A Non·Profit Organization

Vol. 7, No.2 OFFICIAL BULLETIN January 1954

Shiro ChanCourtesy Domoto Nursery, 26591 Western Read, Hayward, California

2 Northern California Camellia Society, Inc.

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA CAMELLIA SOCIETY. INC.

ROSTER OF OFFICERS

PRESIDENT:C. W. Lattin (TR 2-2120)2246 83rd Ave., Oakland

VICE-PRESIDENT:Wallace H. Brown (OL 2-5404)201 The Uplands, Berkeley 5

TREASURER:Woodford Harrison (LA 4-4671)910 Oxford St., Berkeley

COMMITTEE CHAIRMEN:

BULLETIN EDITOR:Mrs. Barlow Hollingshead (Orinda 2054)12 La Cintilla Ave., Orinda

ARRANGEMENTS:Mrs. Herbert Teachout (Orinda 2028)23 Acacia Drive, Orinda

BLOOM DISPLAY:Mr. Lee B. Sutliff12 Menlo Place, Berkeley

MEMBERSHIP:Walter N. Powell (OL 3-1586)423 60th St., Oakland 9

QUESTION PERIOD:D. L. Feathers (Orinda 2171)1 Camellia Lane, Lafayette

RECEPTION:John Paul Edwards (GL 1-1854)1347 Trestle Glen Road, Oakland 10

SECRETARY:C. A. Roberts2851 Johnson Ave., Alameda

DIRECTORS:D. L. Feathers (Orinda 2171)1 Camellia Lane, Lafayette 1Walter N. Powell (OL 3-1586)423 60th St., Oakland 9Mrs. Herbert Teachout (Orinda 2028)23 Acacia Drive, Orinda

BOOK SALES:Mrs. Lenore Broze (HU 3-9668)6100 Harwood Ave., Oakland 18

HOSTESS:Mrs. Louise Lattin (TR 2-2120)2246 83rd Ave., Oakland

LAKESIDE CAMELLIA GARDENS:O. E. Hopfer (AN 1-5737)1872 Brentwood Road, Oakland 2

HORTICULTURAL RESEARCH:H. L. Paige (Lafayette 3408)1212 Monticello Road, Lafayette

PUBLIC ADDRESS SYSTEM:David B. Grigsby2218 Jefferson Ave., Berkeley

SERGEANT-AT-ARMS:C. A. Andrews449 Hillcrest Road, San Mateo

The Northern California Camellia Society, Inc. is a non-profit organization of camellia fanciersinterested in the culture, propagation, and development of camellias. Meetings are held onthe first Monday in each month from November to May inclusive, at 8 p.m., at the ChabotSchocl Auditorium, Oakland. Membership is open to all those with a serious interest in thesubject. Annual Dues $5.00. Membership application blanks may be obtained from C. A.Roberts, 2851 Johnson Avenue, Alameda.

Published by the Northern California Camellia Society, Inc.

Copyright, 1954

COVER FLOWER

SHIRO CHAN (white sport of C. M. Wilson) is a new introduction by ToichiDamato of the Damato Nursery, 26591 Western Road, Hayward, California. Theflower has the same form and texture of Chandler's Eleqans. which is much usedas a corsage flower due to its beauty and unusual keeping quality. For a centurycamellia lovers have wished for a white mutation of Elegans. Several years agoToichi Damato noticed a white bloom on a C. M. Wilson plant in one of. the lathhouses. Thinking that one of his men--who sometimes played practical iokes­had wired a white flower to the plant, he pretended not to see it but edgedtoward it unconcernedly. Imagine his delight to find a white mutation of Eleqans!(C. M. Wilson is a delicate pink mutation of Elegans.) Immediately the DamatoNursery started propagating and found that the sport continued to come true.

Northem California Camellia Society, Inc.

PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

3

As we are now approaching the height of the Camellia Season and are infull anticipation of our Camellia Show which is to be held on the 27th and 28thof February, it is my wish that each and everyone of you will enter into thespirit of the show to the fullest extent. We need many, many hours of help.To those who have helped before, we ask that you again exert yourselves asyou have in the past.

We need help in staging, which consists of display illumination and themovement of properties, as well as registration clerks, judges' clerks, doorticket sales and many, many other jobs. If you have not sent in your mimeo­graphed volunteer service sheet which was enclosed with your last notice,do so now that we may count upon you.

What a person puts into an activity of this sort is a measure of what hegains from it. Let us all make this the best show that we have ever held.

CAMELLIAS IN AUSTRALIA

To the Northern California Camel­lia Society, greetings from Walter G.Hazlewood of Epping, New SouthWales, Australia.

