x - Hawaii Chapter, American Rhododendron Society

Vireya of the Year 

Cyril 

VIVA VIREYA! 

HAWAI’I CHAPTER AMERICAN RHODODENDRON SOCIETY 

Volume 17 Issue 08 August 2012 

Hawai’i Chapter Website: http://www.hawaiivireyaars.org 

August President’s Message 

by Sherla Bertelmann 

Since our last meeting, a new vireya bed for “Vireya of the Year” plants at our Panaewa Rainforest Zoo and 

Gardens got prepped and, not only that, we participated in our Hilo Orchid Show that spanned 5 days, from 

building, manning and tearing down our display. 

We were pleasantly surprised with how quickly things moved at the zoo. In fact, we were done and gone before 

we even thought about lunch. It looks soooooo good... Here’s a message I received from Pam Mizuno, zoo 

director.... “I want...to tell you how wonderful the garden looks. It makes a big difference and it looks great! 

Please thank everyone that worked on the project this weekend.” 

The zoo crew consisted of Ray and Cindy Schimpf, Richard Rhodes and Ronnie Nickson, Julie and Bill Miller, 

Elaine Inouye, John Callahan, Jane and Peter Adams, Sherla and Richard Marques. 

We’re not done yet, in fact, we’ve just begun.. Come join us at our next zoo work day ...10:00am* on August 

26th -- the 4th Sunday of this month. You’ll feel so good being part of this project. (*Note: the regular time the 

zoo work parties start is normally 12:00pm). 

This year, for the orchid show, we asked for a 10’ X 20’ area vs the 20’ X 20’ (3X6m, 6X6m) we’ve used for 

many years. The new size still gave us lots of room for educational material, plants, truss holders, a water 

fountain and made set-up and tear-down much easier. Every 2 hour slot during the 3 day show was filled by our 

members. Could not have done it without folks like: Ray and Cindy Schimpf, Dorothy and Bill Walker, John 

Callahan, Julie and Bill Miller, Elaine Inouye, Richard Rhodes and Ronnie Nickson, Kim and Chuck Martin, 

David and Joyce Gay, Mitch and Sandy Mitchell, Renee Kama, Bettye Wakabayashi, Pua Conley, Maryjean 

Horton, Sherla and Richard Marques, Jane Adams and Pat and Don Albrecht. 

At the orchid show lots of trusses were given away, as well as, the recycled ARS Journals from members. A good 

number of people signed up to receive our newsletter, too. 

Our next meeting will be at Bill and Julie Miller’s place in Hawaiian Paradise Park. This will be our first visit to 

their garden. Dr. Cas Vanderwoude, State Ant Specialist, will also be there to educate us on the “little red fire 

ants” and what we can do to protect our gardens. We will also be voting for the finalists in the search for “Vireya 

of the Year” for 2013 and 2014. 

Thank you for all you do to make reaching our goal of “educating & bringing awareness of Vireya” so successful 

and fun. Viva Vireya!!! 

Officers of the Hawaii Chapter ARS 

President Sherla Bertelmann (808) 966-9225 sbertelmann@hawaii.rr.com 

Vice President Julie Miller (808) 557-7918 smile4bill@hotmail.com 

Secretary Richard Rhodes (808) 966-6801 ronnierichard@att.net 

Treasurer Richard Miller (808) 967-4371 richardandalison@hawaiiantel.net 

Newsletter Editor Jane Adams (808) 345-0959 jane@whitecloudnursery.com 

Directors: Joyce Gay, Bettye Wakabayashi, Jurahame Leyva, Kimberley Martin, Mitch Mitchell (Emeritus) 

Viva Vireya Page 1 August 2012

Aloha Everyone! 

The Hawaii Chapter of ARS July meeting was held on July 15th at the Kea'au, HI Community Center. Following 

the potluck our President Sherla Bertlemann brought the meeting to order around 1:00 pm.. Our speaker was Dr. 

Steven Hess who spoke about his efforts and findings on Hawaiian endemic native Nene goose conservation. He 

was an excellent speaker and very informative. The vireya auction was ably led by Dick Kruppa. Thanks to 

everyone who stayed over for the clean up. 

Zoo News: Our July Zoo work party meet on July 22nd at 10 AM. We had a sunny day and a larger than usual 

group of volunteers. In addition to enlarging the species bed, Jane and Peter Adams re-planted R.orbiculatum, 

along with some interesting open-pollinated seedlings of Aleksandr. With so many members working together the 

work was completed way ahead of schedule and our lunch plans were postponed until next month. Come join us 

for work and fellowship! 

Mahalo nui loa, Richard 

As of July 29, 2012 the club accounts are: 

Secretary’s Report 

by Richard Rhodes 

Treasurer’s Report 

by Richard Miller 

Club = $4729.89 Zoo = $3680.83 Kimalia = $1382.18 

What’s in bloom! 

by Jane Adams 

When in the course of a grower’s life, something 

new blooms, we get a little crazy. In our case, if I 

spot something blooming that we are excited to 

see, we station it right at the front of the 

greenhouse so that we can watch it like a hawk. 

