dendron's petals and leaves, a Finish Proof, a limited mintage (10,000), and a composition of fine silver (99.99% pure). The coin comes enclosed in a maroon flock-lined clam-shell case, is protected by a black sleeve and has a serialized certificate to document its quality. The coin weighs 31.39 g (1.11 oz US) and has a di-ameter of 38 mm (1.5 in).

Oh! Dear - Oh! Deer 19 September 2014 Posted by Norma

Like many American Rhododendron Society mem-bers, I share my garden with various "critters", in-cluding deer. Fortunately, the local deer don't like most rhododendrons, although they do like azaleas and evergreen azaleas, in particular, are akin to deer candy. I'm not able to fence the front yard

(local by-lines and all that), so I've basically surren-dered my front garden to the deer. As time has gone on, I've gradually switched many companion plants to things the deer don't seem to like. So, in-stead of Hostas, I now plant Brunnera a lovely foli-age plant with small blue flowers; the only tulips in the front are now in a pot on the porch, but I can plant snowdrops and daffodils. So, far, the deer have left the Crocus alone, so each fall, I add more of these. As well, for fall bulb colour, I find the deer haven't yet eaten Nerine or Schizostylus, but since these tend to be a bit pricey here, I've only planted a few of each so far, and I'm watching to see whether or not Bambi and his pals will eat them. Time will tell if these will work for me. Ferns seem to be generally deer resistant as do hellebores of all types. Hellebores make great companion plants for rhododendrons, having the added bonus of starting to bloom around mid-January in our area, with many new varieties having attractive foliage. The deer don't like anything with highly aromatic foliage, so in the sunniest areas, I've planted lots of laven-der and I could put in some rosemary too. These may not be what generally come to mind as good companion plants for rhododendrons, but they seem to get along fairly well in my garden.

I've seen a couple of techniques that other local gar-deners use to encourage the deer to move along. Two of my neighbours use motion activated sprin-

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klers that are placed near their most precious hydran-

geas (deer just love hydrangeas!). These seem to work well here, and I'm told that just the noise of the sprinklers starting is enough to get them to move. Other neighbours enclose small trees and shrubs with flexible plastic fencing material as a temporary barrier. And, some of the locals use vari-ous deer repellants (Bombax is very popular here). They spray their plants regularly in the spring to train the deer to keep moving by their property in search of something less stinky. Sporadic spraying is needed as a gentle reminder that the plants smell bad. A great idea I saw recently was to put down wooden pallets on pathways leading from an unprotected garden area to the protected area. In this case, the plants in the back garden were much loved by the deer, but they could only access the area by going along a narrow pathway beside the house. The pal-lets act like a cattle guard and the deer just don't want to walk across the wooden slats. The gardener in question did say that the wooden pallets get very slippery when wet, but he can just up-end them while he is working, then pop them back on the ground as deer deterrents. Of course, the best de-terrent of all is a good fence. Local recommenda-tions say fences should be at least 8 ft high. How-ever, most of us are able to keep the deer out with a standard 6 ft fence as long as shrubs are planted in beds beside the fence line. The theory is that deer need to be able to see an open space where they can land safely upon completing their jump. This certainly seems to work in our area: those of us with dense shrub plantings in a wide bed near our fences haven't had any problems with back yard gardens, but the neighbours with lots of lawns see the deer regularly. It seems deer will eat anything if they get hungry enough, the trick is to make your garden less invit-ing than your neighbours. So, since deer don't like rhododendrons, you might as well plant lots! As if any ARS member needed an excuse to plant more rhodies!

