Camellia Club of Mobile  Newsletter

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Volume V  Issue 5                                                                                                                                                               February 2009 

Camellias clobber cold and “credit crunch”!!!

The  69th Camellia Show  held by our Club was extremely successful, considering that during the two nights before the Show temperatures in

the South plummeted several degrees below freezing - and just a week before we were all happily planning on entering our bumper crop of

blooms brought on by a warm November and December...   Despite Mother Nature’s efforts, there was an amazing display of high-quality

outdoor blooms, plus a formidable array of ‘knock-your-eyes-out’ protected reticulatas and japonicas.  The grafting clinic done by Blanding Drinkard, and sponsored by Rick Crow, was, as usual, very successful.  The educational table which put emphasis on fragrant camellias was

of great interest to many people, with queries made to Club members on where these plants could be obtained. The awards table sparkled as usual with lovely crystal and we were delighted to see that some of our Club members won going up against “the big boys”!  Our thanks go to all the Club members who gave their time to make our Show a success, without  your efforts we could not put on the Show.  Our most sincere thanks go, of course, to all who participated by entering and judging blooms, without you we certainly wouldn’t have a Show!

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Camellia Tour - February 1st, 2009 - Don’t miss this!

If you are wondering why the Newsletter is going out so early - it is so EVERYONE will know about the next Camellia Tour.    We will get to

visit Jim & Elaine Smelley’s camellia greenhouses in Agricola, MS.  The tours start at 1:30 p.m.  Following are directions:  from Mobile take

Airport Blvd heading west, past Mobile Airport, continue on into Mississippi where Airport Blvd becomes Highway 614. In Hurley MS, at the

major intersection, turn right onto Highway 613. Go to Agricola, pass the Elementary School.  At West Fire Department Road turn left. Go

about 1/2 mile, pass Glenn Reed Nursery.  The entrance to the Smelleys’ property will be set back on the right side.  Anyone who has had

the pleasure of visiting these greenhouses will be happy to go again; if you have never been, you are in for a real treat - just don’t drool on

the blooms!  If you are planning on taking photos make sure you have enough film or digital cards.... You’ll need it!

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FEBRUARY 8th meeting - Grafting Demonstrations

The Club Meeting at the Mobile Botanical Gardens will be held on February 8, 2009.  Meeting starts at 2:30 p.m. after our usual social half

hour.  The February Meeting is traditionally dedicated to hands-on demonstrations on grafting camellias. Jim Smelley (who is just about the

‘best in the west, &  the east’ at this) will be showing us how it’s done.  Experience has taught us that people learn grafting much better

watching an expert graft and being able to ask questions during the demonstration, than by watching a film or reading a book.  We will have

grafting stock available for members to purchase, plus Bill & Vera Curry will have a list of the camellias they have in case any members want

a scion - (not all on the list are big enough to donate scions, but most are).  Don’t miss this meeting, loads of good information here.

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CAMELLIA CHAT

To those members who wanted to know why there was no Newsletter for December and January - my sincere apologies, but I was what is

known in the oilfield as “out of pocket” - several thousand miles out-of-pocket to be exact!  But thanks to a very able “stringer” (that’s  a

newspaper term for an independent reporter) here’s what went on while I was over the horizon...

The November 2008 was attended by almost 40 people who came to hear Dr. Bill Bennett from Pensacola who was our guest speaker.  Dr.

Bennett gave a most interesting and informative talk on plants that are closely related to the camellia.  He also announced the good news that

the Pensacola Camellia Club has begun a camellia garden on the campus of the University of West Florida.

The December 2008 Christmas Party and Auction was a huge success with 54 members present to enjoy the festivities.  Jim Oates with his

usual great sense of humor was our auctioneer for the meeting, merrily flogging off camellia plants, camellia oil, books, and handmade

camellia items to the enjoyment of all.   The meal was organized by Carolyn Oyler and her band of cooks & helpers.  It was delicious and

many recipes were exchanged - maybe we should start collecting these and publish our own Camellia Cookbook????

We hear that there is a new Camellia Club in Louisiana called the Northshore Camellia Club and they have recently held their first Camellia

Show.  The Camellia Club of Mobile will be holding our 70th Show in 2010, we’re delighted to welcome a brand new Club.