That tactic worked with the species R. wentianum. 

It erupted with several trusses all at once. The 

flowers glowed with a soft, deep orange, with a 

bright yellow throat. Related to R. christi, the 

leaves are slightly twisted at the end, and deep 

glossy green. This is definitely one species that 

should be considered for every garden. 

Mahalo to Mitch Mitchell for providing the 

original cutting. 

Help! 

Advertisement 

I live in Kailua-Kona, HI on 1 acre of fruit trees and tropical flowers, including 150 Vireyas. I have 3 vacation 

rentals on the property that rent from $1200 to $2000 a month. I am looking for gardener type people who would 

be interested in renting a unit for $600, $350 for 2 weeks or $250 a week in exchange for an hour or two daily 

weed pulling or doing general yard work. The acre has grown larger as I have grown older, and I could use some 

help. The unit is 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom with full kitchen, and completely furnished as a vacation rental. All you 

need to bring is a bathing suit, toiletries, and good sturdy work clothes and shoes. Contact me if you might be 

interested and I can email you some photos. 

Contact info: Dennis Rees, PO Box 4177, Kailua-Kona, HI 96745, 808-325-0443, drees@hawaii.rr.com 

(Dennis is a long time Chapter member and former newsletter editor) 


Vireya of the Year Candidates 

Arthur’s Choice - R. 

christianae X R. viriosum F2 

Compact, full grower, gooddoer 

with flowers most of the 

year. Brian Clancy, hybridizer. 

Cephas - Dr. H. Sleumer X R. 

leucogigas 

Large, fragrant flowers, 

upright, bushy grower. Peter 

Sullivan, hybridizer. 

Coral Sea - Pink Delight X 

Simbu Sunset 

A compact, bushy grower, heavy 

bloomer. Sylvia Saperstein, 

hybridizer. 

Lucie Sorensen - R. 

macgregoriae X R. bagobonum 

Small, firm, waxy orange 

flowers on a very bushy, 

upright, full grower. John 

Rouse, hybridizer. 

Lulu - Parentage Unknown 

Compact, good branching 

shrub with subdued orange 

w/butter yellow throats. 

Good performer. Felix Jury 

named and registered. 

Haloed Gold - R. 

christianae X Tropic Glow 

Large, vivid yellow with 

picoteed edge of vivid redorange. 

Upright, gooddoer, 

dependable repeat 

bloomer 

Karaka Gold - R. 

laetum X Saxon 

Dawn 

Compact grower 

with flowers held 

high. Gold flowers 

with red edging & 

stamens. Richard 

Currie, hybridizer 

Rocky’s Mom - 

{Felinda x (R. 

aurigeranum x Dr. 

H. Sleumer)} X R. 

javanicum 

Bright orange 

flowers in a dome 

shaped truss. This 

is a full, upright 

grower. Bill Moynier, 

hybridizer. 

Charming 

Valentino - St. 

Valentine F2 

Large, big red 

bells w/wide faces 

on a compact, well 

branching shrub. 

Same cross as 

Cape Cod 

Valentine. Peter 

Schick, hybridizer. 

Saxon Glow - Hot 

Tropic X R. 

saxifragoides 

Firm flowers are 

held high on a 

small leaf, 

compact grower, 

heavy bloomer. 

Oz Blumhardt, 

hybridizer. 

Note -- Voting will be held at the 

August meeting!!! 


Favorite Things -- Garden Related 

by Jane Adams 

We all have our favorites…especially when it comes to gardening! Tools, fertilizers, herbicides, weeders, pruners, 

loppers, mowers, weed whackers, chain saws, potting media, pots…you name it, we’ve all got an opinion on it. 

The true mark of something being a favorite is when you replace it when worn out with the identical item! 

I’ll include a few of our favorites here, and welcome you to send your favorites my way to include in a follow-up 

article. We can all learn some new tricks! We’ll start with one from each of the categories I came up with for this 

issue. If at all possible we will not be naming any brands, just talking about features. 

Tools: hand powered 

Weeders 

Favorite here has to be the tool that is about a foot long, made of a short steel rod with a broader end with a 

v-shaped notch. The length of the shaft gives you good leverage on hard-to-pull weeds without making a 

huge scar in the planting media. 

Tools: powered 

Chippers 

In the case of chippers, you really have to know the scope of what you expect it to work for. With clearing 

about 3 acres of guava, paperbark and other invasive species, we first went through one of the Home Depot 

Yardmaster ones. It just wasn’t up to the task, and after about 2 years of use it was simply worn out. If all 

you need to do is a few branches and normal yard waste, it would be an excellent choice. Mitch Mitchell 

uses such a chipper on his hapu’u fern to create great mulch for his vireyas. Since we had a much more 

very heavy clearing to do, we ended up with a DR chipper that can handle up to 5” diameter logs. 

