Rhododendron & Azalea News - Ideas for Chapters

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Ideas for Chapters
Some tips on exhibiting trusses and sprays		Alec McCarter was a dedicated friend of the American Rhododendron Society and developed plans for showing off members’ rhododendron trusses and sprays for the various garden shows. Any number of chapters use his guidelines. We are presenting them again. Why? Because: It's Show time!
show off...gives satisfaction...		The success of the spring show depends on you and your exhibits. Your entry may be just what the judges are looking for to award a trophy or a ribbon. Even if your entry wins nothing there is a great deal of joy and satisfaction to be gained from having participated in this annual event.
the challenge...Rothschild Trophy...		The first show was held in 1990 in response to Edmund de Rothschild's challenge to the Society to hold a competition for the silver cup that he gave us...The de Rothschild Challenge Trophy. Enter your exhibit to try to win it!
tour of own yard, making selections...		A day or two before the show, go around and make a list of the blooms you will pick on Friday morning, the day before the show. Note whether they will be trusses or sprays. Then, tentatively, figure out which class they are in using the show list of class names, which will be added to the Show Rules as soon as possible. Available at the hall on Friday will be a detailed list so you can ascertain the correct class number from the name of the plant. Try to use the list published with the Show Rules. If you do this at home rather than at the show, you will be able to look up correct spelling, correct classifications etc. Consult your reference books if necessary, particularly Greer's book, the one with the red flower on the cover.
container is important...		Also, organize whatever containers you will be using to transport your blooms to the show. They needn't be elaborate. Empty bottles or cans work well. Be careful to avoid crushing the blooms. Fill the containers with water almost to the top. Bottles in six-pack cartons are great for transporting blooms.
straight stems are best...		Picking blooms always takes more time than you think it will! When choosing trusses, select ones that have straight stems with the bloom at the top. Don't choose ones with crooked stems that are growing at odd angles (e.g. pointing straight down). When choosing sprays, look for ones that will present themselves gracefully in a bottle. Pieces of cork can be used to stabilize the stem in the neck of the bottle.
prune...ever so carefully...		Prune judiciously if need be to enhance the shape of a spray. Avoid choosing entries with bruises. Sometimes rain damage is inevitable, but avoid it if you can.
look for freshness, good foliage...		Look for freshness. In a spray, it is better to have one or more unopened flower buds (for they frequently open after they have been picked) than to choose blooms that are already open and going over. Some judges like to see one or two unopened or partially opened buds, but a truss must not have flowers from more than one bud. Choose blooms with good-looking foliage. Avoid ones with chewed or otherwise damaged leaves. Once again, some judicious snipping of damaged leaves can be done - but don't go too far because some foliage is needed (and you must NOT trim off the bitten parts of a weevil-chewed leaf!) For a truss, one nice whorl is best - with flowers from one bud only. For sprays, more foliage will often be needed for balance, and of course, more than one flowering bud is allowed. Do notice the restriction, on height and width of a spray.
place stems in water...		After cutting your truss, plunge the truss deeply into lukewarm water. Later you can make an oblique cut across the stem leaving the right length to make the exhibit look balanced...and do this under water. This will help the truss to take up water and keep it fresh all day. You may then store your exhibit in its water-filled bottle in the refrigerator.
check and check your time schedule...		Be sure to check your show schedule very carefully. More than one exhibit has been set aside not to be judged because it has been entered "Not according to Schedule"! Help will be available at the show! Please don't come late.

