Epi News San Diego Society, Inc.

November 2014 Volume 39

November, 2014 SDES Epi News Page 2 President’s Corner: We are finally getting some seasonal all of you who have prints or can make prints of weather around here after one of the your wonderful epiphyllum photos to bring them hottest summers in memory (in my to the meeting for judging. It’s fun and the more memory, anyway). I don’t know people we get involved, the more fun it will be! about you, but I am welcoming Fall to no end. Also at the November meeting, our membership The cooler half of the year has arrived and that will be voting on the new slate of SDES officers makes for much more pleasant work parties at the for the year 2015 as published in this issue on Safari Park. If the heat has been keeping you page 3. away, now is your chance to participate in this fun SDES activity. Coming up in December will be, of course, our annual Installation Banquet where we will enjoy We are still moving forward with our change a great meal, relax, have a good time and install over to an e-mail version of our newsletter, the the SDES officers for 2015. Mildred Mikas has Epi News. And we are still looking at cutting gone all out once again to organize a fantastic over after the first of the coming year. We are dinner and festivities. Please contact Mildred to planning to do some test e-mailing of the let her know you would like to attend. November and December editions as well. Happy epi growing! At this month’s General Meeting, we will hold our annual Photo Contest. I encourage any and Ron

Pre-Meeting Workshop: --Velma Crain At last month’s pre-meeting work shop, we November’s workshop topic was still being discussed how to care for epies during the fall and discussed as we went to press… winter months. Please join us in Room 104 at 7:00 pm on Wednesday, November 12th to see what Ron Crain will talk about!!!!!

October Meeting Program: In October we enjoyed Don Crain’s photo- phyllum Society. Many thanks to Don for graphs of Epiphyllums, Roses and Orchids. creating and presenting this program for us! These included photos taken at the Flower Thanks also to Ron Crain for assisting with Shows of our sister societies, the Epiphyllum the presentation. Society of America and the South Bay Epi-

November Meeting Program: For our November program we have Master and habitat needed to encourage birds Gardener Marcia Van Loy with a discussion and butterflies and how they benefit us. Please on how to encourage birds and butterflies in join us in Room 101 on Wednesday, November our gardens. She will inform us on the types of 12th at 7:30 pm!! November, 2014 SDES Epi News Page 3

Election at this month’s meeting: Slate of Officers for 2015

President: Janice Wakefield Directors: 1st VP (Programs): Victoria Chapman Nominated for a 2-year term: 2nd VP (Mother’s Day Oliver LaPuebla Show Coordinator): Laura Johnson Mildred Mikas Recording Secretary: Cindy Decker To serve the 2nd year of their 2-year term: Corresponding Secretary: Beth Jackson Jerry Moreau Membership Secretary: Humberto Contreras Bill Greene Treasurer: Tim Paule Marie Dempewolf

Annual Photo Contest this month! Don’t forget to bring your favorite Epi Photo(s) to the November meeting! Criteria will be the same as in years past:  Any size photo can be entered  Photos should be matted (not framed), but don’t let that preclude you from entering your best shot. Bring it anyway!  Please write your name on the back (with the name, if known, of the epi hybrid in the photo)  There will be a “People’s Choice” winner as well as the judges’ choices.  Winning photos will be featured on the covers of Epi News

Calendar of Events Holiday Marketplace is our next Sales Event --Cindy Decker Nov 10 Holiday Marketplace Nov 12 General Meeting Our next sales event will be the Nov 15 Safari Park Work Party HOLIDAY MARKETPLACE on Nov 10, 2014. Nov 29 Safari Park Work Party This event is sponsored by The San Diego Horticul- tural Society and is being held at the Surfside Race Nov TBA Board Meeting Place at the Del Mar Fairgrounds from 6-9:00pm. Dec 10 Holiday Installation This would be an interesting event for all to attend and Banquet shop for the upcoming holidays. There will be lots of interesting booths with Garden craft related items and plants. We did this last year and enjoyed the experi- ence and added some to our bank account. November, 2014 SDES Epi News Page 4

Safari Park Epi Display House --Jerry Moreau

We had some productive work parties this past Mildred Mikas, Jerry Moreau, Tim Paule, Fred month. There were only a couple of blooms but Savage, Linda Sinkovic, and Janice Wakefield. the E. oxypetalum was getting ready to bloom Thank you all! Your help is invaluable. again. We continue to repot, weed, fertilize, keeping the plants looking good and continued to The next work parties will be alphabetize the workhouse. At this time there is November 15th & 29th. no further news about the new display. Plans are still moving along. If you are interested in joining the fun and learn- ing a lot about epis in the process, come and I would like to welcome a new volunteer, Linda volunteer at the Park. Information on how to sign Sinkovic. It’s great to have some new and enthu- up can be found on the website siastic help. She will be focusing on the epiphytic www.SanDiegoEpi.org - Click on the Safari Park in the collection. Linda will be a great tab or contact Jerry at [email protected] . addition to the team. Helping out this month were Sandra Chapin, Ron & Velma Crain, Gina Contreras, Marie Dempewolf, Michele Finchum, Bill Greene, Bob Holzinger, Beth Jackson, Laurie Lasslo, Jerry & Betsy Markle, Gerry &

