The Camellia Club of Mobile

Officers	Governing Board
Larry Heard - President	Don Oyler-Past President
Tom Getz- Vice President	James Walker
Maureen Kennedy - Secretary	Harrirt Nihart
Debbie Smith - Treasurer	Justin Stamper
Jim Smelley (Show Chairman)	Marie Stringfellow
	James Smelley (Honorary)

CAMELLIA HISTORY FACT

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This is a new feature that will be updated periodically.

The C. Reticulata cultivars ‘Frank Houser’ and ‘Frank Houser Variegated’ consistently receive the highest number of awards at camellia shows . ‘Frank Houser’ originated from a seedling of the Reticulata hybrid 'Buddha' x Japonica 'Steve Blount' that was cultivated by Dr. Walter E. Homeyer. Although Dr. Homeyer was initially unimpressed by the bloom, his close friend and neighbor, Frank Houser, admired it so much that Dr. Homeyer named the plant after him and registered it in 1989. A virus-variegated form of the Reticulata hybrid 'Frank Houser' was subsequently registered in 1990 by Marvin Jernigan. ‘Frank Houser’ was honored with the National Camellia Hall of Fame award in 1995.

Bloom ranking for camellia cultivars can be found at ACCS Bloom Ranking Archives

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T. W. Bower of Mobile produced a graft of 'Doctor Knapp on 'Mathotiana variegated understock. The bloom from this graft did not resemble the scion or the rootstock. It was classified as a graft chimera. The term chimera comes from Greek mythology and was depicted as a creature with a lion’s head, a goat's body and a serpent's tail. When applied to biology it means. an organism having tissues from different organisms. Presumably, a growth bud that originated at the graft union developed with tissues from the rootstock and the scion. Mr. Bower named the cultivar for his daughter Helen Bower. Belle Fontaine Nursery in Theodore, Alabama began selling it in 1964

Helen Bower was shown on the cover of the July 1964 ACS publication THE CAMELLIA JOURNAL. You can see a picture of Helen Bower by going to Camellia Library - General Search Feature and typing Helen Bower.

Another graft chimera originated from a graft of a camellia japonica on a Camellia sasanqua, You can read about this at Yearbook-1970-Camellia Daisy Eagleson-A Chimera.pdf

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CAMELLIA IN THE SNOW
Send me your camellia snow pictures

OUR 2025 SHOW


CAMELLIAS ON DISPLAY LEARN ABOUT CAMELLIAS CAMELL IAS FOR SALE
PREPAIRING BLOOMS FOR SHOW
VERA CURRY WITH JIM SMELLEY VERA IS LIVING IN ENGLAND AND TRAVELED TO MOBILE TO COME TO OUR SHOW

EILEEN DWYER, VERA CURRY, FRANCES ASHCRAFT, MELBA HAMBURG AT 2018 SHOW

LOVELY BLOOMS ON DISPLAY

A TRIBUTE TO NUCCIO'S NURSERY

MORE PHOTOS

CLICK TO SEE AN AI GENERATED CAMELLIA STORY

WANT TO SEE AND BUY SOME GREAT CAMELLIAS?
GO TO ONE OF THESE SHOWS:
OZONE CAMELLIA CLUB
DEC. 7, 2024
PENSACOLA CAMELLIA CLUB
DEC.14, 2024
CLICK ON THE REGIONAL EVENTS SIDEBAR FOR DETAILS

I AM FREQUENTLY ASKED ABOUT WHERE YOU CAN BUY CAMELLIAS LIKE THE BEAUTIFUL ONES DISPLAYED AT CAMELLIA SHOWS. MY ANSWER IS THAT YOU PROBABLY CAN'T. LOCAL NURSERIES ARE NOT LIKELY TO CARRY THEM. SOME CAN BE FOUND BY MAIL ORDER, BUT SHIPPING COSTS MAKE THEM VERY EXPENSIVE. COME TO OUR SHOW TO SEE A GREAT SELECTION OF CAMELLIAS FOR SALE' AND IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO GET ADDITIOAL GREAT CAMELLIA VARIETIES' JOIN OUR CLUB AND LEARN HOW TO PROPAGATE YOUR OWN.
The Camellia Club of Mobile Meets the 2nd Sunday
of the Month at 2:00 p.m. from September to April at the Jon Archer
Agricultural Center1070 Schillinger Rd. N. Mobile, AL

TWO BLOOMS REGISTERED BY CLUB MEMBERS IN 2024