Aug 2012 Vol 55, Issue 11 Meeting Place First Baptist Church 17765 Daves Avenue Los Gatos, CA 95030 Next Meeting Sort Night Aug. 3, 2012 Doors open 6:00 P.M. Sort Night Meeting August brings us our annual sort night. We do this in preparation for two rhizome sales. One is at Yamagami s Nursery on Saturday, August 4 th and the other is at Almaden Valley Nursery on Saturday, August 11 th. Sort night will be Friday evening at 6:00 P.M. at our regular meeting place on Daves Avenue in Los Gatos. Please bring any extra rhizomes that you can spare from your garden. We do need the rhizomes, trimmed, cleaned and marked. Please write on the middle leaf on the inside of the rhizome. (A chart and diagram may be found on page 5 of this newsletter.) Please bring a sharpie, a soft rag to wipe the leaf for writing and a pair of scissors in case we need to clean up any rhizomes. We, also have a pot luck dinner that evening. Bring a dish to share for about eight people. Drinks, plates and utensils will be provided. Next Dig at Guadalupe Gardens Wednesday, August 1st, we will be digging up the larger iris clumps at the club's Guadalupe Garden plot for sale at the Rhizome Sales on August 4th and 11th. We will be starting at 9 am and hope to be done by 12 noon. There are about eight iris we need to dig, divide, label and replant. Anyone with AIS Books, please bring them to help with identification and markers will be on hand for labeling. Water will be provided. So grab your garden gloves and lawn chair and join us for a good time! Club Membership Dues Sep 1, 2011 Aug 31, 2012 Adults - $12.00 Jane Reiter Foothill Journey Mark your calendars now for the Fall Regional! This is always a fun event and a great time to reconnect with members from the other clubs in Region 14. This year the regional is being held in Roseville October 27 th and 28 th. Paul Black will be the guest speaker and be the one to give judges training. You won t want to miss him! For more information see the July newsletter.
Page 2 of 9 CBRIS-Aug 2012 Picnic Were you there or did you miss it? The annual picnic, of course! As always there was good food, good company and good iris rhizomes! What more could you ask for? Elaine and Jim Laflin were gracious enough to let the Clara B. Rees Iris Society hold the annual picnic at their home in Saratoga again. Such a nice gathering place it is! There is an iris garden in the back and big shade trees for us to sit under. As usual, Chad Schroter was the auctioneer. He can get the bidders going at times. In addition to auctioning off the newer rhizomes a raffle was held to choose from some of the older irises. We also received a bag that contained all of the rhizomes that we have won this past year. A few substitutions were made as was necessary if one of the rhizomes did not put on good increase or if the gophers got it! The barbecue was fantastic as we had our usual master chef, Carl Boro, hard at work. I do not know how he does this year after year for the club. It is a process of three or four days by the time he shops, marinates the meat, delivers the barrels, cooks the meat, and returns for the barrels. The club does appreciate Carl s hard work and his fine cuisine. Members shared some of their favorite dishes and this year the picnic fell upon Henry Rojas birthday. Another reason to celebrate! All went well door prize iris to their new homes, a successful auction and raffle, good food and a birthday! Can t wait until next year! Thank you to Philippa Alvis for being the picnic chair and to all the members that helped make the picnic a success. A fine job was done by all!
CBRIS-Aug 2012 Page 3 of 9
Page 4 of 9 CBRIS-Aug 2012 Health Update Club member, John Sahpazais, has recently had open heart surgery. He is doing well. Cards may be sent to him at home. 1513 Cherry Ave San Jose, CA 95125 408-292-5866 Dues Dues for renewing members are payable on or before the September general meeting. Dues are $12.00 for adults. Members you may pay at sort night, the September meeting or mail a check payable to CBRIS to Carol Dahout, 738 Oakgrove Drive, San Jose, CA 95129. Thank you! Carol Dahout, CBRIS Treasurer Iris Pots Culture Divide, divide and divide. Yes, it is that time of year. If your irises are overcrowded they will not bloom well in the Spring. The club can use your extra rhizomes for the two sales that we hold in August. August is a good time to dig and divide bearded Iris. Withhold water for two weeks before digging to force them into dormancy. Water a day before digging if ground is very hard. Separate Iris into single fans if they have five leaves. Smaller rhizomes should be left attached to the mother rhizome. Replant as soon as possible; avoid planting new divisions during a heat wave. If extremely hot weather comes then some shade is beneficial a shingle stuck in the ground next to the rhizome works. Water two to three times weekly until three new leaves have grown, then once a week until winter rains take over. Chad Schroter Potting of iris party will be Sunday, Aug. 19th. 9:30 to whenever we finish at Carol Dahout's. - 738 Oakgrove Drive, San Jose, CA 95129;408-981-6209. Treasurer s Report Beginning Balance, July 1, 2012 $11,618.29 Income Auction 262.00 Dues 96.00 Meat Sales 200.12 Raffle Tickets 80.00 Total Current Income $ 638.12 Expenses Picnic Meat ($267.19) Picnic Ice (5.98) Iris Checklist Book (25.00) Total Expenses -298.17 Ending Balance July 31, 2012 $11,958.24
