Note from the President-
Officially it is SPRING! Of
course, for Michigan this means we will still have the chance of frost for
another 2 months, but we do get to see signs of renewed growth and flowers. The Galanthus are in full bloom, Adonis are
beginning to bloom, certain crocuses are blooming, the Cyclamen are showing
their buds, and other spring ephemerals are soon to follow. The sun is warmer and when it is shining
through the windows you can feel the warmth on your skin…...the warmth of
spring.
EMHS has an
exciting year of monthly events scheduled.
This month we will hear Melissa Jaskiewicz talking about beekeeping, a
beekeeping tour she went on Slovenia, how their beekeeping methods differ from
ours, and combining raising bees with small farm animals, as not all bee plants
are good for animals. She will be
bringing samples of some honey to taste and discuss their differences
pertaining to the plants from which it was produced. Melissa will also talk about the upcoming
Michigan Honey Festival.
In May we
will have photographer Aaron Strouse presenting a slide show titled “The Wild
Native Orchids of Michigan”. This will
include plants most of us have never seen.
During the
summer months, we will be visiting our member’s gardens to see what they have
growing, how their gardening techniques differ from our own, and getting ideas to
use in our own gardens.
Our July
meeting will be at Mark and Becky Hanner’s and we will be working on a clay project. This project is open to all EMHS members and
will be a fun day with clay.
Our other
activity is our annual plant exchange at our September meeting. Now is the time to think about what you want
to divide from your own garden to bring to the exchange. As always, we ask that you refrain from
donating Houttuynia, Bishop’s weed, Ostrich Fern, and other invasive plants.
We look
forward to another year of promoting the interest of Hostas and shade
gardening; to extend horticultural education and activities to our members and
the community.
Don’t forget
the potluck we enjoy at every meeting.
EMHS provides the table setting and coffee, so all you do is bring your
favorite dish to pass.
Lastly, I
will be sharing info from the AHS Newsletter Exchange in our newsletter, enjoy!
See you at
the April 13th meeting,
Glen Pace
EMHS President
Glen Pace
EMHS President
Next Meeting- April 13th, 2017 at the Mayfield Twp. Hall, 1900 N. Saginaw, Lapeer, MI
48446. This is our regular meeting place
located just south of the point of M-24 and N. Saginaw, (the driveway just
north of the Cemetery).
Melissa
Jaskiewicz will present a slide show on beekeeping, discuss the similarities
and differences of beekeeping in Slovenia and the USA, as well as combining
beekeeping and other small farm animals.
There will be samples of some honey with discussion of their differences
as compared to the plants from which they were produced.
The time schedule for the evening is;
1700- Networking
1800- Potluck
1900- Program
2000- Business Meeting
1700- Networking
1800- Potluck
1900- Program
2000- Business Meeting
Review the February 11th, 2016
Meeting Minutes on the blog. We
will vote to accept the minutes at the April 13th, 2017 meeting.
2017 EMHS
Calendar of Events
Meeting Dates- Places-
Speakers/topic
April 13- Mayfield Twp.
Hall-
Melissa Jaskiewicz, Bee Keeping
Melissa Jaskiewicz, Bee Keeping
May 11- Mayfield Twp.
Hall- Aaron Strouse,
Wild Native Orchids of MI
Wild Native Orchids of MI
June 08- Pace Gardens in Clio, Garden Tour
July 13- the Hanner’s in Otisville,
Clay Hosta Project
Clay Hosta Project
Aug 10- the Gavits’ in
Saginaw,
Garden Tour
Garden Tour
Sept 14 – Melva Bonds in Bridgeport,
Plant Exchange
Plant Exchange
Oct 12- Mayfield Twp.
Hall, ?_________________
Nov 09- Annual Board Meeting, Whitey’s in Davison
Dec 14- Christmas Party, Mayfield Twp. Hall
Name Badges- If you need one of the new EMHS name badges, please put your printed name on the sign-up sheet at any meeting or you can email Glen with your request. Glen will try to have your name badge at the next meeting.
