Colorful Camellias Coming to Ocala

A honeybee flies in to pollinate a Magic City Camellia on the property owned by Patrick Andrews, the president of the American Camellia Society and Bob Weidman, where they have 2,300 Camellias growing, most in full bloom, in Citra, Fla. on Tuesday, Dec. 28, 2021. The Ocala Camellia Show will be held on January 29 and 30, 2022 at the Ocala Golf Club. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2021.

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Posted January 21, 2022 | By Belea T. Keeney

The Ocala Camellia Society hosts its free annual flower show Jan. 29-30, with plants for sale and hundreds of blooms expected for judging.

Imagine having a half million camellia blossoms in your yard. Some with ruffled petals, some with smooth petals. Some small as a daisy, others as large as a dinner plate. Imagine lush shades of wine, magenta, pink, fuchsia, white, cream and even yellow, and mixed flowers with stripes of beautiful color. For Patrick Andrews and Bob Weidman of the Ocala Camellia Society, it’s not just a fantasy—it’s a reality.

Some of those blooms will be on display at the Ocala Camellia Society flower show taking place Jan. 29-30 at the Ocala Golf Club. Show organizers expect hundreds of flowers to be entered in the show, which is free and open to the public.

And that estimated half million flowers figure? It’s based on, “Oh, I’d say north of 2,300 plants,” Andrews said with a laugh about the number of shrubs on their 9-acre property in Citra. “Between seedlings, air layered plants and mature shrubs, yeah, we’re close to 2,500 I would say.”

Mature camellias can bloom with hundreds of flowers each season.

The pair have been growing, collecting and developing new cultivars in camellias for more than three decades. They are key members of the Ocala Camellia Society and Andrews is current president of the American Camellia Society and manages the national organization.

Why camellias?

“They’re easy to grow, easy to maintain, plus no protection is really needed here unless there’s a hard freeze. And camellias really have no major pests,” he said.

“With roses in Florida, you’re spraying every week in summer,” Weidman said of dealing with fungus, pests and disease. Camellias don’t require that level of care.

When much of the landscape is brown and drab, camellias offer a colorful point of beauty in the winter garden. They tend to have deep green leaves that show off their blooms in a dramatic way.

“Most importantly, they reward you over and over again with flowers in the wintertime,” Andrews said.

Andrews and Weidman live on a lot with dozens of long-lived grandfather oak trees that provide a perfect environment for their camellias. The site offers dappled shade, a somewhat protected ecosystem and rich, acidic oak leaves that essentially self-mulch their plants.

Andrews thinks the Ocala area is perfect for camellias.

“In my experience, we have the best climate for growing camellias. We don’t have the hard freezes as often as even Tallahassee or Atlanta, where you might have a plant die all the way back to the ground,” he noted.

Once they are established and healthy, camellia shrubs can handle even a hard freeze.

“Though you might lose some flowers, it’s unlikely to ever lose the whole plant,” Andrews conceded.

For gardeners new to camellias, Andrews offered some expert advice: “My recommendation is to buy them at our show,” he said with a laugh, but then added, “No, seriously, we get them from an independent grower in Georgia—County Line Nursery—so they’re a good fit for this area. Plus, we can educate buyers about the flower and you see them in bloom, so you know what it looks like in flower.”

Andrews and Weidman both recommend buying from independent nurseries. Big-box stores, they both said, don’t have a broad selection of plants and the plants may not be well cared for in transit and while on display. Plus, independent nurseries know what they’re selling and can offer hands-on advice and information.

Several varieties are good for beginners, they said. The “Miss Lillian” is an Ocala native plant, cultivated by the late Lillian and Clarence Gordy in the 1990s, and it’s a consistent winner at shows. Its creamy white petals have a pink tinge on the edges and it’s an upright growing plant that is vigorous and hardy.

Andrews also recommends the “Happy Birthday” variety. Another Florida native, it originated in Lakeland in the early 1970s. It’s a large flower with dramatic fluted, ruffled petals and a large yellow anther in the center. Some “Happy Birthdays” can grow to be plate sized, he noted.

The Ocala Camellia Society club “is one of the most vibrant clubs in the United States,” Andrews said. “We have a great group of people. At the last meeting we had 27 people, which is a good showing. You don’t have to even have a camellia yet to join the club. Some members have only one or two plants and some have dozens.”

The club meets monthly September through March at the Marion County United Way office. “

The show will have club members available to answer questions and offer advice. Additionally, the club is hosting a drawing for a free camellia plant.

“And if you join the local and national clubs at the show, the fee will only be $10 and gets you an entry into another plant drawing,” Andrews said.

The $10 discounted membership fees also ties people into the reciprocal garden program that allows free visits to botanical gardens such as Bok Tower Garden in Lake Wales, Harry P. Leu Botanical Gardens in Orlando and the American Camellia Society’s collection at Massee Lane Gardens in Fort Valley, GA.

The past two years have been challenging for everyone and Andrews thinks this has helped garden societies everywhere.

“With current social restrictions and people just being more careful, gardens are becoming really important in people’s lives,” he said. “For avid gardeners, camellias are an easy-care perennial that will give you beautiful blossoms for years to come.”

Start out with one or two plants and you’ll probably have a couple dozen flowers. Get hooked on camellias and eventually you might have a half million flowers of your own.

If you go:

What: Ocala Camellia Society show and plant sale

When: January 29 & 30. Show opens to the public 1-5 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday; camellia plants available for purchase 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days.

Where: Ocala Municipal Golf Course, 3130 E. Silver Springs Blvd., Ocala

Cost: Free

Enter blossoms: Show entries accepted 7-10 a.m. Saturday

Learn more: www.americancamellias.com/about-american-camellia-society/clubs-societies/local-clubs-societies/florida-clubs-societies/ocala-camellia-society or find the Ocala Camelia Society on Facebook.