July 2011 Newsletter

Note from the President- Summer is now here. The spring rains really gave our gardens the moisture to make beautiful foliage. Most Hosta are bigger and more beautiful than they have been in recent years partially due to those spring rains. One thing that seems a bit strange to me is that some of my Hostas were extremely late leafing out and a few that have not leafed out at all. At first I thought voles had eaten the plants during the winter, but when I dug the plants that had not sprouted I found normal root systems with crowns that have normal appearing growth tips. I still have not figured out what caused the anomaly, but one hypothesis is that the plants had started to sprout and got frozen by a late frost. I feel this is a plausible hypothesis simply because I have a number of Hosta that got frost damage after their first few leaves were unfurled. Instead of fretting over the few plants that are not doing well I will celebrate the majority that are doing fantastic this year.


Our June meeting was held at the home of Jerry and Bernadette Perrou. The Perrou’s gardens are full of mature specimen Hosta and a large assortment of companion plantings. The lawn is a meticulous carpet of green and is the perfect complement to the many gardens that are beautifully manicured. Our thanks go out to the Perrou’s for allowing us to visit their gardens. Another highlight of the June meeting was the Saginaw Valley Hosta Society’s Annual Plant Sale being opened up to EMHS Members at the SVHS Member prices. Melva Bond and I transported 95 plants to the meeting and only 35 of those plants were taken back to Saginaw. Melva also took orders for an additional seven plants that I picked up at the SVHS public sale. Those plants will be delivered to their respective buyers (Gene Arms, Venisure Davenport, Pat Maitland, Don Mosher, Nancy Reno, and Betty Valentine) at the July 14th meeting. Thank you SVHS for opening your sale to EMHS Members.

One of our long time members Pat Carson is gravely ill. I talked with Orel this morning and they are waiting for a room to open at the Hospice Home and Pat will be transferred from the hospital to that facility. Please keep Pat and Orel in your thoughts and prayers. If you would like to send Pat and Orel a note you can "comment" to this posting on the blog.  Those comments will be forwarded to me and I will forward them to Orel and Pat.  Pat is too weak to talk so please do not take the family’s time with their wife and mother by trying to visit. An update to Pat’s condition will be given at the July meeting.

Pam Walmsley’s husband will be going in for kidney surgery in late July. Please keep Pam and Jim in your prayers as well.

At the last meeting there were people who were interested in the grafted Japanese Maples and Ginkgos I have. I will have the remainder of those grafts at the July meeting.  I also have Helleborus “Banana Cream Pie” and will be selling the extras. If interested in any of these please see me at the meeting.

We hope to see you at the July 14th meeting at Carolyn and Dick Pickard’s. Please don’t forget your lawn chairs and a dish to pass……..we are back to our regular feast type meeting this month.

Glen Pace
EMHS President

Next Meeting- Our next meeting will be at the home of Carolyn and Dick Pickard, 8317 Irish Road, Millington, MI 48746. Touring their gardens will begin at 6:00 PM, refreshments will be served at 6:30 PM, and the meeting will begin at 7:00 PM. Please bring your favorite dish to pass and don’t forget to bring your lawn chairs and bug spray.
Directions; Take M-15 north to Millington Road, turn left (East) and drive to Irish Road (Carolyn has a sign for Daylilies and Hostas for Sale situated at the corner), turn right and drive to the house on the right. The EMHS Meeting sign will be out at the road.
Refreshment Committee for July; Carolyn Pickard, Betty Valentine, Barbara Colling, and Connie Force

2011 Calendar of Events
July 14th- Garden Meeting at the home of Carolyn Pickard in Millington
August 11th- Garden Meeting at the home of Dyane Moore
September 8th- EMHS Plant Exchange at the home of Pam Walmsley in Grand Blanc
October 2011- No meeting scheduled
November 2011- No meeting scheduled
December 2011- Annual Christmas Party/Potluck, date to be announced

Hosta Stones- The 2011 Hosta Stones are still available for the Member price of $25 for the plain and $30 for the colored. For those that are not EMHS Members the prices are $30 for the plain and $35 for the colored. The stones have to be ordered in advance so please contact Mick and Cathy Hodgson at cehodgso@hotmail.com to place an order. We also still have a few of the “in stock” stones from previous years that are on sale for the price of $20 each. Please contact the Hodgsons’ for a list of availability.