The earliest record of camellias inAustralia is a batch of six plants,which William Macarthur, of Cam­den Park, imported from the firm ofC. Loddiges in London in the year1831. These comprised Anemonifloraor Waratah, Carnea or Buff (LadyHume's Blush or Incarnata), DoubleWhite (Alba Plena), Myrtifolia, Rubra,and Welbankiana. What I consider isthe original plant of Anemoniflora isstill flourishing, being planted nearthe house and not suffering from theneglect which happened to the majorplantings of later imports. In thenext 45 years this gentleman broughtin over 200 other varieties, and wehave records of 67 seedlings of hisown raising. Most of these have beenlost to cultivation, but some of themare still among our most popular vari­eties. Probably the most outstandingsort is Aspasia Macarthur with itssports LadyLoch andOtahuhuBeauty.Others still grown are Dido, Isabella,Mariana, Marina, Leila. When I first

started looking round the old planta­tions for old camellias, I took cut­tings of all that were left alive atCamden Park, to the number of 107plants. A number of these were du­plications and I am sure that quite alot were their seedlings, but the lim­ited descriptions available were notenough to determine them correctly.Different nurserymen imported manyvarieties at separate times. I thinkeasily 1000 were brought in, but ow­ing to the lack of interest in camel­lias from the late nineties until about1930, and the growth of Sydney,spreading over the old nurseries andold estates, most of these plants havebeen destroyed. George Brunning ofMelbourne imported the three Ho­vey's, namely GM., GB., and Mrs.A.M. Hovey sometime in the seven­ties and first catalogued them in1882. These were lost label plants inAmerica, but after seeing a colorplate of Colonel Firey I was able toinform the late Roy Wilmot of its cor­rect name. During the war years,William E. Wylam of Pasadena, whowas serving with the United StatesNavy at the time, when his ship hap­pened to be in Sydney in the middle

4 Northern California Camellia Society, Inc.

of the camellia flowering season,called on me, and spent one after­noon looking at the different sorts incompany with my propagator, Mr. E.Kirk. Bill was very impressed withmany that he saw and made arrange­ments on his return, to get them. Ialso sent many varieties to the Hun­tington Gardens through Carl Tourjeand by this means many of our Aus­tralian varieties have reached you.Lindo Nursery imported a batch fromNew Zealand in 1924. Some of theseseem to have lost their names asyour Paeoniflora turns out to be ourAspasia Macarthur, a seedling raisedby William Macarthur. Pink Shell,which Bill sent out to me turned outto be Lady St. Clair, a seedling raisedby Samuel Purchase of SomersetNursery, Parramatta. The name ofPurchase's house was St. Clair, andhe had just taken a second wife andhe called the camellia Lady of St.Clair. (This was afterwards shortenedto Lady St. Clair.) Valley GardensNursery gives it as a Californian vari­ety in their 1951 catalogue but thisis a mistake, as after flowering it herethere can be no doubt about it. It isone of those perfect flowered sortswhich ball on the tree and one sel­dom gets a good bloom, and becauseof this it is not a satisfactory variety.Yet in Rookwood Cemetery, whereit never gets any attention and isgrowing in almost pure pipeclay,one never sees a poor bloom. Myown plant, growing near some treeswhich rob it of most of its nourish­ment, seldom produces a poor flower.

I should say there is a great simi­larity of climate between Australiaand California for the growing of ca­mellias. Firstly, we both have a mildclimate. Australia being an islandcontinent does not have the exces­sive cold coming from the pole, suchas is experienced in America andEurope. Our weather coming fromthe South Pole has to pass over thou­sands of miles of sea before reachingus and in consequence has lost the

bulk of its coldness. In California,the Rockies divert the Arctic windsand create warm currents of air fromthe sea which keep your climatemild. The coastal area round Sydney,in New South Wales, is, I consider,as nearly perfect for the growing ofcamellias as anywhere in the world.We have a warm to hot summer nec­essary for the formation of flowerbuds and a winter, just cold enoughto bring the blooms to perfection,without being so cold as to causedamage to the flowers. Sydney's cli­mate is coastal wtih a more or lessmoisture laden atmosphere particu­larly in the summer time, which isideal for health and growth. In ourmountain areas, blooms are liable tobe spoilt by frost and the same ap­plies to Melbourne and Adelaide. Inaddition to this the last two placeshave a continental climate, with con­sequent hot, dry winds from the in­terior, which create I should say acondition similar to Southern Cali­fornia. So suitable is Sydney climatethat I should say 90% of our camel­lias are growing out in full sunlight.Plants of 60 to 80 years of age are stillto be found growing in old gardensand cemeteries, still healthy, althoughthey never get any attention in thematter of watering, cultivation or ma­nuring. I am not advocating neglectas the plants would be ever so muchbetter if they were looked after, butI am pointing out that even with suchneglect, old plants are still doingwell. The old nurseries and largegardens of early Sydney, have mostlydisappeared and their place is takenby factories and residences, but inmany gardens some of the old plantsare still flourishing. Rookwood Ceme­tery is a notable example. Plantedabout the eighties of last century,and in a soil that is nearly pure pipe­clay, never receiving any attentionor water except when it rains, yetmost of the plants are quite healthyand up to 12 feet high. Of course,

(Continued on Page 13)

Northern California Camellia Society, Inc. 5

'The above talk was given at the December7, 1953 meeting of the Northern CaliforniaCamellia Society, Inc., and reported by theeditor.

