MTDS
News September 2007
Middle
Tennessee Daffodil Society
Established April 5, 1958
MTDS Officers: 2007-2008
ADS Officers who are members of MTDS:
President: Ann McKinney
Southeast Regional Director: Becky Matthews
Vice President: Amanda McKinney
Youth Committee
Chairman: Becky Matthews
Treasurer:
Ann McKinney
ADS Legal Counsel: Dick Frank
Membership Chairman: Anne Owen
From the President:
After such a great year last year, I am hoping
to keep the momentum going with new members and an active MTDS! Fall is just about here so hopefully the weather will cool
some and we can get out in the garden and plant some bulbs for our show in the spring. I am hoping that you all had a great
summer, even though we all almost died of heat stroke! I look forward to seeing you all at my house on October 28th
for the fall meeting.
Thank you for your continued support and interest in daffodils,
Ann McKinney
MTDS President
FALL MEMBERSHIP MEETING
Our fall meeting will be Sunday, October 28, 2007 at 2:00 pm at my house: 5134
Remington Drive, Brentwood.
Please plan to attend. We will have a bulb swap for current members. Please bring bulbs to swap if you dug this summer. A
$5 donation to MTDS would be greatly appreciated. All members who joined in the spring will receive free bulbs as promised!
Directions to my house: Take I-65 South to exit 71
– Concord Road. Take a right off the exit.
Take a right at the traffic light on to Franklin
Road. Take a left at the next traffic light
on to Murray Lane. Take the first left into Princeton Hills. Take first left onto Remington Drive. My house is the last on the left 5134. My home phone is 377-6848 if you get lost. Please RSVP
to ateamtn@aol.com or call me at home to let me know you are coming. Bring a friend!
Program:
Daffodil Culture
Naturalizing Daffodils
Bulb Exchange
MTDS MEMBERSHIP…
The expiration of your membership dues are indicated on your mailing label. Please
mail dues, $10.00 for an individual, $15.00 for a family to MTDS: Anne Owen 1203 Natchez Road Franklin, TN 37069. For information
or questions, please contact Anne at annieo1203@comcast.net or 794-0138. Please pay your dues so that you are not dropped from our mailing list! Also, please let us know
if there is any change in your mailing or email address so that we can contact you with society news and happenings.
IN
MEMORIUM – Bob Cartwright & Shirley Ruppert
Bob Cartwright, husband of Mary Cartwright, and a long-time member of MTDS passed
away suddenly after a fall in August. Bob was a great supporter of MTDS and for many years served as the society’s treasurer.
Bob also kept an amazingly detailed diary which he used to help re-create the history of MTDS. Bob will be greatly missed.
He was a very kind and friendly man. Please keep Mary and her family in your thoughts and prayers.
Shirley Ruppert passed away in June after a short illness.
She was a relatively new member to the MTDS. Shirley was an active member of the Nashville Rose society and along with her
husband Jim, ran a bed and breakfast.
MTDS TREASURER’S REPORT
April 1, 2007 – September 1,
2007
Beginning Balance: $3,083.60
Income:
Expenses:
Dues:
$ 115.00
Newsletter: $
29.58
Interest on CD:
$ 167.03
Total
Income $
282.03
Total Expenses:
$ 29.58
Ending Balance:
$ 3336.05 Checking Balance: $669.02
CD Balance: $2,667.03
FUTURE
MTDS NEWSLETTERS
I
would like to begin sending as many of the future newsletter and meeting notices by email. This will save the MTDS money spent
on printing and postage. It will also allow me to insert color photos! Please make sure that Annie Owen (Membership Chairman)
has your correct email. Her email is annieo1203@comcast.net. If we do not hear from you, we will send you a hard copy. Thanks for your support in this.
FALL DAFFODIL TIPS
It is just about fall and time for daffodil planting season! It is an exciting
time for daffodil enthusiasts. Fall work will hopefully lead to beautiful blooms in the spring! Good thing daffodils like
to be dry in the summer months!
Fall is a great time to review your daffodil collection and tidy up your files. Here are my suggestions
for goals for this fall:
(1) Keep at least two copies of your maps!
Update
your maps of your daffodil bulbs and where they are planted based on what didn’t come up in the spring, bulbs you dug
this summer and bulbs you plant this fall. It is nearly impossible to keep up with labels and you would hate to sacrifice
showing a beautiful bloom because you lost the name.
Date your revised map, make a copy
and keep it in a safe place!
(2) Do some daffodil research!
Go to www.daffseek.com and find out all you can about the daffodils that you have. Create a spreadsheet of your collection so that you know the
name, color code, breeder, country of origin and date of registration. This will help you to determine the best place to enter
your blooms in the spring. If you venture out to enter collections of 5, you will be able to sort your spreadsheets to come
up with collections by division, color, country of origin or even historics.
Additionally,
you will be able to see what holes you have in your collection of daffodils- areas where you may want to add varieties. As
space allows, it is good to add different divisions, maybe even some miniatures and try to spread out the varieties over early,
mid-season and late-season bloomers to increase your chances for blooms on March 29th
(3) Fall Daffodil Care
Fertilize your already planted bulbs with low nitrogen fertilizer
this fall. You will be thrilled with the results in the spring! Also, a thorough watering in the fall will produce larger
blooms.
If you are planting this fall:
(a)
Make sure
you wait until Late October or early November to begin, particularly this year since it has been so warm. You will want the
soil to cool. Warm soil makes the bulbs susceptible to basil rot. You will be disappointed if you jump the gun and your bulbs
rot before spring. Planting late is better than early. I have planted as late as February and granted, the first spring the
blooms are really late, but by the second season they are back on track.
(b) It is not necessary to plant more than one bulb of each variety.
(c) The most important
step in planting is the pre-planting process. Make a list of all of the daffodils that you intend to plant, along with their
colorcodes. You will want to make sure that you do not plant more than one variety with similar color codes in adjoining holes
or rows. Bulbs may “creep” over time. Additionally, if labels go missing and you have to rely on a map, it may
be difficult to determine what the bloom is if two similar varieties are in close proximity to each other. Often times, it
is the pre-planning that takes the most amount of time. The planting part is just the physical workout!
(d) Mulch your daffodil
bulbs. This will keep the bulbs warmer in the winter and cooler in the spring. It will also help prevent dirt spots on your
blooms in the spring. Water the newly planted bulbs.
(e) One more thing to remember when planting…never plant soft bulbs! These
bulbs are not healthy and should be discarded. Only plant hardened, solid bulbs so as to not contaminate any bulbs already
planted.
IMPORTANT DATES:
OCTOBER
28, 2007
FALL MEETING AT ANN MCKINNEY’S
MARCH 9, 2008
SPRING
MEETING
MARCH 29-30, 2008
MIDDLE TENNESSEE DAFFODIL SHOW
APRIL 10-13, 2008
ADS CONVENTION, RICHMOND, VIRGINIA
APRIL
14-24, 2008
WORLD DAFFODIL CONVENTION – LONDON, BELFAST,
AMSTERDAM