Heather News Quarterly Volume 34 Number 4 Issue #136 Fall 2011 North American Heather Society Your guess is as good as mine Donald Mackay........................1 Editing the heather garden Ella May T. Wulff............................6 In memoriam: Judith Wiksten Ella May T. Wulff....................18 My other favorite heathers Irene Henson...............................19 Erica carnea ‘Golden Starlet’ Pat Hoffman...............................24 Misleading advertising department...........................................27 Calendar........................................................................................28 Index 2011.....................................................................................28 North American Heather Society Membership Chair Ella May Wulff, Knolls Drive 2299 Wooded Philomath, OR 97370-5908 RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED issn 1041-6838 Heather News Quarterly, all rights reserved, is published quarterly by the North American Heather Society, a tax exempt organization. The purpose of The Society The Information Page is the: (1) advancement and study of the botanical genera Calluna, Cassiope, Daboecia, Erica, and Phyllodoce, commonly called heather, and related genera; (2) HOW TO GET THE Latest heather INFORMation dissemination of information on heather; and (3) promotion of fellowship among BROWSE NAHS website – www.northamericanheathersociety.org those interested in heather. READ Heather News Quarterly by NAHS CHS NEWS by CHS Heather Clippings by HERE NAHS Board of Directors (2010-2011) Heather Drift by VIHS Heather News by MCHS Heather Notes by NEHS Heather & Yon by OHS PRESIDENT ATTEND Society and Chapter meetings (See The Calendar on page 28) Karla Lortz, 502 E Haskell Hill Rd., Shelton, WA 98584-8429, USA 360-427-5318, [email protected] HOW TO GET PUBLISHED IN HEATHER NEWS QUARTERLY FIRST VICE-PRESIDENT CONTACT Stefani McRae-Dickey, Editor of Heather News Quarterly Don Jewett, 2655 Virginia Ct., Fortuna, CA 95540, USA [email protected] 541-929-7988. 754 Wyatt Lane, 707-725-1394, [email protected] SECOND VICE-PRESIDENT Philomath,OR 97370-9022 OK for ideas and last-minute news. Pat Hoffman, PO Box 305, Swedesboro, NJ 08085-0305, USA DEADLINES 21st March, June, September, and December 856-467-4711, [email protected] HOW TO pay MEMBERSHIP DUES SECRETARY Susan Ewalt, 2850 Sykes Creek Road, Rogue River, OR 97537, USA MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS include an electronic subscription to the Quarterly, participation 541-582-3338, [email protected] in Society meetings and elections; borrowing privileges for book library and slide TREASURER programs; discounts from Storefront, some nurseries. John Calhoun, 31100 Country Rd, Fort Bragg, CA 95437, USA DUES NAHS: $15/year, $28/2 years, $40/3 years with electronic newsletter. 707-964-0804, [email protected] To receive mailed copies of the newsletter add: PAST PRESIDENT $11/year in US, $15/year in Canada, $22/year outside of US and Canada Mario Abreu, P.O. Box 673, Albion, CA 95410-0673, USA Chapter dues can be paid when paying NAHS dues, by adding: 707-937-3155, Fax 707-964-3114, [email protected] CHS $5/year; HERE(1 person), MCHS, OHS, VIHS $10/year; HERE(family), DIRECTORS NEHS $15/year Mario Abreu, P.O. Box 673, Albion, CA 95410-0673, USA REMIT TO John Calhoun, NAHS Treasurer 707-937-3155, Fax 707-964-3114, [email protected] 31100 Country Rd, Fort Bragg, CA 95437 Mendocino Coast Heather Society (MCHS) (707) 964-0804, Ramona Bloomingdale, P.O. Box 1136, Gold Beach, OR 97444-1136, USA 541-247-6017, [email protected] DETAILS Ella May T. Wulff, Membership Chair Oregon Heather Society (OHS) [email protected], 541-929-6272, NAHS website Don Jewett, 2655 Virginia Ct., Fortuna, CA 95540, USA 2299 Wooded Knolls Dr., Philomath, OR 97370-5908, USA 707-725-1394, [email protected] Heather Enthusiasts of the Redwood Empire (HERE) HOW TO BUY FROM THE STOREFRONT Karla Lortz, Shelton, 502 E Haskell Hill Rd., Shelton, WA 98584-8429, USA BROWSE NAHS Website, www.northamericanheathersociety.org 360-427-5318, [email protected] CONTACT Ella May T. Wulff, Storefront Manager, (Address: see above.) Cascade Heather Society (CHS) Joyce Prothero, 281 Cudmore Hts, Saltspring Island, BC V8K 2J7, Canada HOW TO BORROW BOOKS FROM THE NAHS Library Phone/Fax 250-537-9215, [email protected] CONTACT Sharon Hardy, 50 Del Point Drive, Klamath, CA 95548-9331, USA. Vancouver Island Heather Society (VIHS) [email protected], 707-482-6755, NAHS website Mary Matwey, 7 Heights Court, Binghamton, NY 13905, USA HOW TO BORROW SLIDE PROGraMS 607-723-1418, [email protected] Northeast Heather Society (NEHS) CONTACT Janice Leinwebber (Slide Librarian for members in USA) 8268 S. Gribble Road, Canby, OR 97013, USA Board Appointments (For details, see inside back cover) [email protected], 503-263-2428, or NAHS website Sharon Hardy - Book Librarian Elaine Scott (Slide Librarian for members in Canada) Janice Leinwebber - Slide Librarian for United States 2836 Oceanside