THE PETAL NOVEMBER 2013 Tampa African Violet Society, an Affiliate of African Violet Society of America, Dixie African Violet Society, African Violet Council of Florida, and the Gesneriad Society Monthly publication of Tampa African Violet Society www.tampaafricanvioletsociety.com PRESIDENT S MESSAGE................. Jim Boyer (jasb39@gmail.com) FROM THE THRONE OF KING JAMES GOOD MORNING, TAVS! If you look at our By-Laws, the object of this organization is to afford a convenient and beneficial association of persons interested in the propagation and culture of African violets and its relatives. The reason I bring this up is that I received an email from a member indicating that they were resigning because we stressed growing for show too much. This member only wanted to grow, not show. I ve been thinking about this a lot and have a few comments (like when DON T I have a few comments). First, yes I plead guilty. I do stress growing for show a lot. The show is one of our main sources of new members and it is our main source of income. There is absolutely no rule that says you have to show. We d love it if everyone did, but we know that s not going to be the case. Take Roxanne Carney for example. Roxanne LOVES growing and propagating. She brings in so many plants for the raffle each month it makes my head spin (that s my way of saying THANK YOU, Roxanne). But you know what? Roxanne hates being in a competitive situation. So she doesn t enjoy showing. That s why we use the term growers and showers. You can be just a grower and not a shower. I guess my point is if you don t show it doesn t make you a second class citizen in the club. We welcome all who share our love of African violets. Ok, I m off my soapbox now. We had a somewhat slow USF sale last month. We did have, however, a great turnout of folks to help us set up and take down. Thank you all for your help. One last item. IF you are planning to grow for show, the 14-week schedule (in the yearbook) starts November 16. See you at the next meeting. If I don t see you have a very Happy Thanksgiving! KING JAMES, GFP 1
Inspirational: Lynne Wilson NIGHT MEETING NOVEMBER 7, 2013 7 PM Common Ground Christian Church 4207 North Boulevard, Tampa, FL 33603 POTTING METHODS SOIL INGREDIENTS by Mina Menish Refreshments and Raffle Plants: Cinda Huntley, Lynne Wilson, Mina Menish Tip of the Day Inspirational: Roxanne Carney DAY MEETING NOVEMBER 15, 2013 10 AM Public Meeting Room, Seffner-Mango Library 410 N. Kingsway Road, Seffner, FL 33584 HYBRIDIZING by Thad Scaggs Fantasy AV Club, Spring Hill, FL Refreshments and Raffle Plants: Roxanne Carney Doris Toro Tip of the Day NEED SUPPLIES? If you need supplies pots, leaf support rings, perlite, vermiculite, soil, fertilizer, Marathon, charcoal, etc., please call or e- mail Linda Geller (988-2670 xtopdog@yahoo.com). Your order will be brought to the meeting. 2
CARE CORNER - Diane Heras is home, recovering from a recent kidney transplant. A note received from Nancy & Jerry Kast: Dear TAVS Members, A special thanks to all those of you who sent cards of sympathy in the death of our son, Mark. We appreciate all your thoughts and prayers to help us through this very difficult time. Nancy, Jerry & Family WANT TO JOIN TAVS? Annual dues are $16 for first year (includes name tag) and $10 for subsequent years. Send an e-mail to Therese Lynam if you re interested in becoming a member: THERESEJOAN@aol.com. NOVEMBER BIRTHDAYS 17 Jane Martin 19 Glenn Shelton 27 Barbara Matthews Any time you have a plant that has a problem and you can t identify the problem and would like some advice, bring the plant with you to a meeting and get some help. We can also help with repotting issues. JOIN THE AFRICAN VIOLET SOCIETY OF AMERICA! The African Violet Magazine, published bi-monthly by the African Violet Society of America (www.avsa.org, 409-839-4725), has great articles and color pictures of the latest varieties of African violets. It also publishes ads of recommended commercial growers where you can buy African violets and other gesneriads, as well as all kinds of violet supplies. Subscription to the magazine, which includes AVSA membership, is $30 per year. Send check with contact information payable to AVSA to: AVSA Office, 2375 North Street, Beaumont, TX 