EMHS Officers
President, Glen Pace pacegardens@charter.net 989-244-4029
Vice-President, Carolyn Pickard (no email) 989-871-2873
Treasurer, Mary Smith brooktrout@tds.net 989-871-9833
Secretary, Marlene Daniels gardenfairy50@aol.com 810-664-8317
Past President, Mark Hanner mhanner@aol.com 810-631-4292
Fund-Raising, Mick and Cathy Hodgson cehodgso@hotmail.com 810-664-8985

The following article was taken from Hostas of Kentuckiana April newsletter, thanks to the Hosta Club Newsletter Exchange.


Symptomatology of Hosta Viruses

A. S. Windham1, M. T. Windham2, M. R. Hajimorad2, O. Adedire2, A. Self3 1U.T. Extension, 2U.T. Ag Research, 3TN Dept of Agric

Significance to Industry: Big box stores, independent garden centers and wholesale nurseries were surveyed
for the presence of virus infected hosta cultivars in Middle and West Tennessee. Twenty-nine symptomatic
hosta cultivars were infected with one or more of the following viruses: hosta virus x, tomato spotted wilt
virus and/or tobacco rattle virus.

Nature of Work: Hosta is an extremely popular perennial plant used in shade gardens in Tennessee. 
Unfortunately, it is susceptible to several virus diseases such as hosta virus x (HVX) (2), arabnis mosaic virus
(ArMV), tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) and tobacco rattle virus (TRV). Recently, HVX was confirmed in hosta sold in Tennessee retail and wholesale outlets
(1). The purpose of this survey was to determine the viruses present in hosta sold in big box stores,
independent garden centers and wholesale nurseries in Middle and West Tennessee. Twenty retail outlets and nurseries were selected for the survey. Plants with symptoms of virus infection such as ringspots, mosaic,
abnormal green streaks on gold hosta and oak-leaf pattern were collected for testing. Symptomatic hosta
were taken to the Soil, Plant and Pest Center and tested for HVX using Immunostrips for HVX from Agdia
Inc. Also leaves from symptomatic plants were shipped to Agdia Inc where they were assayed for HVX, ArMV, TSWV, TRV, impatiens necrotic spot virus and tomato ringspot virus.

Results and Discussion: Virus infected hosta was recovered from 15 of 20 locations. Diseased hostas were collected at all big box stores, from all but one independent garden centers and from one of two wholesale nurseries. Twenty-nine hosta cultivars were determined to be infected with one or more of HVX, TSWV or TRV. HVX was the most common virus detected, followed by tobacco rattle virus and the tomato spotted wilt virus. In most locations, virus infected plants made up 1% fo the inventory. However, at one big box store, nearly 50% of Hosta ‘Golden Tiara’ were infected with HVX. Also, at one wholesale nursery, 15 cultivars of hosta were infected with HVX and/or TRV. Symptoms were most easily spotted on gold hosta cultivar such as ‘August Moon’, ‘Gold Standard’ and/or ‘Sum and Substance’ due to abnormal green streaks along leaf veins. Another common symptom was stunting. Hosta infected with HVX appeared to be less vigorous, and were stunted compared to healthy plants of the same cultivar. One of the interesting aspects of this survey was the knowledge level of nursery and store personnel on hosta viruses and symptoms associated with virus infection. None of the personnel recognized common symptoms associated with virus infection. There appears to be a general lack of knowledge of the viruses that infect hosta and the symptoms associated with virus laden hosta. To increase the awareness of the Green Industry, a web page was created on the Bugwood Network (3).

Literature Cited:
1. Adedire, O. L., R. H. Wen, A. S. Windham, M. T. Windham and M. R. Hajimorad. 2008. Hosta virus X in hosta identified in Tennessee, USA. Plant Pathology. Doi:10.111/j. 1365-3059.2008.02011.x

2. Lockhart, B. E. L. 1996. Characterization of a potexvirus infectin Hosta spp. Plant Disease. 80:1040- 1043.

3. Windham, A. S. 2008. Symptoms of hosta virus infection. The Bugwood Network. http://www.ipmimages.org/browse/autimages.cfm? aut=11 521

Thanks to Mary Schindler and her friend in the Nashville Hosta Society for permission to use this article.