Now is the Time

 Watch weather reports winds. Plants in hanging debris out. Don’t let pots for freezing tempera- pots are subject to broken on benches sit in puddles tures. In areas that freeze, branches as they bump into of water. plants can be protected for other pots or are knocked  Continue to keep an eye a short period with to the ground. out for snails and slugs. newspaper, but plastic  Withhold fertilizers as  Keep plants and sheeting will provide more plants become semi- containers free of debris. durable protection. dormant.  Monitor plants for root  If epis are subjected to  Avoid over-watering. fungus diseases. hail, rinse the ice off Epis require less watering Discoloration of branches immediately. Prolonged during the cool, rainy just above the soil level contact with ice can season. may indicate problems damage the plants more  Winter rains are good for below the soil. than the impact of the hail epis. Collect rainwater in  Check fruit for ripeness. itself. opaque containers and  Protect against strong cover containers to keep November, 2014 SDES Epi News Page 4

From our Librarian: Get Your Facts First -- Linda Sinkovic “Get your facts first, then you can anguliger plants. distort them as much as you Width of the flower

please…” -Mark Twain is between 2.7 inches

So let's talk about “Ric Rac ”. “Ric and 5.9 inches. In Rac Cactus” is one of those names used for my San Diego garden, it different varieties of plants, much like “Queen of grows in the shadier parts of the Night”. 1 This name comes from the deeply the shade house and usually lobed branches, the lobes varying from angular to blooms in November. In the rounded – often on the same . Because the wild E. anguliger is found in some southwestern Mexican lobes can vary, it's a tricky proposition to identify a 4 particular plant unless it's flowering. states.

There are three species commonly referred to as “Ric Rac Cactus”: Epiphyllum anguliger, anthonyanus and Weberocereus imitans. To make things more interesting, there are hybrids with E. anguliger 2 or S. anthonyanus 3 parentage, also with deeply lobed branches. But today we'll just talk about the species and look at E. anguliger branch some pictures. E anguliger with small Sadly I don't have pictures of all the flowers. flower Instead I’ve included some photos of these various species (and one hybrid) which show the branch shape. I've rotated all the photos to the same orientation and blurred the background so you can see the branch shape. As you can see, it's not too easy to determine the species just by looking at the branches. Selenicereus anthonyanus

Epiphyllum 5 anguliger also occurs in . The flowers have purple back has fragrant petals and yellow-white inner white flowers petals. Flower width is 4 to with back 5.9 inches. The flower shape petals ranging is similar to other Selenicer- from yellow to eus species. It is also fragrant gold to tan. although to me it smelled of Flower size can lemon pepper. This plant gets be variable a bit more sun than most of between (Continued on page 6) different E. November, 2014 SDES Epi News Page 6

Features of Species and the Like..(Continued from page 5)

Countdown to the the other epiphytic Annual cactus and when it does deign to bloom for me, Installation Banquet it blooms in July.

Wednesday, My Weberocereus December 10 imitans hasn't flowered yet as it is a new acquisition for me. I've 6:30 p.m. got a couple of rooted cuttings in different locations to see what The Butcher Shop sort of conditions it Steakhouse prefers. According to the literature, the flower 5255 Kearny Villa Road - San is small (about 2 inches) Diego with maroon back petals (858)565-2272 Weberocereus imitans and white inner petals. (Visible from Hwy 163) This plant comes from ‘Kaguyahime’ Costa Rica. (See Note #2 below) Includes Holiday Gift Exchange Have a great November and see you next month.