Truss…defined!		Bruce Palmer of the Eureka Chapter has chosen the word, truss, for his word of the month entry to their newsletter. How appropriate! The Rhododendron blooming season is nearly here...so this month's word is TRUSS. I used that word three years ago...but it bears repeating...garden flower show is near and we should all be thinking about what trusses we will bring.
where did the word come from?		The word is from the Old French trouser, to pack into a bundle. In botany, it does not mean something that holds up a bridge or a hernia...nor is sit related to trousers...which comes from the root.
from a botanist view...		Botanists use a variety of terms to describe how flowers are held in groups...including spikes (as in foxglove), umbels (as in fennel and dill), panicles (as in Delphinium), catkins (as in willow), and heads as in sunflowers). If a plant bears its flowers in a truss...there is a group of fairly large flowers whose buds are packed in a bundle at the end of a branch...referred to as a terminal inflorescence rather than a truss in the current RHS Rhododendron Handbook.
truss is a raceme...		The truss is classed...technically...as a raceme (Latin for a bunch of grapes). An open truss doesn’t look like a bunch of grapes...but when you deadhead the spent stem, the rhachis (Greek for spine)...looks like what is left over after you ate the grapes! Despite the resemblance, grapes don't bear their flowers in racemes. Grape inflorescences are called cymes (Greek, cyma, a cabbage sprout). Flowering plants are divided into grow great groups...depending on whether they flower as racemes or cymes. We don't need to belabor the difference here.
where do Rhododendrons fit...		Not all members of the genus Rhododendron bear their flowers in trusses…but almost all of the rhodies we have in our yards are in the subgenus Hymenanthes (Greek: hymen, a membrane and anthos, a flower)...all of whose members bear trusses. Because of that...most of the rhodies in our annual show are in trusses. We have gotten away from calling our show a truss show...possibly for public relations reasons. Flower shows is probably better given that the viewing public isn't familiar with the term in its botanical context...and not all of the displays are trusses.
enjoy...enjoy...the genus Rhododendron is your garden...		With...or without...trusses, the season is fast approaching when we can go out...every day to enjoy the many members of the genus Rhododendron showing off in our gardens. Enjoy...enjoy...enjoy!

Cutting trusses for show		Win and Anne Howe of the Valley Forge Chapter proposed suggestions for cutting the trusses from your garden...and bringing them to the show. Here they are: Selecting Trusses. The may be the most difficult...and time-consuming part. Ideally, a truss should be fully open...or have more than 3 unopened flowers...and should be without blemishes on petals and leaves. It should definitely not be past its prime! If necessary, some leaves may be removed...but the truss should end up with a fair rosette of green, undamaged foliage. The truss should have a straight stem...about 6-in. long (minimum of 4 inches). Browned edges, water marks, bruises, and inset damage on petals and leaves are blemishes...that should be avoided. Treating Truss. A cut flower should immediately be placed in water in a cool place for about 2 hours. Lukewarm water may be used...and must be used to revive a wilted truss. a well-watered truss will hold up for quite some time...such as transport to the show. An additional short section of the stem should be removed prior to insertion in the show container. For fast uptake of water, the base of the stem should be wounded by slicing off the bark on both sides of the stem for the last inch or two. Grooming Truss. With tweezers, tongs, Q-tips, etc. remove any foreign matter from petals and leaves. The flower bud scales...which are loose inside the truss would be removed...as well as dead pips, which are the remains of flowers that did not make it through the winter. Your efforts at grooming a truss may make the difference between winning...or not winning...a ribbon or trophy. Transporting Trusses. The trusses may be laid in a flat box on top of slightly crumpled tissue paper. If the trusses have been in water for 2 hours, they will hold up during transport. a milk crate with wire dividers...or any box with compartments into which bottles can be fitted is good for transporting trusses. With guidelines coming from the experts...you are sure to win! Good Luck!

Prices going up...up...and up...		From the Eagle Bend, Minnesota, newspaper comes the realization that things are in a spin...and it is up...not down! Listen to this! So you think a gallon of gasoline is expensive. Consider the following: Diet Snapple (16 oz.) $1.29 = $10:32 per gallon Lipton Ice Tea (16 oz.) $1.19 = $9.52 per gallon Gatorade (20 oz.) $1.59 = $10.17 per gallon Ocean Spray (16 oz.) $1.25 = $10.00 per gallon STP Brake Fluid (12 oz.) $3.15 = $33.60 per gallon Pepto Bismo (4 oz.) $3.85 = $123.20 per gallon Whiteout (7 oz.) $1.39 = $25.42 per gallon Vick’s Nyquil (6 oz.) $8.35 = $178.38 per gallon Scope (1.5 oz.) $.99 = $84.48 per gallon AND … this is the kicker: Evian water (9 oz.) $1.49 = $21.19 per gallon So the next time you are at the pump...be glad your car doesn’t run on Nyquil, Scope, or Pepto Bismo!

Something to ponder while preparing a garden.		Inventor Henry Ford kept both his mind and body physically fix throughout his life. He could still do handstands at age 75!