Comments to the EMHS blog: I am mentioning blog posting to let you know that your comments to the blog can be published too. All you have to do is go to the EMHS blog at http://easternmichiganhostasociety.blogspot.com and comment to a blog posting which will alert me that you have made a comment. Once I deem the comment valid for publishing I will okay and it will automatically be posted. Please note that I cannot edit or spell check your comments, all I can do is to publish, ignore, or delete your comments. All comments will be screened by me to deter any vulgarity or inappropriate comments being published to the EMHS blog. Glen
Club Members selling Hosta or related products;
Please call or email to set an appointment before visiting
Pickard, Carolyn- Daylilies, Hosta.
989-871-2873, robfamily5 @yahoo.com
Websites of Interest:
American Hosta Society-
American Hosta Society Convention- http://www.americanhostasociety.org/Activities/Conventions.htm
http://www.hostahappenings.com
Eastern Michigan Hosta Society blog- http://easternmichiganhostasociety.blogspot.com
Eastern Michigan Hosta Society blog- http://easternmichiganhostasociety.blogspot.com
Hosta College Website-
http://ihostohio.com/portal/glhc
Hosta Society Membership info-
American Hosta Society, $30 individual, $57/2 years, $34 family, $62/2 years
Send dues to: Sandie Markland, AHS Membership Secretary, Post Office Box 7539, Kill Devil Hills, NC 27948
Michigan Hosta Society, Dues are $15 per household for up to two people, good for 2 years. Make checks payable to: The Michigan Hosta Society and send to; Michigan Hosta Society, 2509 Wembly Lane, Troy, MI 48084-1280
Eastern Michigan Hosta Society, Dues $5 per year per household, Make check payable to EMHS and mail to: Barb Hunter, EMHS Treasurer, 316 Davis Lake Rd. Lapeer, MI 48746
Saginaw Valley Hosta Society, Dues $20 per year per household, Make check payable to SVHS and mail to:
EMHS Board of Officers:
President Glen Pace
PaceGardens@charter.net 989-244-4029
PaceGardens@charter.net 989-244-4029
Vice-President Becky Hanner
BGHanner@aol.com 810-631-4292
BGHanner@aol.com 810-631-4292
Treasurer Barb Hunter
baha@chartermi.net 810-664-7531
baha@chartermi.net 810-664-7531
Secretary Marlene Daniels
gardenfairy50@aol.com 810-664-8317
gardenfairy50@aol.com 810-664-8317
Past President Mark Hanner
mhanner@aol.com 810-631-4292
mhanner@aol.com 810-631-4292
Fund-Raising Mick & Cathy Hodgson
cehodgso@hotmail.com 810-664-8985
TC (Tissue Culture) vs. OS
(Originator's Stock)
by Ray Rodgers
(Originally appearing in the Central
Illinois Hosta Society’s March 2004 newsletter, it is reprinted here courtesy of
the AHS Newsletter Exchange.)
Have you ever looked at a hosta price list and
wondered what the “TC” and/or “OS” meant in
some of the hosta descriptions? Occasionally
one would even see two prices for the same plant, the lower price being for TC
(Tissue Culture) and the more expensive price for OS (Originator’s Stock).
TC references plants which have been
propagated via tissue culture. In very simple terms, these are chemically
energized test tube babies started from small shavings of the parent plant's meristem
(the central growth point of a hosta crown).
Compared to increasing the number of plants
through manually dividing garden plants, tissue culturing results in rapid
reproduction. Tissue culturing must be performed in a sterile lab type
environment. This is a tedious, exacting, repetitious process that must be monitored
very closely. Except for a few serious hobbyists, tissue culturing is better
left up to the professionals. The resulting plants are typically wholesaled in
multiple quantities to retail outlets.
The OS designation basically means the plant
being offered is a division of the original named hosta. This hosta could have
been derived through hybridization (seedling) or sporting*, which is not
uncommon with hostas. If an as plant was purchased and a division was given to
another person, who in turn eventually gave a division of their plant to yet
another person, all these plants would still be considered originator’s stock.
On price lists, the OS designation is most often used for newer or rare plants.
Originator’s stock plants can help to validate exactly what was originally registered
and ensure the direct lineage of the original plants are not lost.
