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Another year is beginning for "Hibiscus International," and another season of hibiscus storage has arrived in Louisiana. October is the month when I begin the task of moving everything in the greenhouse, taking cuttings to root for spring grafting, and mainly trying to figure out how I'm going to fit everything in a proper position to get the right heat circulation on colder days. This year, I'm doing things a little differently. Instead of moving all my seedlings into my southern windows, I'm going to do it all in the greenhouse. My other plants, such as plumeria, Christmas cactus, hanging baskets, and other miscellaneous plants are going into the utility room. I'm even going to buy more oil heaters just to make sure I have the heating just right. I have this strange feeling that this is going to be a colder than usual winter. With all my prized collection, I really can't afford to lose any of them. We've had an exceptional amount of rain this year due to three tropical blowouts, not completely unusual but usually not all in a row within weeks of each other. I've also been blessed with few bugs. In fact, I really didn't notice any at all until the wet weather just kept on keeping on, but everything is under control with special thanks to Bill Cagle in Florida. He sent me two attachments that he made that fit on the end of the water hose. Each serves a distinct purpose, and I'm free of bugs without the use of any chemicals. I think he sent these to Nadeen Pickard too. At any rate, they are wonderful additions to my garden, and I am most appreciative of this gift. I hope each of you have enjoyed your hibiscus as much as I have. I find them to be a lot like children or my animals. They take a lot of work and effort to make them perform properly, but the final results are well worth all the time that is put into making them turn into such beautiful creations. Oh, the joy of tropical splendor! Now sit back and enjoy the latest from the wonderful world of international hibiscus culture.

Damon Veach, Vice-President/Editor

Time sure flies when you are kept busy, and I have had a busy time since I took over as your president. I have introduced the Topic of the Week, and it has provided a lot of comments from different members. It is good to see you joining in and giving us your view of the matters under discussion. However, I would like to see more of you join in and give us details of what you do to grow our favorite flower.

It was good to see Dick and Chantal Johnson return home again after their trip around the world and meeting a lot of the members. What a homecoming they had, being broken into and losing the computer and camera on the first few days back. It is very upsetting when you are broken into like that, and it makes you very nervous that it might happen again.

Our CD that Joseph Dimino has set up is ready to be sent out, and an account has been set up by Richard Mansbridge, our new secretary/treasurer, so we can receive the money properly. It is with Paypal, and it is relatively easy to set up for your own personal use. To set up your account with Paypal, go to http://www.paypal.com/ and follow the instructions. It will be handy for you to use for other things that you may want to purchase on the Internet.

I hope all of you will buy a CD. It is a marvellous piece of work that Joseph has brought into being. It contains hundreds of blooms and videos on many subjects.

We have introduced the Trimestrial Photo Competition in a web site. More people voted in our last contest that any of the prior ones. I am now accepting photos for the new TPC, which will have six sections instead of nine. We will have a voting form on the bottom of each section, which will make it easier for you to vote. The sections will be in the form that is used at shows and meetings. This will include singles, doubles, miniatures, seedlings, miniature seedlings, and a computer art section.

So start getting your photos ready for the new sections, and I will accept them for the next contest until the end of December. At that time, I will load them into a web page and put them into the IHS web page. We will have a winner from each of the three competitions during the year and then the three winners will go into a final competition to get a grand champion. Richard Johnson will furnish a black pearl that is worth hundreds of dollars on the open market.

Ruth and I hope you have a good Christmas and a Happy New Year and that 2003 will see us progress even further in our endeavors to have an enjoyable and happy society where the hibiscus flower will ever be our guiding light to a better world.

The IHS has a new Board of Directors with Jim Purdie from Brisbane, Australia being selected as our new president. Congratulations to all the new officers and board members, and many thanks go to our retiring president, Richard Johnson, who has done a great job establishing the IHS. We are grateful for his continued support.

The Trimestrial Photo Competition was completed, and Jim has requested photos for the next contest. We hope that everyone will participate. It's lot of fun.

I had problems setting up an account for our group but, with the help of a few members, it is now operational. Members are now able to buy the CDs that Joseph Dimino has so diligently produced, and Dick is now distributing them. Please send your orders to me with $15 through Paypal, or $20 for air mail service. I will notify Dick of your address, and he will send the order out.

Launch off to the top of the
American Hibiscus Society
Zelma Neef's Journey to President of the
National Organization

By Gloria White

In the world of hibiscus, you meet people from all walks of life. There is not one definite quality that sets them apart, unless you can count the love of the Queen of the Tropics. It always starts with just one, or two, or three plants, and the next thing you know, you have a lot more than you care to admit.

It is rare occasion when I get to meet and interview a woman that has been President of the American Hibiscus Society. In the history of the organization, there have only been three women who have held this position, Mrs. John Wylie, the late Maxine Tanner, and Zelma Neef. I met her and her husband Wally at the Dr. Jack Hoffman/ South Dade Chapter show in November 2000.

Zelma and Wally fell in love with hibiscus in 1975. It began as the innocuous purchase of one plant in Georgia. The Neefs were on their way north and stopped when they saw a Hawaiian Salmon. When Zelma retired from Bendex Aerospace on September 20, 1978, she and Wally moved to Nokomis, Florida where they have lived for 22 years. That first plant came with them and enjoyed the warmer weather so much that it grew up to their new roof overhang.

In 1979, the couple attended the Gulf Coast Chapter show. In those days, they discovered that the beautiful hibiscus cvs were hard to come by. Their only availability was by joining a local chapter. So that's what they did. The following year, she was elected to the position of secretary of the chapter. In fact, for the past 21 years, there hasn't been an office she has not held at the chapter. Zelma was president of the Gulf Coast Chapter from 1987-88 and president of the Harry Goulding Chapter from 1999-2000. You may ask how she managed that. Well, Zelma and Wally belong to these two chapters and are auxillary members to the Golby-Reasoner, James Hendry and Central Florida chapters. Zelma has chaired several committees for the AHS from 1991-1996.She served as national president for 1995-96.

For the last 10 years, Zelma has been a judge for the AHS. In all those years, Zelma has only missed four shows due to illness. She has even judged a show in San Antonio, Texas. In 1994, Zelma taught a judging seminar in the Virgin Islands while serving as first vice president of the AHS.

Now here is a hibiscus person who can narrow it down to one favorite cv! Usually when you ask this question, many individuals cannot choose just one. If you ask Zelma her favorite of all the thousand cvs out there, she tells you that Harry Goulding's Honey Do is the one! She calls Harry Goulding, the master hybridizer and with 450 cvs to his credit, I tend to agree with her. Zelma and Wally have tried hybridizing themselves but have never had anything they considered a keeper. They grow hibiscus for their enjoyment. Well, it is a good enough reason for me. On their property, they have 50 cvs.

Zelma and Wally also grow orchids, and other plants. See? I knew that she was my kind of gardener! She has many other interests including ceramics, reading and volunteering at Selby Gardens and for Meals on Wheels, a service for seniors that provides one hot meal a day. Zelma and Wally have been married for 49 years. If you ever get to meet them, they are a very good source on what a judge is looking for in a bloom.

Photo by Fred Westerman
Honey Do