Epi News San Diego Epiphyllum Society, Inc. February, 2010 Volume 35, Number 2 January, 2010 SDES Epi News Page 2 President‟s Corner: blooms. With the warm winter we have had so far our plants seem to be budding. This could The epies are loving all the rains this mean we will have an early bloom season or month. Hopefully the winds that are perhaps a longer bloom season. We can only accompanying the rain will not do to hope. much damage. I see my shade cloth has been Keep up the good work in this SDES' torn loose in a couple of places. Many of us have fortieth year. been trying to conserve water (the government edict) so it is nice for mother nature to send us some free stuff. At our January meeting members brought in quite a variety of Sandra February Program: George French Hybrids Featured: In honor of George French‘s birthday, February‘s meeting will feature a presentation of his hybrids. The photos will be from George‘s personal slide collection. lovely, ranging from delicate smalls and extra Last month‟s Program: smalls to magnificent extra large flowers. Many of the shots included epi foliage as well as Epis from Germany flowers, some of which showed distinctly that We were given a glimpse of hybrid epiphyllums many of the hybrids were the products of spe- from German hybridizer, Helmut Paetzold. cies crosses, with characteristics of plants like This was in the form of a slide show which in- Selenicereus anthonyanus and Disocactus mac- cluded beautiful background music as well as ranthus. wonderful photography. The flowers were Now is the Time Continue to watch weather reports for ing the winter rain. Switch those that freezing conditions. Do not prune frost- are dry with those that have soggy pot- damaged foliage until all threat of freeze ting mix. has passed. Protect against strong sun. Don‘t allow Watch for snails and slugs. plants to be exposed to intense sunlight. Promote good bloom in mature epis Even the winter sun can damage epis. with a low-nitrogen fertilizer (0-10-10). Unseasonable warm temperatures, extra Reapply regularly if you use a liquid. water, and/or shade may be needed. Epis To promote new growth on newly- love to be misted when the air is dry. potted or immature epis, use a higher Protect budding plants from bud drop by nitrogen fertilizer (5-10-10) not moving the plants. Plan your Mother‟s Day display. Check plants to see that all are receiv- January, 2010 SDES Epi News Page 3 Wild Animal Park —–Jerry Moreau We had some tremendous work Please note: the San Diego Zoological Society parties in January. Many people is now requiring all regular horticultural volun- showed up including a new volunteer at the WAP. teers at the WAP also become volunteers of the Welcome Jean Bonner. She shared with me that SD Zoological Society. What this means is that she had lots of fun and now is unsure why she did you must attend a volunteer orientation at either not come sooner. We continued to repot plants, the WAP or Zoo. do the winter feeding, and weeding. The plans for The next orientations for Horticulture the redesign of the species area are under way and Volunteers to attend are February 10, 13, 17 and we hope to have drawings of the new design in 20 - all sessions from 11:30am until 12:30pm at February. the WAP. Volunteers who are already affiliated with the gardens may RSVP to attend one of these The next work parties will be February 13 & 27. sessions by e-mailing Carrie Hrvatin at [email protected] Mother‟s Day, 2010: Epies in Fantasyland SDES begins planning for the May 7 Exhibit Categories show and sale: There are several areas in which you can enter: Our annual Mother‘s day Show is a Display Table(s) featuring this year‘s theme in much-anticipated event every year. The show one of two categories: is only three months away; it‘s time to start Division 1 – mini display, half table or one planning. table display Putting on a large show every year is a Division 2 – two or more tables or floor dis- lot of work and a lot of fun, we couldn‘t do it play without all of you—generous and dedicated Educational Table-(minimum of two needed SDES members who pitch in to help wherever for judging). you are needed. New members are also wel- Flower Arrangements come to join in – you don‘t have to be an epi Epiphytic plants which are displayed on the expert to be part of the success of our show. stage. There is plenty of work for everyone to do in If you are not signing up for a display table, addition to entering the event. you can enter a few flowers on the Society‟s The theme is ―Epies in Fantasyland‖. Table. Reservations for display tables are being made You can also enter flowers in the Small now. Call Show Coordinator, Jerry Moreau, at Flower category, the New Hybrid category 619-208-7654 to reserve your space. There (new flowers registered within the last five will be sign-up sheets at upcoming meetings to years), the George French Hybrid table, and reserve your space for a display, various volun- everyone is asked to pick one flower to be dis- teer positions, and the potluck luncheon. played on the People‟s Choice Award table. (Continued on page 7) January, 2010 SDES Epi News Page 4 From our Librarian: Outside of A Dog Outside of a dog, a man's best friend is a Luckily the internet makes things easier for book. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read. -- Groucho Marx the person looking for out-of-print books. Sometimes private sellers will list used As I write this column it's raining outside, and my copies for sale on Amazon, so it is worth checking reluctance to go out in the wind and rain has out. I have had good luck buying used books inspired this month's subject, ―Where to find through sites such as Abebooks and Alibris. In copies of books on Epiphyllums‖. addition, there are booksellers that specialize in cactus books such as Chuck Everson, Bookseller Suppose you were struck by a desire to look up (all one phrase) and Rainbow Gardens Bookshop. something in Scott Haselton's Epiphyllum Handbook. This urge will probably not strike on If you are looking for privately published books, the second Wednesday of the month, so you can't check with the specialist booksellers. You can get the book from the SDES library, and maybe often find these booksellers selling books at you'd rather not wait until then, anyway. You southern California cactus shows, such as the could try the public library, but this book seems to shows put on by the San Diego Cactus and be pretty rare in the library catalogs I checked – Succulent Society. This is nice, because you can San Diego Public Library does have a copy, but it examine the book before buying it. is in storage, and the four other public libraries I checked did not have copies. So, what about A final suggestion for places to look is on eBay, libraries that specialize in botanic subjects, such as where you can occasionally find old catalogs and the Huntington? Well, the Huntington has a copy, magazines for sale. Happy book shopping! but in order to view it you would have to travel to Los Angeles and turn in a request form, as it, too, Contact information: is in storage and not readily available. Chuck Everson, Bookseller can be reached at: For this and other reasons, sometimes it is better to [email protected] have your own copy of a book. You can read it Amazon is located at: www.amazon.com when you want and not have to worry about Abebooks is located at: www.abebooks.com remembering to bring it along to the next SDES Alibris Books and Music is at: general meeting. Since many of the books in the www.alibris.com SDES library are privately published or published Rainbow Gardens Bookshop is at: so long ago they are out-of-print, finding copies to www.rainbowgardensbookshop.com buy is challenging. By Linda Sinkovic, Librarian Fundraising for the WAP “Memorial Bench” continues with the “White Elephant” Sale at each general meeting. Interesting items that you might not need just might be someone else‘s treasure. Bring them to the General Meeting. Call Mildred with any questions you might have. 760-690-1124 or e-mail [email protected] January, 2010 SDES Epi News Page 5 Epiphyllum Species– Part II By Mrs. Cactus Pete (Courtesy of Madeline & George French) (Edited by Ron Crain, 11/2009) The Oxypetalum group starts to bloom a little later For Part I, See Epi but healthy specimen plants usually produce new News-January, 2010, buds before the older ones have completely pgs 5-6 bloomed out, so that there is an almost constant series of buds or flowers. This is especially true of The second division we call the Oxypetalum group E. pumilum, which we consider the best of its class. since this is the well-known Dutchman‘s Pipe, or The plant is rather small and compact. Even though Queen of the Night, which has such world wide the flowers seem to be smallest of the true species, distribution…the plant most often referred to as a the plant produces an abundant sequence of buds Night Blooming Cereus in the eastern U.S.