Save the date. Now is not too Notes: *1 For starters, Selenicereus grandiflorus, soon to buy your tickets. , Cereus (Before November 30!) hildmannianus, greggii are all referred to as “Queen of the Night”. There Treat a friend to a delicious are non-cactus “Queen of the Night” plants dinner and incredible company! too but you'll have to look those up on your own time. For more details: *2 For example, Mitsuhashi's 'Kaguyahime'; Rudolf Heßing's 'Jalisco' SanDiegoEpi.org series; other hybridizers that have October EpiNews registered crosses with E. anguliger parentage include Helmut Paetzold, Wolfgang Wilborn, Wressy Cocke, Fred Boutin, Kurt Petersen, Joyce Carr. *3 Hybridizers who have registered crosses with S. anthonyanus parentage include Helmut Paetzold, Kurt Petersen, Dr. Werner Stauch. *4 Nayarit, Jalisco, Michoacan, Guerrero, Oaxaca. *5 Chiapas, Oaxaca, Tabasco, Veracruz. **Honorary Life Members References: once again invited as SDES Bauer, R., “Epiphyllum anguliger (Lemaire) Don ex Loudon, eine botanisch Guests interessante Art aus dem westlichen Mexiko”, EPIG, 63:5-15, 2009 Epiphyllum Society of America, Registry of Hybrids and Species, 6th edition, 2014 Just call or e-mail Mildred with Hunt, D., et al, The New Cactus Lexicon, 2006, ISBN 0 9538134 4 4 your entrée choice. ICUN Red List of Threatened Species, http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/152753/0, accessed 03 October 2014 ICUN Red List of Threatened Species, http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/152179/0, accessed 03 October 2014 November, 2014 SDES Epi News Page 7

SDES Esteemed VIP’s Here is another photo from the “Volunteer Appreciation Party” in September. Pictured (Editor’s note: I totally overlooked this photo here left to right is our hostess for the event, when editing last month’s issue. It is just too Adele Wagner, our 2015 President nominee, nice a photo to have left out completely!) Janice Wakefield, and VERY active long-time Board members Sandra Chapin, Mildred Mikas.

Off-Season Blooms

Beth Jackson: ‘Friedrich Adolf Haage’ Membership: Robert Kuettle: ‘Chanteuse’, , E. pumilum, Single Membership $15.00 per year ‘Gold Charm’, ‘Primary Ignition’ ‘ Dual Membership $20.00 per year Jerry Moreau: ‘Harald Knebel’ (Dual is for two people, same address, Safari Park: ‘Beautie Wegener’, E. hookeri one newsletter) ssp. Hookeri, E. oxypetalum, E. pumilum International Membership $25.00 per year Don Patterson: ‘Herbert S. Irwin’, ‘Jalisco Starlight’ Allen Pellymounter: ‘Eddie Huey’, ‘Pat Barrett’, ‘Something Special’ Have You Moved? Pentico: ‘Carl Weinhausen’, ‘Oakleigh If you have moved or recently changed your address, please Conquest’, ‘Orange Icing’, ‘Sidney let us know your new address so that you can continue to Hamiter’ receive your newsletter without interruption. Send it to membership – USPS or email address : (PO Box 126127, Mark Piette: ‘Wachsenburg San Diego, CA 92112-6127 or [email protected] ) Linda Sinkovic: E. hookeri ssp. hookeri

Details of How To Become A can be found on our website: SanDiegoEpi.org . Click on “Safari Park”, then click on “Epi House”, then Volunteer at the Safari Park “Volunteer”. San Diego Epiphyllum Society, Inc. NON-PROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE P.O. Box 126127 PAID San Diego, CA 92112-6127 SAN DIEGO, CA PERMIT NO. 2646

ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED

If your address label is marked with a colored pen , your member- ship renewal payment is due .

SAN DIEGO EPIPHYLLUM SOCIETY San Diego Epiphyllum Society, Inc (SDES) OFFICERS P.O. Box 126127 President: Ron Crain San Diego, CA 92112-6127 [email protected] (619) 421-4785 Epi News is published monthly by 1st Vice President: Velma Crain San Diego Epiphyllum Society, Inc. [email protected] (619) 421-4785 Editor- Jill Rowney: 2nd Vice President: Sandra Chapin (209) 966-3364 [email protected] (858) 451-1744 [email protected] Treasurer: Janice Wakefield Epi News E-mail: [email protected] [email protected] (619) 464-1086 SDES Web Site: www.SanDiegoEpi.org Recording Secretary: Cindy Decker Membership queries: [email protected] [email protected] (619) 972-9664 Corresponding Secretary: Laura Johnson General membership meetings are held [email protected] (619)-206-2155 on the second Wednesday of each month Membership Secretary: Beth Jackson at 7:30 p.m. in Room 101, [email protected] (858) 638-0956 Casa del Prado, Balboa Park Director: Marie Dempewolf: [email protected] Director: Bill Greene: [email protected] NEXT GENERAL MEETING Director: Oliver Lapuebla: [email protected] November 12, 2014 Director and Coordinator– Garden Caravan: Mildred Mikas: [email protected] (760) 690-1124 SDES Board Meetings are usually held Director and Coordinator Safari Park: on the fourth Wednesday of each month. Jerry Moreau: [email protected] (619) 208-7654 Due to the holiday season, the November Board Meet- Coordinator– Sales Events: ing will be rescheduled The date and time will be an- Cindy Decker: [email protected] (619) 698-6662 nounced at the General Meeting on November 12. Librarian: Linda Sinkovic: [email protected]