LIDS Newsletter
Spring, 2020
Marc Whinston, Editor
longislanddaylily.weebly.com
A Letter from Luanne
Dear Joan and LIDS members,
Thank you again for hosting the 2019 Region 4 Meeting. I applaud all of the effort from the LIDS members to make the “Event” come together. Mostly I am proud that the Regional Meeting was such a success. I heard glowing remarks about everything especially, the gardens, the boutique, the hotel and food, and the auction.
I would like to give “shout outs” to the following people for their more than generous time and support:
• The tour garden hosts: Joan Lundin, Pat Sayers, Chris Petersen, Pam Milliken. At the 2013 Regional Meeting we heard “We want tour gardens.” We gave them TOUR GARDENS!
• Joan Turano for stepping in as Registrar. It was nerve racking until we hit our quota. She also researched bus arrangements and organized the Saturday luncheon at Planting Fields.
• Pat Klowsowicz for organizing and arranging the basket raffles. It was a really big hit for the attendees.
• Joan Lundin for hosting a garden tour and organizing all of the auction plants. Her attention to detail made sure all the plants were correctly labeled and free of dirt.
• Frank and Laura Chaloupecky for ensuring we had a PHYTO inspection and organizing/instructing Garden Judges Workshop II.
• The Turkiew Family! David and Elliot for running the auction, Sarah for providing entertainment, and Rachel for making it all happen.
• Paul Limmer for providing bus plants and the garden to host the Garden Judges Workshop.
• All the many LIDS members that helped behind the scenes at the gardens, registration, luncheon, and anywhere that was needed.
• Lastly, my Co-Chair Chris Petersen. After the decision was made to host the Regional Meeting, we looked at each other and said: “We have done this before. We know what to do so let’s do it!!” We practically read each other’s mind and finished thoughts and sentences for each other. So a heartfelt thanks to Chris.
So my fellow LIDS members we put on a show to be proud of! With much thanks and gratitude,
Luanne Madden, Region 4 President
Care for Poinsettias
By Frank Chaloupecky
Many people have asked me, “Frank, what do I do with my poinsettia, the leaves are falling off?” Leaves drop for several reasons, mostly because during heating season the humidity is too low in our home. I’m not a humidifier salesman, but I highly recommend you get a good humidifier to raise the humidity to about 35 to 40%. This is not only good for your plants, but good for you, your family and pets. Your skin is probably dry, so you use hand cream, and your pets may have dry skin too. Have you noticed you get a static electricity shock when you pet your cat? Well, your cat is getting a shock too! this is the classic sign of low humidity. A humidifier may add one to two gallons of water every day to the air.
Another reason for leaf drop is the plant is a little taller and the bottom leaves are shaded by the top leaves to the point of not being fully functional anymore. Most people reach for fertilizer to cure a plant’s "problems" when in fact due to short daylength fertilizer is not required at all. Between the months of October and March daylight is shorter than the 12 hours a day the plant needs to grow. This is known as photoperiodism.
Plant growers shade poinsettias, chrysanthemums, and other plants by covering them in complete darkness for up to 14 hours per day for 6 to 8 weeks to induce flowering. You may re-induce the red coloration in poinsettias by covering them for a minimum 12 hours per day for 5 days of total darkness by covering them with a brown paper bag. The red coloration in plants is the pigment anthocyanin. The amount of anthocyanin and plant pH also are responsible for blue, purple and black coloration of flowers, plant parts and fruits, such as purple beans or cauliflower and carrots. We are all familiar with the fact that green leaves have chlorophyll to make energy from sunlight, but when the temperature drops below 70 degrees and days get shorter than 12 hours, anthocyanin becomes one of the most dominant leaf pigments. Think fall leaf coloration. Anthocyanin is also an anti-viral, anti-oxidant, and anti-inflammatory.
Poinsettia sap has latex in it, so be careful if you have a latex allergy, but it is not poisonous. Poinsettias are in the Euphorbia family, with the common name spurge. There are many perennial spurges that grow in own area, but poinsettias are only perennial in frost free areas. Poinsettias are named in honor of Joel Roberts Poinsett, a physician, who was the first U.S. minister to Mexico about 1825 to 1829 and brought plants home from Mexico.