CBRIS-Aug 2012 Page 5 of 9 Standard Iris Rhizome Marking Codes Apricot Black Blue Brown Buff Cream Green Lavender Maroon Orange Orchid Peach Pink Plum Purple Red Rose Rust Tan White Wine Yellow AP BK BL BN BF CR GR LV MR OG OD PC PK PL PR RD RS RT TN WT WN YL Style Rebloomer RE Blooms more than once in a growing season Bicolor BIC Standards are a different color than the falls Bitone BIT Two tones of the same color Plicata PLIC Stitched or stippled margin color on white or yellow Space Age SA Beard appendages called spoons, horns or flounces http://www.winterberryirises.com/iris_descriptions
Page 6 of 9 CBRIS-Aug 2012 Dahlias Anyone? Are you one of the members that is going to Colleen and Jim Goff s dahlia farm on Saturday, August 18,, 2012? There are more than three acres of dahlias, perennials, bushes, daylilies and hydrangeas. The garden will be open for CBRIS and WBIS members from 10:30 A.M. until 2:30 P.M. Please bring a bag lunch. Colleen s number is 831-763-2480. Her and Jim s address is 14581 Tumbleweed Lane, Elkhorn Slough, CA 95076. Directions to their farm may be found at www.thegardensong.com. August Birthdays Colton Danner Aug 8 Carolyn Craft Aug 18 Scott Thompson Aug 29 Elizabeth Alameda Aug 31 Happy Birthday! Thank you Many thanks to experts, Mikey Lango, Elaine Fischer, and Mary Lou Wyman for helping me today with my first iris dig. I had a bed that had never been dug for five years! With expert help, we were able to finish the entire bed by lunch time! Elaine stayed for the afternoon cutting and labeling with me. It is now quite clear to me how to label and divide rhizomes and prepare for the rhizome sale. Thank you Mikey, Elaine, and Mary Lou for sharing your love of irises and gardening. It was a splendid day in the camaraderie of these three lovely ladies. Karen Azzi Garden Stakes Jane Reiter has helped club members sign up for Grow Your Rewards program. The Rewards Code for the club is IRIS-CBRIS and it is active and ready for immediate use when placing orders online at www.kincaidgardens.com. This is a good place to order quality plant markers at a reasonable price. Kincaid Gardens 11000 County Road 366 Savannah, MO 64485-2312 816-324-4931
CBRIS-Aug 2012 Page 7 of 9 Guadalupe Gardens Just how many weeds are there? Before Yes, this is one weed! Checking to see how you re doing You want me to fill that bag? After Wow, this is birthday fun! Guadalupe Gardens Wednesday July 18th was the day for the Guadalupe Garden Clean-up. Six CBRIS members gathered to pull weeds, clean up walkways and plant new iris in our plot. I'm happy to report that we got it done. My thanks to Mary Collins, Carol Dahout, Philippa and Jack Alvis, Todd Thompson and Mikey Lango and her merry bunch of munchkins - Cameron, Madison and Luke. We will be having another work party on August 1st, from 9:00 A.M.to 12 noon. This time we will be digging up the bigger clumps to divide and mark for the rhizome sales on August 4th and 11th. Please check your schedules. We would love to have you join us in the garden. Jane Reiter _
Page 7 of 9 CBRIS-Aug 2012 Get your rhizomes dug, Get them in a bag, Get them to the chairman, please and don't forget the tag. Bring your shears and lunch, Don't forget a pen, Grab a bunch of unmarked plants and Eagerly begin Rhizome sales, rhizome sales, marking parties, too, If you want to help your club, I'll tell you what to do Oh... Rhizome sales, rhizome sales, marking parties, too, If you want to help your club, This is what you do: Volunteer your time, for setting up the sale. Notify your friends, By phone or post or email. Be a sale host, and share the joy within, Show the public what fun it is to be an Irisarian! Oh... Rhizome sales, rhizome sales, marking parties, too, If you want to help your club, This is what you do... Oh... Rhizome sales, rhizome sales, marking parties, too, If you want to help your club, You know what to do! Lyrics courtesy of Jeanne Clay Plank 2000-2012 - Leonine Iris - All Rights Reserved Reprinted with Jeanne Plank s permission