Lane, Mill Bay, BC V0R 2P2, CAN. Stefani McRae-Dickey - Editor, Heather News Quarterly [email protected], 250-743-0965, NAHS website Elaine Scott - Slide Librarian for Canada Ella May T. Wulff - Membership Chair, Storefront Manager HOW TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE NAHS WEBSITE COVER: Design, Joyce Descloux BROWSE NAHS Website, www.northamericanheathersociety.org IMAGE: Erica carnea ‘Pink Spangles’ CONTACT Karla Lortz, See inside front cover. HNQ # 136 Fall 2011 Your guess is as good as mine Calendar Donald Mackay 135 Deerfield Lane, Pleasantville, NY 10570-1401 August, 7-11, 2012 [email protected] NAHS Conference, Shelton WA The title is the easiest evasive answer to why a few of Mary Matwey’s gray-foliaged callunas developed non-brittle brown foliage on Index 2011 by Author stems on one side of the plants. Actually, it is not, since I have Canovan, Richard The future of Cherrybank Gardens 134:23 spent interminable time trying to find an answer. However, there Ewalt, Susan A special man 133: 9 may not be an answer: meaning that your unrefined guess is as Gardner , Ben Tall Heathers 135:24 likely to be right as my most carefully constructed one. One is Henson, Irene My other favorite heathers 136:19 not so much right in picking the winning lottery number as just Hoffman, Pat Erica carnea ‘Golden Starlet’ 136:24 Kay, Susie Mingling 135: 4 plain lucky. Lortz , Karla Reflections on David Small 133: 2 Mackay, Donald David Small: reflections on a giant 133:10 This philosophical self-flagellation is the result of trying to Mackay, Donald The Plants of Acadia National Park 135:21 determine why heather leaves should suddenly lose their green Mackay, Donald Second thoughts on pruning 133: 6 color, leaving a brown stem with a little green tuft of foliage on Mackay, Donald Your guess is as good as mine 136: 1 Matwey, Mary Calluna vulgaris ‘Amethyst’ 134:11 top. There is obviously the potential for loss of all leaves, leaving Nelson, E. Charles No News? 135: 2 bare stems and, in the background, the more ominous potential Plumridge, David David Small – A Personal Appreciation 133: 4 for eventual loss of all stems and death of the plant. However, Plumridge, David Some thoughts on mingling 135: 6 induviae (persistent withered leaves) are usual on some plants, Taylor, Bryan David Small as educator 133: 6 e.g., beech and elm. Taylor, Bryan Pruning Erica × darleyensis 134: 2 Wiksten, Judy David Small, no Pooh-Bah 133: 7 Wilson , David Arctic wind: A cold killer 134:13 It is tempting to think that the cause lies in a plant disease caused Wilson , David Long-distance collaboration with David Small by a microbial infection, more likely a fungal than a bacterial 133: 3 one: perhaps three-quarters of plant diseases are fungally caused. Wulff, Ella May T. Editing the heather garden 136: 6 But a plant – even our nearly impregnable heathers – can suffer Wulff, Ella May T. In memoriam: Jos Flecken 135:19 from other causes. Among them are stresses caused by unsuitable Wulff, Ella May T. In memoriam: Judith Wiksten 136:18 Wulff, Ella May T. The irreplaceable David Small 133:12 soil, unsuitable location, unsuitable weather, and unsuitable Wulff, Ella May T. Mingling – or mugging? 135: 9 expectations on the part of the gardener. But while soil and location can set the stage, it is often the vagaries of weather that can bring the sudden change of condition that we see and attribute Annals of the World Wide Web 135:23 to disease; though the disease, even if there, may or may not be Annual Financial Report 135:27 Misleading advertising department 136:27 causal, just incidental. NAHS Board minutes 133:24 There are hundreds of microbial agents in your garden waiting for the opportunity to infect your plants. As with humans, the 28 HNQ # 136 Fall 2011 1 healthier your plant is, the less likely it will be to succumb to Misleading advertising department attack. If, however, it is stressed by unsuitable location (too much dampness, too little air circulation) or poor nutrition, or insect How many mistakes were you able to find in the big box store damage, or mechanical damage (due to ice or snow or wind- advertisement reproduced on p. 26 of the summer 2011 Heather blown sand or even rough handling, any of which can provide the News Quarterly? entry point for disease), the plant will suffer. On top of all these possibilities is the obvious one that the plant shed its leaves for We found the following: its own good reasons, perhaps to conserve moisture, or to balance root and leaf resources, or just to get rid of leaves that have lost “Mediterranean Heather” – this is the incorrect and extremely their functionality due to disease, drought or cold weather. The misleading common name sometimes given to Erica x darleyensis, last two are unlikely candidates for causing leaf drop in early but the plants pictured are Calluna. We count this as two errors. fall after a very hot and rather wet summer, so it is reasonable to suspect some disease vector is present.