Report to the American Camellia Society Board of Directors

Activities of Affiliate Organizations in the North Georgia Region
Spring 2026


The Augusta Camellia Society joined with their nearby South Carolina club in Aiken to host an exhibition show at the end of the 2025 year at historic Lookaway Hall; they had a terrific number of blooms to share with the public and great attendance. Unfortunately, the very cold weather in early winter forced the club to cancel their annual show. They replaced it with an exhibition with additional information sessions; some of their leadership conducted a class on grafting camellias and other shrubs, demonstrated camellia waxing, hosted others to exhibit flower arrangements, and invited vendors to show their wares. They also joined with the Aiken club to do another exhibition in March. One method of encouraging members to volunteer for the shows and exhibitions is to offer “bonus bucks” for their volunteer time, which can be used to discount the prices for the camellias at their sales, managed through Gene Philips and his “Gene’s Camellia World.”

The club meets from September to March and conducts a plant auction at their next-to-last meeting of the year in February, which is another major fundraiser. The club is currently planning for shows for 2027 and 2028 and identifying potential sites for the shows.

The North Georgia Camellia (Metro Atlanta) Society includes roughly 40 households and promotes its activities to a list of 400-plus camellia friends. The club held five in-person gatherings for programs, which included sessions on camellia care and propagation at Bellmere Garden House and other locations. A special January session focused on show training and bloom preparation in anticipation of the club’s 77th Annual Atlanta Camellia Show; the show was ultimately cancelled due to the unfortunate weather, which affected outdoor blooms and led to the closing of the Atlanta Botanical Garden on the show weekend. (Baton Rouge and Augusta also had to cancel their shows due to the unusual weather.) The Atlanta Botanical Garden continues to help promote the annual show through its publications, email blasts, and website. Planning is underway for the 78th Annual Show in February 2027 at the Garden.

The club continues to develop its close association with the Atlanta History Center; with thanks to Vice President Jim

Read more: Spring 2026 Report of North Georgia Distric of the ACS

Society News

New Website for the North Georgia Camellia Society

We’ve made it more colorful, more informative, and more secure.

After months of planning and development, the North Georgia Camellia Society is proud to launch its completely rebuilt website at northgeorgiacamelliasociety.org. Whether you’re a longtime member or a new camellia enthusiast, you’ll find the new site is a significant step forward in every way.

More Colorful

The new site features a fresh, modern design built around our society’s signature colors — Botanical Green and Camellia Gold — with a rich photographic header showcasing the beauty of our favorite flower. Every page has been designed to reflect the elegance of the camellia itself, making the site a pleasure to browse.

More Informative

The heart of the new site is an ambitious three-pillar content library organized around Culture, Knowledge, and World — covering everything from how to grow camellias in North Georgia’s climate, to the history and lore of the plant around the globe. "Find Your Next Favorite Bloom" is the home to over 136 variety images drawn from decades of American Camellia Society yearbooks, the catalog is fully searchable and browsable with a visual card grid that makes finding your favorite variety quick and easy. We have recieved permission from Atlantic Coast, Gulf Coast, and Southern California Camellia Societies and the ACS to reprint from their publications. Some of their content has already been added to the site.

This is just the beginning — we’ll be adding new content regularly as we continue digitizing 80 years of ACS publications.

More Secure

Security was a top priority in the rebuild. The new site runs on Joomla 5 with multiple layers of protection including:

• A hardened administrator login with three independent access controls
• hCaptcha protection on all public-facing forms
• Encrypted email delivery via SSL
• Administrator-approved user registration
• Automatic session timeouts

These measures ensure that member data and site content are protected against the kinds of attacks that have unfortunately become common for small organization websites.

Stay Connected

The new site also includes a member newsletter system so you can stay up to date on society news, upcoming events, growing tips, and variety spotlights — all delivered directly to your inbox.

We’re excited about what’s been built and even more excited about what’s coming. We hope you enjoy exploring the new site, and as always, we welcome your feedback.

— John Scarpucci, President, NGCS

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