Deer Resistant Plants
by Jeff Chorba
Large Deciduous Trees
• Acer rubrum: red maple Shade, street tree Red to yellow fall color, silver bark • Fagus grandifolia: American beech Stately specimen tree with golden yellow fall color, silver bark
• Pyrus calleryana `Bradford': Bradford pear Tough ornamental tree with white flowers and purple fruit
• Quercus alba: white oak Large specimen tree Brandy red fall color Exfoliating bark
• Quercus palustris: pin oak Pyramidal specimen tree Bronze fall color
• Quercus coccinea: scarlet oak Rounded, upright tree with red fall color
• Salix elegantissima: weeping willow Graceful weeping tree Tolerant of wet areas
Small Deciduous Trees & Large Shrubs
• Amelanchier canadensis: shadblow serviceberry Delicate understory tree with white flowers and red fruit
• Betula papyrifera: white birch Specimen tree with white bark and yellow fall color
• Crataegus phaenopyrum: Washington hawthorn Small ornamental tree with white flowers and orange fruit Evergreen Trees
• Juniperis virginiana: Eastern red cedar Columnar, upright tree. Good for screenings, borders
• Picea abies: Norway spruce Graceful tree with pendulous branches Good for screening
• Picea glauca: white spruce Upright, pyramidal tree with light green needles
• Picea omorika: Serbian spruce Narrow, pyramidal tree with dark green needles
• Picea orientalis: Oriental spruce Slow growing, stately tree with dark green needles
• Picea pungens: Colorado spruce Upright, pyramidal tree with blue to green needles. Good specimen
• Pinus cembra: Swiss stone pine Handsome, slow growing tree. Good for accenting and backgrounds
• Pseudotsuga menziesii: Douglas Fir Excellent tree for use as specimen or for groupings
Evergreen Shrubs:
• Berberis julianae: Wintergreen barberry Low growing shrub with yellow flowers and purple fruit.
• Ilex crenata: Japanese holly Compact growing shrub with fine texture and rounded habit.
• Ilex glabra: Inkberry Good plant for massing and naturalizing. Forms dark green background
• Juniperis procumbens nana: Japanese garden juniper Great for edging, rock gardens, and ground cover
• Leucothoe axillaris: drooping leucothoe Shade loving, massing shrub. Good for woodland settings
• Picea abies v`Nidiformis': birds nest spruce Compact, slow growing shrub with consistent habit Acer rubrum -- red maple Spring,
• Picea glauca conica: Alberta spruce Dwarf, slow growing shrub with pronounced conical form.
• Picea pungens `R. H. Montgomery': Dwarf, strikingly blue shrub with compact habit
• Pieris floribunda: mountain Andromeda Low, rounded shrub with white flowers and attractive fruits
• Pieris japonica: Japanese Andromeda Works good as a back drop for other shrubs White flowers and shiny green leaves
• Pinus mugo: mugo pine Compact, dense growing shrub. Superb rock garden plant.
Deciduous Shrubs
• Berberis thunbergii atropurpurea: Japanese barberry Compact growing shrub with reddish foliage and thorny twigs
• Comptonia peregrina: sweet fern Great plant for waste areas. Can take poor conditions
• Cotoneaster apiculate: cranberry cotoneaster All cotoneasters in general are fairly deer resistant and can
• Cotoneaster horizontalis: rockspray cotoneaster form a dense groundcover or can be used in a rock garden
• Cotoneaster dammeri: bearberry cotoneaster
• Euonymus alatus compactus: burning bush Compact growing shrub with brilliant red to orange fall color
• Lindera benzoin: spice bush Naturalizing plant with yellow flowers and yellow fall color
• Myrica pensylvanica: bayberry Small shrub for massing in poor areas.
• Potentilla fruticose: bush cinquefoil Low growing plant with yellow to orange flowers Very durable plant
• Spiraea x bumaldaÿ `Anthony Waterer': Anthony Waterer Spirea Low, rounded shrub with persistent purple flowers
• Spiraea x vanhouttei: Vanhoutte spirea Large massing shrub with white flowers and deep red fall color
Ground Covers, Vines
• Arctostaphylos uva-ursi: bearberry Low, groundcover with white flowers and red fruit
• Tagetes: marigold (Annual) Annual bedding plant with yellow, orange or mahogany flowers
Perennials
• Iris sibirica: siberian iris Grasslike perennial with purple to pink flowers
• Stachys byzantine: lambs ear Low growing perennial with silver foliage
Ornamental grasses
• Festuca ovina var. glauca: blue fescue Low growing ornamental grass with blue color.
• Phalaris arundinacea var. picta: ribbon grass Variegated ornamental grass that spreads with rhizomes.
• Calamagrostis x acutiflora `Karl Foerster': Feather Reed grass Upright growing with plumes of flowers in August.
• Miscanthus sinensis: miscanthus There are many cultivars of Miscanthus. All have their own traits.
• Pennisetum alopecuroides: fountain grass Fine textured grass with narrow blades. Very reliable plant.
Other Items
As we are all painfully aware, there have been some major disruptions to our lives because of the Coronavirus pandemic. I can’t stress enough, please take care of yourselves and stay safe and healthy. But now we should all have some extra time for writing articles for the next newsletter. How did you become interested in daylilies? What are your favorite daylilies and why? What did you do with your garden during our societal shutdown? Are you registering any cultivars this year? Oh, and send pictures from your garden. It would be great to be able to feature pictures from members’ gardens! Thanks!
Marc Whinston, Editor