Report to the American Camellia Society Board of Directors
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
Pruckler, the club has donated more than 40 historic and rare camellias to the gardens there—many of which are planted near the Swan House, designed by Atlanta’s beloved architect, Philip Trammel Shutze. One of the in-person gatherings was a tour of the NGCS camellia donation at AHC for more than 20 members and friends. The horticulture team at AHC continues its research into Shutze’s papers and has developed a list of the more than 200 camellias grown and shown by him over the years, which will be used to help them source these old varieties as they build the collection. (Shutze was also known for designing the elaborate sets for the Atlanta Show in its early years.) Sarah Carter, AHC’s Olguita Goizueta Vice President, and her horticulture team experienced their first tour with Jim and William Khoury and several NGCS officers at Massee Lane Gardens in February. Staci Catron, the Executive Director of the Cherokee Library at AHC, also visited Massee Lane to explore the ACS archives and provide advice about the holdings. Both Staci and Sarah are working with club leadership and Forrest Latta about using AHC and other Atlanta venues as sites for a one-day visit during the ICS/ACS meeting. To help Massee Lane and ACS fund improvements for the ICS/ACS meeting, the club purchased a brick at Massee Lane in honor of John Newsome.
Thanks to Fulton and Hall County Master Gardeners, the club held very successful plant sales at five markets between September and April. More than 240 plants were sold, including 50 historic camellias propagated by Jim. The sales encouraged more gardeners to grow the shrubs we all love, provided helpful advice on planting and care, and netted a few new members and 25 additional names to our mailing list.
Respectfully submitted,
John Scarpucci, State Director for North Georgia