Are originator's stock hostas better and
should they demand a premium price? The newer the plant and the more unique it is, the more
likely an as division is worth the extra money. Some of the truly unique hostas
are not replicated easily via tissue culturing. With these plants, a TC lab may
develop a high percentage of babies not possessing the same characteristics of
the parent. This inability unquestionably drives the price
of these varieties up. Luckily for us consumers, most hostas can be TCed with a
high degree of success.
Responsible wholesalers and retailers will typically
guarantee their plants to be true to name. This starts with the TC labs’ commitment to
cull (throwaway) or give a new name to hostas not meeting specific criteria. Since it is not
always possible to know for sure if small tissue cultured plants will look like their parents in
subsequent years, a small percentage of untrue hostas do reach nurseries and
other retailers. Since responsible retailers typically grow TC plants on for at
least one full season prior to selling them, some additional variants may be
caught.
It is the untrue forms that slip through the
cracks that generate some of the unfavorable comments about tissue cultured
hostas. Usually such comments are used to justify the price of as plants. Certainly
people should expect to receive what they pay for. Some variants are not as
attractive or as good of a grower as the named variety. But, some variants are
actually better than the original plant. As an example, in a batch of tissue
cultured H. ‘Great Expectations’, some wider-margined plants were discovered.
These plants were given the name H. ‘Dream Weaver’. The additional green
leaf surface allows this hosta to produce more chlorophyll then H. ‘Great
Expectations’, making it a better grower.
Tissue culturing has also accelerated the popularity
of “Sport Hunting”. This is the act of hosta enthusiasts searching through
nurseries for hostas that are different from their published descriptions. These plants may vary in a
variety of ways, including variegation pattern (including Instability**), coloration, plant size and
leaf shape. For those interested in hybridizing or just growing open pollinated seed, finding an otherwise
desirable plant with some degree of splashing could be a significant find. Except
for somewhat rare occasions, it requires an unstable pod parent (mother plant) to produce
variegated seedlings. Whether the found plants turn out to be better than the
named variety or not, it is occasionally worth the purchase price to the hunter to have something a little different to
display in their garden.
Make no mistake; tissue culture plants have
fueled the popularity of hostas by rapidly increasing the availability of many
newer varieties of hostas at affordable prices. The elevation of hosta to the rank
of most popular perennial from almost obscurity can directly be linked to the
early 1980s when plant tissue culture was in its infancy.
Tissue culture and originator’s stock plants
both have their place in the hosta world. Whether purchasing as plants is a good value depends largely
on the specific hosta variety, but the ultimate decision rests with each individual
buyer.
* A Sport is a hosta arising from another
hosta, possessing different characteristics.
**In hosta, Instability is a plant that does
not maintain its solid or variegated pattern, resulting
in a Splashed pattern (formerly referred to as
Streaked, also known as Striated). Splashed
hostas have many non-connected light and dark variegated
sections. Splashed hostas typically stabilize into a solid colored or variegated
plant over time.
Buyer Beware!
That new hosta might not be what the
label says you’re getting!
by J.D. Belanger
(Reprinted from the Northern Wisconsin
Hosta Society’s newsletter, Northern Star, Volume 21, Issue 1, January 2017, courtesy of the
AHS Newsletter Exchange.)
What's in a name? Shakespeare might think a
rose by any other name would smell as sweet, but Warren I. Pollock, a columnist for the
American Hosta Society’s The Hosta Journal, thinks otherwise.
He frequently dwells on what, to some, might appear
as nitpicking. Not too long ago he was
upset, perhaps justifiably, we don’t know,
because a hosta with “Dr.” in the name contained – horrors! – a period, when there shouldn’t have
been one. This is probably important to purists, but to us, it was more interesting to learn
that abbreviations like Prof. and Rev. have periods, but others, such as Dr and St [Doctor and Saint]
do not – in England, that is. And in AHS.
His latest revelation is more pertinent. It
involves television giant’s HGTV selling plants, including hostas. The problem
is, they’re renaming wellknown registered hostas, presumably to add some sales
pizzazz.
One is Bob Solberg’s ‘Orange Marmalade,’ which
they call “Citrine SupremeTM.” Another is “Blue Dew™,'” registered
as ‘First Frost.’ The list goes on.
Just be aware that if you buy an HGTV Home, or
Hosta Treasures™ hosta, you might not be getting what you think you’re getting.
You might already have it, under another name.