NEW VARIETIES FROM SEEDLINGSBy Monroe C. Staley, Riverbank Camellia Nursery, Riverbank, California

Back in 1937 when I first entered as the years have gone by that wethe nursery business with my moth- did not know earlier. It takes a gooder, we completed a couple of lath many years for the plants to mature.houses, one of which was not being "Esther Moad: I named after myoccupied. We decided to plant some mother' that was her maiden name.camellia seeds and see what might I am r~asonably certain that one ofbecome of them. We had Wakanoura the parents is Akebono. It is an up-Variegated, Akebono and Covina, all right tree-type grower and has aboutgood seed-bearers. In between those three flower forms-semi-double, in-we had better varieties, standard complete double, and double withnow, such as Herme, Peoniaeflora, petaloids in the center. It remindsKumasaka, as well as some of the me of a tuberous begonia where yougood varieties that we still use today. get single flowers and double flow-Then in the lath house itself there ers on the same plant. The cold doeswere probably a hundred varieties not injure the flowers; in fact, theat that time that were close by, so coloring is best in the month of Ian-that the best would have a good uary-a glowing pink-when therechance to pollinate from the hundred is frost in the air at night.varieties to the good seed-bearing "Lazetta" is m wife's first name.plants We allowed the bees to do y , 1 f fall th~ pollinizing they wished to do, It has ~bout the sturdIest ea 0 anyand we did some hand pollinating camelha we kno~ of. Therefore, Itth t th ht ld make good stands more sunshme than any plant

a we oug wou we have tried out so far. A landscapecrosses. architect at Modesto had it planted

Starting in 1937 we grew over a in the sun, from eight in the morningthousand seeds; to date we have to six o'clock at night, in valley heat.eight varieties which we feel are It is slightly fragrant. The only fra-worthy of a name. Seven were regis- grant variety that was blooming attered with the American Camellia the time was Herme, which is not soSociety in February 1951. We didn't fragrant as Lazetta. There is only onetry to rush them on the market; seven thing about this variety that I wishor eight varieties we started to name, were not so and that is, it takes some-had them in circulation a while, where between seven or eight yearswanted to get customer reaction. We before it begins to bloom well on itsfound there were others just as good, own roots. We have tried grafting; itperhaps had some bad habits, dis- may speed up the process some. Itcarded those. Ended up with eight. will bloom quite heavily after itOne is not registered yet. We didn't reaches maturity. The flower resem-put plants on the market until we bles Prof. Sargent in color, size andhad developed stock and had time form.to keep them under observation. We find down there that camellias

I would like to take these seven do withstand heat. The darker redregistered varieties and give you in- colors are better to start in the sun,formation about each one. There are and the sturdier the foliage the easiersome things we found out about them to become established in the sun. It

is advisable to keep a plant shelteredfor three years, then remove shelter.We have tried this successfully inthe Modesto area.

6 Northern California Camellia Society, Inc.

"Knight's Ferry" is named after theCalifornia gold-mining town. One ofthe parents was Kumasaka. It has arapid, willowy habit of growth. Theflower is a medium semi-double, aheavy bloomer from the start, withlots of buds. Don't have to disbud.Ideal for espalier work. It is rose incolor, with crinkly, heart-shapedpetals.

"Sonora" has the same type ofwillowy growth which adapts itselfreadily to any framework. The floweris a rose-pink, medium-large formaldouble.

"Sharon Lee" was named after alittle girl named Sharon Lee Allen,who was just recovering from rheu­matic fever when six or seven yearsold. At the time her mother broughther to the nursery, she expressed aliking for the flower. With her moth­er's approval we named it "SharonLee." It is a good bloomer; has pink,medium - large blossoms with tuftedcenters.

"Burneyville" is probably the mostrapid grower of the group and aheavy bloomer. It is named for alittle settlement near our town namedfor Gen. Burney who is said to havehelped run the Indians out of Mari­posa County. The town of Riverbankhas a Burneyville Housing Project.The blossom is a large incompletedouble, rose red which takes on apurple cast at times when the weatheris cooler and damper.

"Victor Johnson" is a peony-typered of medium size, a good uprightgrower, fairly compact. It is namedfor a friend of mine, a P-38 pilot inthe African campaign who was lostover there in World War II.

"Modesto" is an anemone type,pink with veining. We tried it out inquite a lot of heat and found that thefoliage holds up well. It is suitablefor one of the sunnier spots.

