Camellia Club of Mobile  Newsletter  Volume VII -  Issue  3

Camellia Club Christmas Party – December 12 – you’re invited!

The Club’s annual Christmas Party will take place at the Mobile Botanical Gardens beginning at 2 p.m. on December l2.  The Club will be providing the usual holiday meats, dressing and gravy, with all side dishes, desserts and beverages being supplied by Club members.  If you plan to attend and do not know what to bring, please call our catering organizer Carolyn Oyler at 251-666-4674 and she will tell you what we may still need.  This is always a very social meeting, with the star attraction (after the good food!) being the Christmas Auction, which will be run again by Jim Oates.  There will be all sorts of things on auction from plants to small and large items.  If you have anything that you think someone would like, bring it along for Jim to auction, all monies raised will be used for the benefit of the Camellia Club.  Jim’s wicked sense of humor always makes this a great afternoon.  Do come and join in a most pleasant and relaxing meeting.

Jim Campbell proves you can have camellias without plants!

Our November meeting featured a presentation by Jim Campbell of Covington, La., entitled “Camellia Collections without Plants” – intrigued by this title almost 60 members turned up to be enlightened… and enlightened we were!  Jim displayed an amazing and elegant collection of items that featured camellias, from china ware to silverware to ornaments to a really fantastic selection of books and prints.  He even had a length of material printed with lovely camellias! There were a lot of “oohs” and “aahs” as each item appeared and was passed around the room.  It’s a good job that camellia lovers are not a larcenous lot, otherwise Jim might have returned home minus a lot of his superb collection!  Everyone present really appreciated Jim making the long trip to Mobile to share his treasures.

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Upcoming Camellia Shows…..

December 11, 2010 – Pensacola Camellia Club’s 72^nd Show (yes, they’re older than us) at The Wright Place, First United Methodist Church, Wright St., Pensacola Entry time for blooms 7 to 11 a.m.  Show open to public at 2 p.m.  Always a great show, plus plants for sale

December 18, 2010 – Northshore Camellia Club’s 3^rd Show at St. Scholastica’s School Gymnasium, 122 N. Massachusetts St., Covington, La. Entry time for blooms is 8 to 10:30 a.m.  Show open to public 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.  One of the newest shows, but very well attended.

CAMELLIA CHAT………………                                                                                     

The first camellia show of the season for our area was the Fort Walton Beach Club’s, followed by the Mississippi Gulf Coast Camellia Club and the Ozone Camellia Club in Slidell, La.  All were well attended with some lovely blooms on display. One of the best aspects of a camellia show is that you can see all the new  varieties and find out what does well in our area, plus there are so many expert growers that no questions go unanswered (just make sure you ask them after the experts have finished putting out their blooms!)

The Moble Botanical Garden had a formal opening ceremony of its Wintergarden Camellia Garden on Sunday, December 5.  As most of us know this Garden has been under construction with Bobby Green of Green’s Nurseries doing most of the design and supervision, plus providing a lot of the plants.  The Camellia Club of Mobile’s Governing Board was approached to be a sponsor of this project.  This was discussed by the Board and President Don Oyler presented to the members at the November meeting the Board’s suggestion of donating $1,000 as a sponsor for the Wintergarden Camellia Garden.  This donation would only be used specifically for the Camellia Garden.  The Board’s recommendation was enthusiastically and unanimously approved by all present.  After the formal opening of the Wintergarden a group of carol singers from the Episcopal Church led visitors through the gardens, with Bill Finch of the Press Register, ably assisted by John Nodar of WKRG-TV5, telling the story of camellias and of Mr. K. Sawada and his famous Overlook Nursery here in Mobile.  The current President of the Camellia Club of Mobile and five past Presidents attended this ceremony and concert celebrating the Queen of the Winter Flowers.

A nurseryman in Loxley, Alabama, is retiring and selling a lot of his plants at extremely good prices - $2.00 for one-gallon and $4.00 for three-gallon.  Anyone interested in obtaining any of these plants (they are older and well-known varieties of sasanquas and japonicas) should contact Ronald Driskell or Vera Curry for further information and directions.

Hope everyone is getting their blooms ready for our show in just over a month.  It really is a pleasure to be able to share the fruits of your labors with friends and fellow growers, plus introduce the non-camellia growing public to the beauty and variety of Alabama’s State Flower. A bit of info for those growers (like me) who find that their plants bloom prolifically at the end of February and the beginning of March – Dothan’s Camellia Club will be holding a Show at the beginning of March, which is super news.  Details not yet finalized, I understand, but we’ll keep you in the loop through the Newsletter and website mobilecamellia.org.