Tame Deer? This picture was taken two years ago outside of our hobby room window. A spike and forked horned boys that seemed to think our property belonged to them. When they started eating our tomato plants we invited them to move on and they did because they didn't like the netting we put over the toma-toes. Only seen them a couple of times in the next year. Dick Lundin - Editor

September speaker is Ali Saralak I am pleased to announce that at our first meeting Wed Sept 12 Ali will be giving us a program on the ARS meeting held in Bremen, Germany this spring. I have gotten to know Ali for over 30 years, having seen and spoken to him at numerous rhododendron conferences over that span....Virtually every meeting that I have gone to. Since the Corvallis ARS chapter dissolved we have been blessed with his presence at our chapter. Originally a native of Iran (Persia), Ali emigrated here in the 70's to be near his sister at OSU. Ali is a professional landscape artist....a man of many talents including SCUBA diving. I have yet to visit his garden but my friends who have advise me that I a great garden experience to look forward to. Keith White, Program Chairman

Mango Tango

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Entertainment Keith is asking for your assistance in finding out what the membership would like for the information and speakers for this season’s entertainment at our meetings. Below are some thoughts of his. Let Keith know which you would like plus any thoughts of your own. Bishop's Close Garden, PDX Crystal Spring Garden, PDX Elements of Success and Failure in the garden Portland Japanese and Chinese Gardens Watering systems, pro's and cons Companion plants, shade and sun and partial. Garden Evolution and maintenance: Why is this plant now doing poorly? When is it time to prune this good doer (I hate to cut on my baby)? How to move a big plant. When to give up and cut your losses. Creating shade. What kills plants in winter/summer. Planting media and maintenance. Expedition programs......Keith, Steve H, Bob Zimmermann, Red pig tools........Handmade tools and tool mainte-nance. How I solved the problem of killing alpines....Alpine yard troughs...Keith Hybrids and hybridizers.......Frank Fujioka, et al, Harold Greer, et al. For whom was this rhody named My garden mistakes and what I learned from it...group participation Britt Smith, the Occidentale story...I have it on tape and DVD Warren Berg...any of the 4 hours I have of his pro-grams Wilbur Bloom...Trees 2 or Oregon Wildflowers. The Genus Rhododendron Family tree and examples Best Species for our gardens...A to Z The Cox Family of Scotland. Their expeditions and contributions The Lintault home and garden. Ali Saralak...My Favorite Garden Projects

Contact Keith at 503-363-2815 or rhodoc@msn.com

PREMEETING DINNER September 12, 2018 pre-chapter Meeting dinner will be at the Ram Pub again beginning about 5:00 PM. The Ram Pub and Brewery is located at 515 12th St. SE, Salem, OR 97301, 503-363-1904, at the inter-section of 12th St. SE and Bellevue St. SE in Salem, OR. The menu is at: http://www.theram.com/menu-location/or-salem/. It is fully handicap accessible. Parking is behind the building off Bellevue St which is One Way East and off 12th St, which is One Way South, next to the Pringle Creek.

— DUES ARE DUE — WILLAMETTE CHAPTER ARS MEMBERSHIP AND

ASSOCIATE MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL NOTICE

It is time to RENEW YOUR MEMBERSHIP in Ameri-can Rhododendron Society and the Willamette Chap-ter ARS for the Fiscal Year, 2018-2019. With your name on our renewal Chapter Roster you will con-tinue to receive your four copies of the ARS Journal and your regular copies of our WCARS Newsletter. This will for sure get you a spot at the Chapter’s De-cember Potluck and May Chapter Potluck and Plant Sale.

Buttered Popcorn

Midnight Mystique

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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 on the third Wednesday of each

Month 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.

OREGON TRAIL IRIS SOCIETY Center 50+

2615 Portland Rd. NE Third Tuesday of the month 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm

TUALATIN VALLEY CHAPTER First Tuesday of the month at 7 pm Washington County

Fire District 2 31370 NW Commercial Street

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/

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 Greeter Susan Doellinger…...503-838-4884 Past President: Chuck Dehn.......…...503-362-9217 Web Site

R. morii Flower/Truss Description: Widely campanulate,

white to white flushed rose, spotted and blotched crimson. Truss holds 5-15 flowers.

Fragrant: No Bloom Time: Early Midseason to Midseason

Foliage Description:Leaves oblong-lanceolate, up to 6” long, lower surface with

indumentum midrib Plant Habit:Erect or spreading shrub or

small tree Height: 4 feet in 10 years

Cold Hardiness Temp: -5°F (-21°C) Elepidote (E) or lepidote (L): E

Sub Genus: Hymenanthes Section: Ponticum

Sub Section: Maculifera Geographical Origin: Taiwan