Camellia Planting InstructionsMy mother worked out camellia

planting instructions for growing ca­mellias in our area. Plant on the

north or east side of house or in ashady spot. Where there are shadetrees, camellias can be planted allaround the house. Give white, pinkand late-blooming varieties the shadi­est spots. Debutante cannot growsuccessfully if there is any reflectedlight and heat. Late blooming vari­eties such as Blood of China requireshade. Elena Nobile does well on theeast side even in hot weather.

Dig a hole 3 feet in diameter and3 feet deep. The soil mixture couldbe 73 peat moss, pine mold or oakmold, or a combination of each; andV3 light sandy loam. If soil is heavyadd drainage below with rocks.

Many camellia growers use con­tainers above the ground, in theshade of trees or on porches. If thereis good drainage the plant performswell. I have heard it said that camel­lias do well in containers the first17 years; after that the ground is abetter place for them. I have reasonto believe this is true.

We advise people that when theyput mix in planting holes, to soakmixture for a week before the plantever gets into the ground. Manyplants get stunted or die because ofbeing planted too low in the ground.When you take a plant home fromthe nursery, place it on the shadyside of the building and keep it wellwatered. Don't plant closer than 2V2feet from a building or 3 feet apart.A spreading type would be good tofill up a corner. Lindsay Neill, Eu­gene Lize and Glen 40 (Coquetti) aresemi-dwarf. The parent plant of Lind­say Neill is 90 years old and 4 feettall. These may be planted under awindow or in a redwood box.

The blooming season in our areadiffers from that of the East Bay areaby about a month. Our feeding timemay be different, too.

We recommend RAC or a similartype commercial fertilizer in April,May and June. A well establishedplant, 10 to 15 years old, could use

(Continued on Page 8)

Northern California Camellia Society, Inc.

COL. JIM COBBLEDICK

7

On Tuesday, January 5th, the greatand near great of the East Bay Areapaid their final tribute to a man whohad endeared himself to thousandsacross the nation, and who wasknown to hundreds of past and pres­ent members of the Oakland Busi­ness Men's Garden Club, simply asColonel Jim. With two other men hewas one of the three founders of anorganization which took root in Oak­land and spread across the nation,with the result that today the Men'sGarden Clubs of America give pleas­ure and instruction to thousands ofbusiness and professional men inJim Cobbledick's hobby-GARDEN­ING. Jim was the first president ofthe Oakland Business Men's GardenClub when it was founded in 1928,and through his energy, enthusiasmand good taste, to say nothing of adelightful sense of humor, the organ­ization would have no other. Jim wasknown as the Perennial President,elections were dispensed with, andas the years rolled on Jim becameknown as the Dictator. Finally, as theClub's delegate to the National Con­vention, because of his Van Dykebeard and flowing tie, he was dubbed"Colonel" Cobbledick.

If I were to sum up all of the fineattributes of Jim Cobbledick in aneffort to tell you just what endearedhim to a group of business and pro­fessional men with a common hobby,to the extent that he was their presi­dent for 23 years without interruptionor opposition, I would say it was thepossession of a wry sense of humorof the Will Rogers type, coupledwith exceedingly good taste. For over20 years the Business Men's GardenClub of Oakland flourished withoutconstitution or by-laws, rules or reg­ulations. You became a member by

attending 3 times. Members could at­tend meetings or stay away - andthey usually came because everymeeting was punctuated by numer­ous good laughs, and the speakerschosen to address the meetings werenearly always specialists in theirfields in horticulture and floricultureWith the many perplexing problemsof such a loosely organized group,which for 20 years did not even col­lect club dues, Jim Cobbledick wasnever ruffled, never lost his temper,never spoke an unkind word.

By profession, Jim Cobbledick wasa painting contractor who becameknown as one of the best in the busi­ness. He enjoyed a reputation ofusing good materials, hiring the besttalent available, and with his per­sonal supervision and good taste incolors and interior decoration hiswork was outstanding. He special­ized in decorating hotels, theatres,apartment houses and larger homes.

For several years Jim Cobbledickwas a member of the Northern Cali­fornia Camellia Society and a regularattendant at our meetings and annualshows. He was not known to themembers of this organization somuch for his work with camellias orthe activities of the society, but be­cause many of the men who organ­ized this society were long timemembers of the Oakland BusinessMen's Garden Club, and were al­ways glad to see Jim present at anymeeting. I think that when his Makerviewed Jim Cobbledick in his properperspective he probably said: "It iswell. A better combination of goodhumor and good taste would be dif­ficult to produce. I shall break thismold, so that there will forever bejust one JIM COBBLEDICK."

-0. E. Hopfer

8 Northem California Camellia Society, Inc.

New Varieties from Seedlings­(Continued on Page 6)

a light mulch of manure in Decem­ber. In feeding camellias it is wiseto consider the habit of growth. Adwarf type could be burned up morereadily than a more rapidly develop­ing camellia.

We found that the lighter shadesseem to burn out with too much fer­tilizer quicker than the deeper ortes.