77702.. TAVS also recommends the following organizations: Dixie African Violet Society (DAVS), a regional organization of South-eastern states which publishes a quarterly color newsletter, The Dixie News, with informative articles, pictures and descriptions of the newest varieties of African violets. www.davs.org Individual Membership is $15 per year. Send check with contact information to: Johnnie Berry, Membership Chair, 287 Fennel Way, SW, Atlanta, GA 30331. johnniepearl@aol.com The African Violet Council of Florida (AVCF) is Florida-based and is made up of individuals and affiliated clubs and councils throughout the state of Florida. AVCF publishes a quarterly newsletter, The Florida Connection, which has helpful articles about growing African violets, listings of shows and affiliated club activities. www.africanvioletcouncilofflorida.org Individual Membership is $10 per year. Send check with contact information to: Christel Collier, Treasurer, 1203 Crestview Drive, Lakeland, FL 33805. 3
February 6-17, 2014 Florida State Fair, Tampa, FL February 22-23, 2014 Love in Bloom, TAVS Annual Show, Farm Bureau, Valrico, FL April 10-13, 2014 Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler ( Let the Good Times Roll ), Dixie AVS Convention and Show, Marriott Baton Rouge, LA May 25-June 1, 2014 Violet Pickin, AVSA 68 th Annual Convention and Show, Nashville, TN Is Something Bugging Your Plants? Has something been eating your leaves and flowers? The most commonly reported chewing pest of African violets is the Cockroach. Occasionally, caterpillars and armyworms will find their way into your plant room, but they are usually brought in accidentally. The same is true of beetles. If you see yellow pollen scattered on the flower petals, you may have thrips which are minute insects that feed on pollen and tender plant tissue. Thrips cause deformed blooms and brown edges on flower petals. Foliar Mealybugs are usually easily detected as they appear as cottony masses in the crown of the plant, the leaves and petioles. There are also Soil Mealybugs which resemble tiny bits of perlite in the rootball. They leave plants with a wilted and stunted appearance. African violets are also susceptible to Spider Mites or Cyclamen Mites. Both are very tiny sucking pests which cause the center leaves to curl and have a fuzzy appearance. The center leaves also become very brittle. If your plants don t look quite right, don t wait to ask for help. The sooner problems are detected, the easier it is to correct them. TAMPA AFRICAN VIOLET SOCIETY MINUTES OF MEETING OCTOBER 3, 2013 The monthly meeting of TAVS was held Thursday, October 3, at Common Ground Christian Church. The meeting was called to order at 7:11 pm by President James Boyer and he led members in the Pledge of Allegiance. Refreshments: Provided by Mary Lou Harden and Therese Lynam Program by James Boyer: What and When to Feed Your African Violets. Over 38 years, Jim has tried using every fertilizer available. Most important, it must be balanced. A balanced blend is equal parts Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potash. Jim uses 1/8 to ½ tsp. of Peters 20/20/20 and 2 drops of SuperThrive per gallon of water. You should use fertilizer every time you water. He cuts back to half in the summertime. He uses a bloom booster to have more flowers for show. However, light, not fertilizer, promotes flowers. Remember to repot every three months for best results. The September meeting minutes were approved as written. Therese Lynam presented the September 30 Treasurer s Report. The ending account balance is $1,849.74. Correspondence: USF sent a thank you note for the $50 donation to the Botanical Gardens. Officer s Reports: Mina ordered plants for the USF Fall Plant Festival held on October 12 th and 13 th. Standing Committee Reports: Lynne reported that Dixie AVS will have a show and sale April 10-13 with Mary Lou Harden speaking about design. AVSA convention will be in Nashville from May 25 to June 1 st. There will be an Open House at the Holtkamp Greenhouses. AVCF was last weekend and 4
