Camellia Club of Mobile Newsletter

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Volume II Issue 5 _________________ February 2006

SHOW SIXTY-SIXTH SUCCESS!!!

Our sixty-sixth Camellia Show proved that practice makes perfect. We had more blooms in competition than we expected, considering the terrible damage done to the camellia plants in our region by hurricane Katrina. Many of our regular exhibitors from Mississippi and Louisiana were unable to show as many blooms as they usually do - however, the quality of the flowers was amazing. The newspaper and TV coverage brought a lot of people out to Colonial Bel Air Mall just to see the camellias. Thanks to Walter Creighton and Jim Oates the awards were even better this year. Becky Root and her crew at the education table were very busy, as was Forrest Latta at the ACS table. But the ladies at the Camellia Club of Mobile table really pulled out all the stops, with over 225 camellia plants sold, all the mugs and tote bags sold, plus sixty-seven new members signed up. All our information sheets were distributed as well, to new members and new camellia plant owners. A lot of members helped in making this Show such a success, from the judges’ reception, to setup, to receiving, to clerking. Our thanks to all who worked so hard, to all who exhibited blooms, and especially our expert judges who selected such lovely blooms for the awards table.

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Grafting Meeting at Bellingrath

Our February meeting will be held on Sunday, February 12, at Bellingrath Gardens. We will have a social half-hour from 2p.m. and the meeting will begin at 2:30 p.m. Jim Smelley will be demonstrating his grafting technique and the grafted plants will be available to Club members for a small fee. Please be sure to sign in and get a name tag when you arrive. Since we will have a number of brand new members, I will be giving them a special tag identifying them as new friends - please welcome as many of them as you can. This is always a popular program, Jim Smelley is a very talented propagator - his grafted plants that he and Elaine donated for sale at the Show were all snapped up by 11 a.m., we had at least two people waiting to buy some as we were putting them out for sale at 6:50 a.m.!!!

“Celebrate Camellias Event” at Bellingrath Gardens

The above event will be held on February 11 & 12. There will be a display of camellia blooms open to the public viewing from 11 a.m. You are invited to participate in this display by bringing your blooms to the Magnolia Cafe at Bellingrath between 8:30 & 10 a.m. on Saturday, February 11. There will be seminars at the Entry Building Auditorium on Saturday as follows:

11:30 Camellia Culture 101 by Tom Johnston, horticulturalist from the American Camellia Society Gardens in Fort Valley, GA.

12:30 The best camellia varieties for Mobile and the Gulf Coat by George Wright of Sweetwater Landscaping.

1:30 Waxing camellia blooms for display by Brenda Litchfield, vice-president Camellia Club of Mobile.

2:00 Camellia floral arrangements by Darlene Broussard from Bellingrath Gardens and Home.

2:30 - 3:30 Camellia Tea Party by Donnie Barrett from Fairhope Tea Plantation. Sample teas from camellia sinensis,, green, black and Oolong tea.

Camellia Chat....

In last month’s ‘Camellia Chat’ I mentioned that some members from our Club had won awards at the Pensacola Camellia Show - what I did not know was that I was one of ‘em! So that was the reason for the loud whoop from me at our Show when Dr Bill Bennett of the Pensacola Club gave me my award... didn’t mean to scare anyone!

When you are pruning back your camellias after blooms are done, please give a thought to Mike Mueller who is trying to get a camellia nursery started and would appreciate any scions or cuttings you can spare. He will happily pick them up from you, just give him a call at 342-8143.

At the Show I met a charming Scotsman, visiting from 15 miles east of Edinburgh. He has several camellias growing outdoors in his garden, and that’s on a latitude with the Alaskan Aleutian Islands! He was pleased to take back with him one of our information sheets on “Very Cold Hardy Camellias” which gives the names and descriptions of Dr. Clifford Parks’ and Dr. William Ackerman’s specially developed camellias.

One teenaged couple were so impressed with the camellias that the young man had to buy his girl one of our camellia plants. Alice Creighton

helped them select a good specimen. So maybe many years from now, there will be a grandmother sitting on her porch telling her grandchildren about how Grandpa bought her that big old camellia when it was just a little bitty plant and they were just courting...

A very, very special thanks from the ’Camellia Nazi’ to Alice, Melba, Maggie and Vickie for the sterling job you did at the Mobile Camellia Club table. Couldn’t have done it without you, and it sure wouldn’t have been as much fun.