For those interested in show blos­soms, my mother was fortunate' inwinning three years in a row forquality of bloom at Sacramento's Ca­mellia Show. The two things that wedid to get outstanding blossoms wastop mulch and manure, about amonth before the plant comes intobloom. For February and Marchbloomers, blood meal was used inJanuary. The amount of blood mealwould be the same as the amount ofRAC or other fertilizer you use; ifyou use a cup of RAC, then use acup of blood meal.

This spring I had a 15-year-oldGlen 40 (Coquetti) in a tub that hadfairly nice flowers but not what theyshould have been. I happened to re­member about the blood meal andtried it. The size of flower came back.The texture of the petals was excel­lent.

When your plant becomes dryfrom improper watering the buds arelikely to drop off. A large portion ofa camellia flower is moisture. Thebigger the blossom the more "';'Vaterwill be required. Julia Drayton (Ma-

thotiana) would need more water thana Pink Perfection.

DisbuddingOn older plants, 15 years old or

older, that are well established - Iam thinking of Eleanor of Fair Oakswhere blossoms are staggered outinto February or March-I don't dis­bud. Instead I give a feeding of bloodmeal before blooming time, then alittle hosing at the base of plant. Itseems as though the plant comesthrough the blooming season in bet­ter condition if fertilized with bloodmeal. Some plants seem rather tiredafter the blooming season.

Longer Blooming SeasonIt is possible to have camellia

blossoms for about seven months byselecting some of the earliest andmid-season bloomers as well as thelatest.

Our garden is 25 years old, andhas the largest dogwood tree in theSan Joaquin Valley. It is at the heightof its bloom about April 7th. Thepeak of the camellia blooming sea­son is about the 7th of March. Weare always open on Sunday and onholidays with the exception ofThanksgiving, Christmas, and NewYear's. You have a standing invita­tion to come down at any time; youare always welcome. We like camel­lias and we like people. Whether ornot you want any plants, we areglad to have you. Drive to Manteca,from there to Escalon, then on toRiverbank.

DESCANSO GARDENS LEASEDBeautiful Descanso Gardens at La ful live oaks sheltering camellias,

Canada, formerly the estate of Man- azaleas, rhododendrons, and roses,chester Boddy, prominent Southern cover some 140 acres, including aCalifornia publisher, have been small lake. The lease - purchasingleased by the Board of Supervisors agreement includes an additional 250of Los Angeles County, California, acres containing the water sourcesunder a $40,000-a-year lease with op- upon which the Gardens are depend-tion to purchase for $1,160,000 at any ent.time within the five-year period of The Boddy residence will be con-the lease. verted into a restaurant, a library and

Descanso Gardens with its grace- horticultural exhibit rooms.

Northern California Camellia Society, Inc.

GROWING CAMELLIAS FROM SEEDBy David L. Feathers, Lafayette, California

9

The culture of camellias offersmany interesting opportunities to onewho likes to grow things and for theexperienced person there is no moreintriguing aspect of this wonderfulhobby than the propagation of ca-

. mellias from seed. There are at least.two ready explanations for this:

(l) Anyone who likes to gardenhas a certain amount of creativenessin his makeup, which can be satis­fied best by growing plants fromseed. My revered mother always saidthat plants she grew from seed wereher own, whereas those she acquiredalready living were like adopted chil­dren. However that may be, there iscertainly a far greater feeling of ac­complishment connected with raisingcamellias "all the way."

(2) The element of curiosity. Withcamellias, one never knows what hewill get in the way of flower andfoliage from seedlings, consequentlythere is a curious and impelling fas­cination waiting for that first bloomto develop. It is like getting some­thing out of a grab bag because ca­mellias seldom come true from seed.

New varieties of camellias can beobtained deliberately only from seed­lings notwithstanding that many ex­cellent new camellias have resultedaccidentally from mutations of anexisting variety arising naturally onthe plant itself as "sports" or as a re­sult of grafting. Thus it is possible toobtain new varieties from the three

. most common methods of propaga­tion, but one can set about accom­plishing this with any degree of as­surance only with seed. However, ofrecent years considerable successhas attended efforts to promote or in­duce variegation of many of the self­colored sorts by means of grafting,but that is the extent of the change.

Granted that it is desirable to growa few camellias from seed, where canit be obtained-how is it some of us

never have seed from our camellias?In order to set seed, the camelliamust have what is known botanicallyas a "complete" flower - that is tosay, one having the parts essentialto reproduction, which are: stamensand pistil. The pollen from the sta­mens, when ripe, fertilizes the pistiLthe means of introduction beingwinds, insects, birds and, on occa­sion, you or me going from flower toflower with a camel's hair brush. Itwill therefore be seen that a fullydouble camellia flower, having nostamens or pistil, is incapable ofbearing seed. Camellias will alsovary as to the stage of maturity thatmust be reached before seed willform. Normally, it is not necessarywith camellias as it is with manyfruit trees, for example, to have an­other plant or variety in proximityfor cross - pollination purposes be­cause the camellia has the power ofself-fertilization and thus the capacityof reproduction within itself. Thereare, however, some camellias which,to all appearances, have the essentialflower parts but still do not bear seedbecause they are sterile. These arethe mules of the camellia world. Thematter of environment is also quiteimportant to seed formation. A cold,damp situation will act as a deterrentto flower fertilization while a warm,protected environment will be con­ducive to seed set. Therefore, evenwhen one possesses a matured ca­mellia having open blooms with sta­mens it does not necessarily followthat it will supply him with seed. Insuch case, there is added induce­ment to belong to a camellia societybecause of the practice many followof distributing seed free among themembers at least once each year.

