Camellia Club of Mobile  Newsletter  Volume VI -  Issue 1

SEEDLING SESSION STARTS OFF SEASON

The fiirst meeting of the 2009/2010 season saw over 60 members gathering at the Mobile Botanical Gardens on September 13.  Despite our scheduled speaker being unable to attend due to unforeseen events, pinch-hitters Jim Oates and Walter Creighton stepped up and did a terrific job of answering questions on the subject of camellia seed propagation.  Frances Ashcraft told the story of her recently named and registered camellia “ Cleo Gliddon Arras” and how it was entered into the Camellia Nomenclature book.  As part of our Seventieth Year celebrations members were given seedlings to take home, in a few  years some of those seedlings may be named cultivars…  It was a very pleasant  & enjoyable meeting.

October Meeting - Elaine’s CAMELLIAS!

Don’t miss our October 11 meeting – Elaine Smelley will be giving a slide show of old, new and as yet  unnamed camellias, as you all know this is always one of our most popular programs.  This year it will be extra useful to all those members who are planning on going on our camellia nursery tour in Mississippi on October l7 – more on this later in the Newsletter.  So do bring a pencil and paper, and if you have a question about a particular bloom, do ASK about it at the time Elaine is showing it!  (As we have said before it is not much use to ask about that “ big ole purty white one” after Elaine has finished her talk – there are a heck of a lot of big ole purty white ones!)

MISSISSIPPI CAMELLIA NURSERY OUTING  - OCTOBER 17………..

If  you’re interested in expanding your camellia collection or just want to know what is available, this tour is for you!  Members are planning on meeting for lunch at the Hook Line & Sinker Seafood Restaurant in Lucedale, MS.  After lunch we will visit Kyle McCaskey’s Camellia Nursery where he will show us around and offer camellias for sale. We will also visit Vernon Howell’s Nursery, where Vernon will have both rooted and grafted plants for sale.  A map and directions on how to locate the restaurant, Kyle’s and Vernon’s is enclosed with this newsletter for those who do not do E-mail – members who receive this by E-mail can find the map & directions on our website.  This  will be a most enjoyable afternoon!

CAMELLIA CHAT………………………………………………….

As most members know we have new Officers & Board for our 70^th anniversary season, if you missed this information, our President is Vickie Baugh, Vice-President is Floyd Hamburg, Treasurer is Kay Calloway, Secretary is Vera Curry – Board members are Dr. James Dwyer, Florence Nelson, James Oates, Elaine Smelley and James E. Walker.

Our Vice-Prez  Floyd Hamburg has been having a bad time during the past couple of months, first a blood clot split, avoiding his heart, but causing a serious bilateral pulmonary emboli in his lungs, blood thinners to dissolve the clots then caused a brain bleed necessitating brain surgery, having come through all this trauma (you can’t keep a good camellia grower down) another clot developed in his leg! After ten more days in the hospital; Floyd is now home but confined pretty much to bed and being treated with medicine and physiotheraphy…Our best wishes go out to both Floyd and Melba for a very speedy recovery.

And if that is not  enough….our dear Treasurer Kay Calloway will be undergoing surgery to replace her left shoulder on Tuesday, October 13^th .She is hoping to be out in a matter of days.  Again our best wishes go out to her and Ray, we know the operation will be a huge success.

Many members will have noted that our 70^th Anniversary Show has been dedicated to the memory of Tom Dodd, Jr.  This delightful man and superb plantsman will be sorely missed by all who knew him and his love of camellias, azaleas and native flora. He visited our Show every year and it was a great pleasure to talk to and learn from him,

Next month’s Newsletter will have a special treat – Larry Heard has given up his recipe for that luscious chocolate cake (I didn’t twist his arm too much!) and it will be printed in the next issue.  If you have to have it NOW, photocopies will be available at the October meeting.