Water Garden Journal
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International Waterlily and Water Gardening Society WATER GARDEN JOURNAL AUTUMN Vol. 29, No. 3 2014 P. 2 International Waterlily and Water Gardening Society Vol. 29, No. 3 Water Garden Journal IN THIS ISSUE 03 President’s Letter President Mike Swize shares his IWGS symposium experiences. 04 Club Corner Vicki Aber describes the loss of a valuable fellow club member. 05 Home Gardening Primer 11 Fall pond care tips. 06 From the Library A new column based on the shared IWGS library resources. 08 IWGS 2014 Symposium A wrap-up of the recent IWGS 2014 Nymphaea ‘Bob Hoffman’ is a new purple-flowering tropical symposium. waterlily hybrid. It was named in his honor by his good friend 10 Grower’s Corner Tamara Kilbane of Denver Botanic Gardens. Photo by Mike Swize. The last grower column authored by David Curtright. 12 Lost Lilies Two waterlily breeders lament the loss of unsuccessful waterlilies. 14 Made in Germany Meet Vasu Manickam, an accom- plished amateur waterlily breeder. On the Cover Frog photo by Mike Swize. Your Submissions Welcome ‘Burgundy Rose’ is one of the If you would like to submit water many lost waterlilies. garden visits, book reviews, event Photo by Rich Sacher. listings, or other articles for the Vasu Manickam at his per- next edition of the Journal, please sonal greenhouse tending send them by December 15 to to waterlilies. [email protected]. International Waterlily and Water Gardening Society P. 3 Water Garden Journal Vol. 29, No. 3 President’s Letter Meeting Up with Old Friends and Making New Ones Hello, Everyone! Back in August the IWGS held its annual symposium. It was a chance for waterlily enthu- siasts, or as I like to say, “waterlily geeks,” to meet and talk with others that share their passion. This year we were very fortunate to be able revisit a spot that hosted one of the first Symposiums back in 1997, Denver Bo- tanic Gardens. That symposium back in 1997 was a very memorable one for all involved. The curator of Aquat- ics at the time, Joe Tomocik, with the help of many volunteers from the Colorado Water Gardening Society had spent all year planning and planting a fantastic display of waterlilies and aquatics to show off to the attendees. Included in this display was the very first New Waterlily Competition or Trials as they were called back then. But as everyone in the business or hobby of growing plants knows Mother Nature often has other plans. A mas- sive hailstorm hit the gardens on the very first day of the symposium dumping a foot of hail on the gardens. The aquatic displays were shredded beyond recognition. Joe Tomocik was, understandably, devastated and was worried that the symposium would be a failure. But it wasn’t, it was a complete success even without the waterlily displays. I wasn’t able to attend that symposium, but everyone that I talked to about it said they had a wonderful time. Friends, who previously only knew each other through the mail and phone calls, were finally able to meet face-to-face. This is a comment I hear so fre- quently from attendees of the ’97 IWGS. This is proof that it is not so much about what we see at a symposium, it is about the contacts and friendships that are made. It continues to be about the conversations over dinner or sitting next to someone on a bus going to the next venue. This was reinforced several times during the 2014 Denver Symposium. Within 10 minutes of meeting Iain McGregor, we were deep in a conversation about the merits of various tropical waterlilies. Over dinner I learned of John Sou’s passion for collecting hybrids by Kirk Strawn, for whom I worked for many years. I saw phones being passed around on buses and at dinner tables showing off new hybrids or old favorites. I saw friendships being made. This is what the symposiums are about. Making new friends and catching up with old ones. The Society owes a huge debt of thanks to quite a few people and groups for making the 2014 Denver Sympo- sium so successful. Denver Botanic Gardens and Hudson Gardens went out of their way to accommodate us with donated event space and free run of their gardens. The Colorado Water Gardening Society had volunteers helping at every turn. And a big thank you to Tamara Kilbane who made the 2014 IWGS Symposium a huge success. In addition to planning and hosting the Symposium this year, Tamara is also in charge of the IWGS New Waterlily Contest that is held every year. She did all of this while also having to deal with massive con- struction projects at the gardens that left her growing pools dry this spring for far longer than she had anticipat- ed. She did a fantastic job of pulling everything together and created amazing displays of waterlilies, Victorias, and marginal plants for everyone to enjoy at the gardens. Also, plans are already well on their way for next year’s symposium. Deb Spencer and Susan Davis of Waters Edge in Lawrence, Kansas, are planning a superb event scheduled. Come meet new water gardening friends and catch up with some friends you haven’t seen in far too long. Deb and Susan know how to put on a great event, so plan on attending in August of 2015. Sincerely, Michael Swize IWGS President [email protected] P. 4 International Waterlily and Water Gardening Society Vol. 29, No. 3 Water Garden Journal Club Corner The Loss of a Leader by Vicki Aber What does a club do when the President is lost. Many things can cause this from that person just stepping down to a permanent loss. Our club recently experienced this. Our President, Bob Hoffman was lost to cancer earlier this year. Bob was more than just the President to most of the members in the club. He was the person you called when you were having problems with your pond. He was the person you called when you needed more help recruiting people for a task. He was the person you called when you just needed to talk. Bob had been a member almost from the beginning. He had been officer and just member, but he was always there when a job needed doing. His wife, Fran was almost always at his side, working just as hard. We lost a worker, organizer, buddy and fun person to be around. At one point, Bob decided that a local public garden, Hudson Gardens, needed to do more with their water gar- dens. He decided to volunteer and before long was in complete control of the water features. Everyone that has visited Hudson will agree, he did an outstanding job. If you were at the recent symposium in Denver, you saw Hudson Gardens and how much he had done. If you get to the Denver area sometime, be sure to make a stop there. If that wasn’t enough, he spent many hours volunteering at Denver Botanic Gardens also. Somehow he still had time to keep his own garden ship-shape. We lost a person with great vision. Bob was always curious and experimenting with different plants and different cultural methods. He was con- stantly reading. If he didn’t know something, he researched, talked to people, and did his own experimenting until he figured it out. We lost a lot of knowledge when we lost Bob. How do you fill this void? If anyone has an answer, we need to know. I don’t think we can. We will just carry on, it is more than just what Bob would want, it is what he would expect. Bob was never a slacker, so we can’t be. About the Author Vicki Aber is the newest IWGS board member. She is also a member of the Colorado Water Garden Society (CWGS) and has served there as a board member and an officer, including the position of president. She can be contacted via email at [email protected]. International Waterlily and Water Gardening Society P. 5 Water Garden Journal Vol. 29, No. 3 Home Gardening Primer 11 Fall Pond Care Tips A nip in the air, shorter days, and the shedding of multi-colored leaves from the trees signifies a chang- ing of the seasonal guard. Gardeners across the country take precautions to protect their landscapes from the harsh reality of winter. Water features in the landscape require special consideration when putting your pond to bed for a long winter’s nap. Pond mainte- nance chores in the fall and winter vary depending on where you live, but there are some basic guidelines to help your aquatic plants and finned friends weather the chill of Mother Nature. Following is a handy check list to help ensure a healthy pond come spring time. 1 Decaying leaves and foliage produce toxic gases 8 Trim back waterlily leaves and stems to 2-3" above that can harm your fish so you want to remove this the base of the plant. This keeps dead foliage from debris before winter rolls into town. You don’t need decomposing in the pond. to remove every single last leaf, but try to remove the majority. 9 If you left hardy waterlilies in their pot, drop them into the deepest part of the pond to over-winter. Do not 2 If you put protective pond netting over your pond bring them indoors as they need a period of dormancy. before the leaves started to fall, your job is easy.