Inasmuch as the seed pod devel­ops from the spent flower, it followsthat all the blooms should not bepicked off if seed is desired. It will

10 Northern California Camellia Society, Inc.

be found that the camellia has a cutetrick of making the flower dry up onthe stem and adhere rather tena­ciously, folding over the embryonicseed pod until it has developed to thepoint this protective covering is nolonger needed. Therefore, it is evenpossible for the experienced personto distinguish between worthlessspent flowers, which should bepick off, and those which are stillperforming a valuable function, sim­ply by the ease with which they letgo. After these protective petals havefinally fallen, nothing further is re­quired but to keep the plant in goodcondition until about October whenit will be found that the fully-devel­oped seed pod, now perhaps an inchin diameter, will begin to lose its freshappearance and split open. At thatmoment, the seed will be sufficientlyripe to harvest, and gathering it thenwill save time and trouble. Openingthe pod, from one to eight dark, hard­shelled seed will be found inside, ofvarious shapes and sizes. Theseshould be planted immediately forthis reason: In nature, the seed fallsto the ground as soon as the poddries sufficiently to permit the seedto escape, which will be a matter ofbut a few days after the pod startsto split. Thus the seed comes intocontact with the ground and moistureimmediately thereafter and the firststep in the process of germinationthen begins. While it is true camelliaseed can be kept for some time underfavorable conditions, it is generallyregarded as quite perishable not­withstanding its hard shelL thereforeplant it as soon as possible.

How should one plant camelliaseed? This would depend to a greatextent upon several factors, includ­ing the quantity to be handled, theparticular facilities available, etc.However, an excellent method avail­able to almost everyone is that ofplanting the seed in a closed jar (thesize would depend upon the amountof seed to be handled) filled with

sterilized, damp peat moss. A large­mouth coffee or pickle jar will ac­commodate up to about 100 camelliaseed and these gallon-size containersgive sufficient bulk so as not to dryout easily, but for the average persona quart jar or even a pint would besuitable if watched closely. First, thepeat moss is boiled in an old kettleso as to destroy all mold and, afterit cools, the excess water is gentlysqueezed out. Sterilize the jar byalso boiling it or washing it throughlyin hot water containing a sodium­hypochloride bleach (such as Clorox)at the strength shown for removingmildew (about 3 tablespoons perquart). Then wash the camellia seedin the same solution to be sure ofeliminating all sources of mold andplace the moist peat and seed in thejar, mixing them up well so that theseed will be distributed throughout.The position of the seed is not im­portant except that it must be coveredsufficiently to stay moist. If you haveradiant heat in your floors then it issimply a matter of placing the jar ina corner of the kitchen, under thetrays in the laundry, or any otherplace that will not involve you in do­mestic difficulties and the bottom heatwill cause the seed to germinate veryquickly. For real fast action, make asmall opening in the shell of the seedby drawing it across a coarse file onone edge, which will enable the seedto break out from its imprisonment.If you do not have floor-heat, thetop of the hot-water heater or anysimilar place where there is continu­ous warmth and it is not too hot (90 0

is about as high as is safe) can beutilized. It is not absolutely neces­sary, though preferable, that thewarmth come from underneath thejar. Under ideal circumstances it isnot necessary to add water to the jar,but it should be inspected occasion­ally to be certain that the tender roots,which should begin to form in a cou­ple of weeks if the seed is fresh, do

(Continued on Page 12)

Northern California Camellia Society, Inc.

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA CAMELLIANS IN THE NEWS

11

The Northern California CamelliaSociety has been honored by theAmerican Camellia Society in theelection of David L. Feathers of La­fayette, California, as Vice Presidentfor the Pacific Coast, the term of of­fice to run from February 1, 1954 toJanuary 31, 1955.

The 1955 Annual Meeting of theACS, celebrating their tenth anniver- .sary will be held at Macon, Georgia.

West Coast members of the ACSwill be pleased to learn that LosAngeles has been designated for the1956 ACS Annual Meeting.

Mr. Toichi Domoto of Haywardwas guest speaker at the Januarymeeting of the Camellia Society ofSacramento, taking as his subject thedevelopment and marketing of newvarieties of camellias and the manysteps of processing before beingmade available to the public. Hisbest known introductions includeShiro Chan (white sport of C. M.Wilson), Flame, Sweet Sixteen, andFlowerwood (fimbriated form of Ma­thotiana).