Expensive, but definitely can handle the task better for us and much more efficiently. Of course, that meant 

we had to get the sharpening stones for the large single blade in the chipper, and learn how to sharpen it! 

Remember that you can also take your yard waste to the transfer station for disposal. In the case of palm 

fronds and bamboo, which will dull the blades, that’s what we do. 

Chemicals: 

Pesticides 

I’ve got to say that we use very few pesticides out in the garden. Often the key to pest control is to keep 

plants healthy and vibrantly growing. In the greenhouse, it’s important to not use the very same thing over 

and over so that pests get immune to it. A greenhouse is an unnatural environment, so we’ve had to deal 

with some things over the years. 

Mealy bugs -- most affective control is a Q-tip and alcohol. It’s also pretty non-toxic. Those bugs are very 

hard to control on rhododendrons, and the best practice is a weekly sweep for it. There are systemics that 

work on eradication, but again, they need to be re-applied regularly (check directions!) to really be 

effective. 

Aphids outside: First you have to control the ants that milk them for their honeydew, and treat the tree or 

shrub for aphids with something like a systemic such as Orthene for ornamental plants or Malathion for 

non-fruiting trees. We use a variety of methods to keep ants at bay. Talstar P is good, but Jamie at Plant It 

Hawai’i also recommended the grocery store ant baiting stations. Always be careful with pesticides. 

Websites: 

Hawai’i Chapter: 

Vireya.net: 

American Rhododendron Society: 

Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden: 

Newsletter -- Viveya Vine: 

Newsletter -- Vireya Venture: 

Newsletter -- Viva Vireya: 

www.hawaiivireyaars.org 

www.vireya.net 

www.rhododendron.org 

www.rhodygarden.org 

www.rhodygarden.org 

www.vireya.net 

www.hawaiivireyaars.org 

Have you got some favorite sites that aren’t list Send them to me (jane@whitecloudnursery.com) and I’ll 

add them to next months newsletter. 


Hilo Orchid Show Photos 

We are fortunate to be asked to have a display and informational booth every year at the Orchid show. Many 

of our members also belong to the Hilo Orchid Society ( www.hiloorchidsociety.org/ ). The relationship 

between the two societies is a long and happy one. Set-up and tear-downs are always fun, and the displays by 

the orchid folks are awesome. 

Set-up with John Callahan, Julie Mill, Dorothy Walker, Sherla Bertelmann and Bill Walker 

Zoo Work Day 

Lots of work going on to enlarge the main species bed. Left photo shows Bill Miller in the background, 

Cindy Schimpf, Richard Marquez and Ray Schimpf in the foreground. Right photo show Bill Miller and 

Richard Marques. 


Next Chapter Meeting: 

When: Sunday, August 19, Regular monthly meeting 

at Bill and Julie Miller’s home. Potluck will be at 

12:00pm, and meeting will start at 1:00pm. 

Where: Driving directions below. 

Program: Dr. Cas Vanderwoude will be speaking on 

new developments in the fight against the little fire 

ants. 

Clean-up Crew: Everyone pitch in! 

Driving Directions to Bill and Julie’s Hale 

Driving from either Keaau or Pahoa on Hwy 130 

towards Hawai’ian Paradise Park, just south of 

Kea’au. Turn onto Maku’u Street (south of Paradise 

Street, first HPP street coming from Pahoa). Head 

makai towards the water until 10th ave. Take a right 

on 10th. We are the last gate on the left at 15-2075 

10th Ave. Our street is a dead end, so lots of space to 

park on end of road if you would like to walk down. 

There is also room for a number of cars near the house 

for those who would like a shorter walk. Bring your 

own chairs. 

Calendar of Coming Events: 

Sunday, August 19: Monthly meeting (left column). 

Sunday, August 26: Regular Zoo work party! 

10:00am - 3:00pm. More work on the new portions of 

the beds is planned. Note 10:00am starting time. 

Sunday, September 16: Regular monthly meeting at 

Kea’au Community Center. Potluck at 12:00pm and 

meeting starting thereafter. 

A few other dates to mark on your calendars: 

Oct. 21st - Public outreach Vireya Day at the 

Panaewa Rainforest Zoo and Gardens. 

ARS Western Regional Conference: September 

21-23, 2012. There is still time to register. Check 

their chapter website for registration and details. I 

guarantee you’ll have a great time! 

http://arsnanaimo2012.ca/ 

“I typically have rarely opened my gardens to people 

in the past, but in the Aloha spirit, I hope other 

members join in and decide to share their gardens with 

our group of plant lovers as well.” Julie 

Viva Vireya! 

Hawaii Chapter – ARS 

P.O. Box 1963 

Kea’au, HI 96749

x - Hawaii Chapter, American Rhododendron Society

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