there were new TAVS clerks helping the judges: Debra, Sandra and Doris. There was good support in the Hospitality Room. The Spring meeting will probably be at Buddy Freddy s in Plant City. Thursday, October 10, is set-up day for the USF plant sale. Jim has given out all the passes. You can enter with your TAVS name tag or last year s pass. The sale is from 10-4 on Saturday and 10-3 on Sunday. Help is needed during the sale. Please sign up on the sheet being passed around. Roll Call: Therese conducted the roll call. Tip of the Day: Jim is collecting African violet tips which are on the AVCF website. You must be a member of AVCF to access them. Cinda Huntley is the TAVS webmaster. Mary Lou will check with her on the status. Mary Lou is on the committee for the AVSA website. It has been completely redone and looks great. Check it out! Show N Tell: Joni Hartzler brought a Kentucky Gooseberry plant. Nancy Kast brought a Gasteranthus villosus. Lisa Villabol brought a standard African violet, Fisherman s Paradise. Plant Raffle. Therese collected for the raffle and drew numbers. Plants provided by Mary Lou and Therese. October Birthday: Charles Fisher 21 st Day Meeting October 18th: Floral Design and Plantings, by Bob Green, President, Dixie AVS. The next TAVS evening meeting will be held Thursday, November 7, at 7:00 pm at Common Ground Christian Church. Tonight s meeting adjourned at 9 pm. SUBMITTED BY Sheryl Herold, Night Recording Secretary TAMPA AFRICAN VIOLET SOCIETY DAY MEETING MINUTES FOR OCTOBER 18, 2013 The TAVS October day meeting was called to order by Jim Boyer, President at 10:10 A.M. There were 21 members present, one guest Judy Vanator and our presenter Bob Green. Jim led the Pledge of Allegiance. Mary Lou announced that Dot Fascenda has returned after a fall. Mary Lou then gave the inspirational. There were plants left from the USF sale, 4 minis and 5 standards. Jim asked members who have not shown plants previously to buy plants since they will be ready for the show. Jim then called for a break to have brunch. Following the brunch break, Bob Green was introduced as a premier designer in the country. His program was a very informative and entertaining presentation on designs. He emphasized three points: 1. Keep the design simple 2. Dare to be different 3. Consider the bloom (s) last 5
After the program, the business meeting began. Minutes for the previous meeting were approved as submitted. Therese gave the treasurer s report which reflected an opening balance of $1,863.52, income for the month of $64.30 and expenses of $88.08 and an ending balance of $1,839.74. Officer Reports: Jim announced that it was decided at the USF sale that the nominating committee for next year s officers will be chosen in January. Mary Lou announced the programs for the next night meeting on November 7th will be given by Mina Menish. on potting methods and soil ingredients. The day meeting on November 15 th will be a program on hybridizing by Thad Scaggs. Standing Committee Reports: Lynne reviewed the dates and locations for next years AVAS convention May 25 th through June 1 st in Nashville, Tennessee and the Dixie convention in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on April 10 th to April 13 th. Lynn passed out our Show Schedule Booklets. Unfinished Business: Therese gave a preliminary report on the Fall USF Plant Sale. Sales amounted $678 and a profit of approximately $33. Final numbers will include plants sold today. There was no new business or announcements. Roll call was next. After roll call Lynne gave a tip indicating that an excellent reference book for growing African Violets was Grow to Show. Jim gave a tip provided by Therese for those who use reservoirs to place a piece of real copper wire in the reservoir and it will retard the growth of algae. Birthdays for the month of October were Charles Fisher on the 21 st and Lisa Villabol on the 22 nd. Show and tell and the plant raffle concluded the meeting activities. The meeting adjourned 12:00 PM. Mary Fisher Day Recording Secretary The Petal is published monthly by the Tampa African Violet Society. Disclaimer: While the information and recommendations in this publication are believed to be correct and accurate, neither the authors or editor, nor the Tampa African Violet Society can accept responsibility for any errors or omissions. Tampa African Violet Society makes no warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material herein 6