Mr. Barlow Hollingshead of Orindawill be guest speaker at the Februarymeeting of the Camellia Society ofSanta Clara County in San Jose, fea­turing kodachrome slides from hisgrowing collection.

Among the new introductions tobe shown is Shiro Chan, the whitesport of C. M. Wilson which has thebeautiful form of Chandler's Elegans.

Among the groups of mutations(some of which Mr. Hollingshead isdeveloping) are: Special selections,predominanly white, of Daikagura,Nagasaki. Adolphe Audusson, andGigantea. A complete mutation ofLady Clare-in color, flower-form andfoliage. Distinctive and colorful vari­ations of Horkan. Fringed red sportof Dainty (California). Ville de Nantesincluding Lady Kay. Form and colormutation of Gov. Earl Warren. The

Herme group. Outstanding variega­tion of Onigi. The George W. Towlesports, including clear red and deli­cate white, washed blush-pink. Themutations of PaeoniaeHora (identicalwith Australia's Aspasia Macarthur).Pink Lady (Lady Loch) and Paeoniae­flora rosea (Otahuhu Beauty) may beseen on the big Paeoniaeflora treesin Capitol Park at Sacramento in themonth of March. Strawberry Blonde,a sport of PaeoniaeHora. was discov­ered by A. E. Carter of the CarterCamellia Gardens at Monterey Park,California. A clear pale-pink muta­tion has been noted on Mr. Hollings­head's Pink Lady. A deep-rose­splotched-white sport has croppedout on his Strawberry Blonde: hasbeen isolated and grafted.

Among other species to be pro­jected are: C. reticulata Lion Head,Shot Silk, Butterfly Wings and Cap­tain Rawes; C. sasanqua Jean May,a pale-pink double flower; C. cuspi­data X saluenensis hybrid, a pinksingle with long, slender petals thatcup upward.