We are glad to report that many of our Club members are now participating in Shows held by other Clubs, entering blooms and also acting as judges at these Shows.  Vickie & Al Baugh are very busy as judges, and Earl & Margaret Comstock are also participating as judges, too.  It is

really great to see our members joining in the larger camellia world.  Three of the most treasured and valued members of the U.S.A’s camellia

community are our Club members, Elaine Smelley, Jim Smelley and Walter Creighton.  These three people are extraordinarily generous in giving

time and sharing their knowledge with our members.  So to our new members, yes, these three are awe-inspiring, but they are not unapproachable.  They are very kind, talented and enthusiastic camellia growers, if you have a question, just introduce yourself, they’ll help if they can.  When I joined the Club I thought gibbing was something that happened on a sailboat when the boom slammed the other way - found out there is a much easier way to gib, not half as painful....

Our congratulations to Paula & Ralph Wilson who won two of the Novices Trophies, and to Jim & Eileen Dwyer who won the other Novice Trophy.

Nice going people.  We are going to have to watch out for our friend Jimmy Walker, he made a first time entry with a gorgeous “Paul Haskee”

and walked away with The First Lady’s Trophy which Jim Oates donates in memory of Dolores Oates.

Frances Ashcraft is to be congratulated on her newly-registered bloom “ Cleo Glidden Arras”.  She exhibited a lovely tray of three, the bloom is a formal double with as many as 70 petals!  Well done, Frances!  your mother would be proud of this beautiful flower named for her.

The Judge’s Reception was held in a private room at The Bakery Restaurant in Mobile, the evening before the Show.  Our thanks to Board Member David Nihart for arranging the great venue for us.  The food was organized by Sharon Emmons who put on a super spread with the

assistance of Club members.  I’m sorry I missed such a nice evening, but with 6 hours jet lag I would have been asleep with my face in my plate

like the Dormouse in Alice in Wonderland!

Larry Heard and Robert Moore of Robert Moore’s Christmas Store (on Hall’s Mill Road) donated a simply gorgeous porcelain “Debutante”,

camellia made by Boehm Porcelain, to be used for a Silent Auction during the Camellia Show.  This was an exceedingly generous gesture on

the part of these two Club members.  The Christmas Store is the only place this porcelain camellia can be bought, so gentlemen, don’t forget

Valentine’s Day  is coming  up soon and I can’t think of a prettier or more appropriate gift for your lady.....

The Camellia Quilt made by Vera Curry was raffled off at the end of the Camellia Show and the winner was Gabriel “Ole” Olson, who is a long

time member of the Pensacola Club and also a member of the Mobile Club.  We were all pleased to see it go to a good home (I did tell Ole

that it was perfectly O.K. to use it to raise funds for the Pensacola Club, but he informed me it was going on his living room wall!).  So all the

people who were going to ask him to sell it - don’t bother.  To all who asked when the next quilt will be available - I can only say that making

a quilt is a bit like having a baby, you have to wait a while until all the fuss and bother fades and you only remember that nice result!

One thing that was noticed at the Show was that the Mall was nowhere near as busy as it has been in previous years.  We have put this down

to the current economic downturn.  We did our bit to help people out by keeping our annual dues at $5.00 per person (same as it’s been since

1940 when the Club was founded) plus we gave all new members a super free CD with 1,000 camellia pictures on it.  These were made by

our President Dr. Jim Dwyer and the same CD was also given to each of the Show judges. 

Our 2009 Show Chairman, Walter Creighton, thanks all who participated in putting on our 69th Show - he said the Show had more help this

year then ever.  Now, NEXT year, we’re really going to top the lot since we will be celebrating our 70th anniversary Show.

A gentle reminder - if you haven’t paid your 2008/2009 dues yet, it would be helpful if you could do it before February l5 - that is when the

Treasurer & Secretary go over the membership list  and update it.  Invariably  we remove names and the next meeting we receive their dues-

the membership list resembles a revolving door and drives the Secretary potty (well, pottier than she is naturally).  So, if you want to keep

receiving the Newsletter, pretty please, check that your dues are paid (most of ‘em are).

The Club has received a splendid gift of 22 volumes of American Camellia Society Yearbooks dating from l947 through l970 inclusive, only

1966 is missing.  These were the property of Mr, E. B. Mann who owned Woodland Nursery in Pascagoula, Mississippi, for many years. His

son, David Mann, approached me at the Camellia Show and asked if the Club would be interested in having these books.  Of course, I was

delighted to accept his offer, Bill Curry drove over to Mobile and we picked them up.  I am in the process of putting Camellia Club of Mobile

Library labels in them.  If anyone wants to borrow any of these volumes let me know, the articles in them are most interesting.  The Club has

sent Mr. Mann a letter of thanks for his thoughtfulness in donating his father’s books to us.