~--~

David L. Feathers of Lafayette,California, has registered three newseedlings with the American Camel­lia Society: Julia Stafford, a white, 4­inch, 86-petaled double regular-im­bricated flower, named for his mother;Breafu of Spring, a blush-pink semi­double, similar in form to Doncke­lari; Holly Leaf, a fimbriated, 5-pet­aled red single, with petals that turnback and with foliage resemblingholly. These varieties are being prop­agated by the James Rare Plant Nurs­ery on Hiway 17 at Union in Camp­bell, California.

~~~-

Do not discard your CamelliaFlower Form Classification lists noryour March 1953 issue of the NCCSBulletin (pages 9 through 11), for youwill have need of flower-form classi­fication to describe your seedlingblooms when registering them withthe American Camellia Society.

12 Northem California Camellia Society, Inc.

Growing Camellias from Seed­(Continued from Page 10)

not dry out. In no case, however,should there be water standing inthe bottom of the jar as that wouldbe too wet a condition. After the seedhas sprouted pretty thoroughly itshould be planted out in the samemanner as hereafter prescribed forhandling seed in the normal way.

The normal, but slower way ofplanting camellia seed is practicallythe same as with any other seed ex­cept that it should be placed veryshallow, being barely covered. Likemost other plants, camellias repro­duce themselves naturally by drop­ping their seed to the ground, so thatthe only covering would be fallenleaves or perhaps the chance entryinto a crevice would protect it. Theplanting mixture should be very lightand porous, with perfect drainageand capable of holding moisturewell. The soil mix that seems to meetthese requirements best is one partsand, one part peat and one part leaf­mold. Equal parts of sand and peatwill do if leaf-mold is not available.The peat should be moist whenmixed, so soak it a day or two in ad­vance of using, and it should NOTbe fine like powder-if the particlesare coarse aeration and drainage willbe far better. The sand will providesufficient fine material to bind thecomposition together. Plant the ca­mellia seed, sprouted or dry, about3 inches apart in this mixture, usinga seed-flat if nothing deeper is avail­able. I use flats that are 6 inchesdeep, as camellia seed sends downquite a tap - root; furthermore, thedeeper soil-mix does not dry out soeasily. If the flat is then placed in ahot-bed, or where it will get bottom­heat, the results will be much quickerbut not necessarily better nor surer.In any case, place the flat in a shel­tered spot where it will get warmthduring the winter, when the rootswill form. Shortly thereafter, littlespikes of top-growth will begin to

show, quickly forming leaves at thefirst suggestion of spring. After theselittle plants have attained a height ofabout 6 inches, they may be liftedand transplanted to gallon cans con­taining a similar soil mix but to whichone part of good loam has beenadded. Thereafter, for speedy devel­opment, they should be fertilizedvery lightly every two months or sowith a good camellia-type fertilizeror rotted manure. When dry seed isplanted out, some growers like totop-dress the flats with a light cover­ing of rotting leaves (preferably smallleaves such as oak) to protect theseed and conserve the moisture. Aprecautionary word: watch out forsow-bugs, snails and slugs -- theyhave a special liking for the tendercamellia seedling shoots.

If the root-system is kept slightlyconfined, the seedling will bloomearlier. Where the roots are able towander at will, the seedling sems towant to make growth rather thanbloom. However, growing camelliasfrom seed requires some patience, asit takes from at least three to tenyears or more for a seedling to flowerunder normal conditions without arti­ficial stimulation. Therefore, I followthe practice of leaving the seedlingin the gallon can, even to the pointit gets somewhat root-bound, so asto induce earlier blooming. If thegrowth should be so vigorous as tomake it appear the plant must betransplanted to avoid injury, then itwould probably be well to root-prunethe seedling slightly so as to slowdown the tendency to growth andencourage blooming.

Camellias seldom come true fromseed, therefore do not expect to getan exact reproduction of the parent,for that is unlikely. The more petalsthe flowers of the parent plant orplants have, the more likelihood ofobtaining a double, or formal-typebloom, from the seed. There is nocertainly that the offspring will even

(Continued on Page 16)

Northern California Camellia Society, Inc.

SACRAMENTO CAMELUA..SHOW

13

The Camellia Society of Sacra­mento is staging its 30th AnnualCamellia Show at the MemorialAuditorium, 16th and J Streets, onSaturday and Sunday, March 6 and7, 1954. The hours will be from 2 to

Camellias in Australia­(Continued from Page 4)

simliar plants in a garden, well lookedafter, would be from 20 to 30 feethigh. Like all other parts of the world,camellias had their maximum in themiddle of the last century, probablyup until the end of the eighties, afterthat they suffered an eclipse and al­most dropped out of cultivation untilabout 1930. One of the main reasonsfor their loss of favour, I think, wasthe extreme formality of the flowersof the type in favour at that time. Inthat period of their history, the formaldouble was the only sort worthy ofthe name of camellia. If the nursery­men of the nineties had introducedthe singles and semi-doubles then,they might never have gone out, atleast as far as Australia was con­cerned. Their winter blooming andglossy foliage should ensure them aplace in any garden for all time. Un­fortunately, at that time, Australiawas in the midst of a bad financialdepression and nobody had anymoney with which to buy plants.Most of the nurseries of that dayfailed and went out of business andcamellias just dropped out. About1924, a local seedling from Mel­bourne, named The Czar, a very largesingle crimson, with a large bunchof stamens in the centre of the flower,began to attract considerable atten­tion, and I think that this sort hadmore to do with bringing camelliasback into favour in Australia thanany other variety. Since then therehas been a boom in them as in otherparts of the world, and even the oldformal doubles are as popular as

10 P.M. on Saturday and from 10A.M. to 9 P.M. on Sunday.

Entries are open to anyone inter­ested, both in the specimen and ar­rangement classes. Schedules maybe obtained from President Roy Wie­gand, 308 - 26th Street, Sacramento.

ever. Doubtless some of this was dueto the fact that a new generation hasgrown up, which was not as surfeitedwith them as their fathers were.

Most of our Australian soils areslightly acid and therefore ideal forthe culture of camellias. But a friendof mine, who has a farm on lime­stone soil says that camellia sasan­qua is doing splendidly. This goesto show that this species at least doesnot need to be grown in lime-freesoil as is generally thought. I liketo do my planting in the autumn sothat they have all the cool months inwhich to establish themselves. Myown experience is that once theyhave taken hold of the ground, cul­tivation is not very necessary forthem as long as they have plenty ofmoisture and a good mulch of vege­table matter and some animal ma­nure mixed in with it. For the firstfew years, camellias do not needany pruning but after a while I liketo do some cutting each year, evenif it is only being generous with thesecateurs when cutting flowers. Oldplants that are beginning to showdead wood in them, need drastictreatment to renovate them. I cut onesuch as this down to about five orsix feet and remove every sidebranch that is not at least one inchin thickness. The growth that comesfrom these thick stems is amazingand in no time one has a healthyyoung plant. In one of our droughtyears, with water restrictions theorder of the day, many old plantsround Sydney died out, whereas ifthey had been treated like I have justmentioned, they would be alive and

14 Northern California Camellia Society, Inc.

healthy to this day.We do not have many diseases in

Australia, scales of varying sortsbeing the most prevalent. Occasion­ally a little dieback is in evidence insome places but it is not general.Very rarely do we spray for scaleas the larvae of our ladybird beetlesare the natural enemy of the scaleand tend to keep it in bounds.

Our flowering time is from Marchto September but I have known pas­sable blooms on at Christmas in acool year, and a few Areiishi oftenshow up in February. The sasanquasare in full bloom in April but earlyflowers come in March, and keep onuntil June. The iaponicas usuallystart in April but earlier flowers areoften apparent in the very earlytypes. Depending on the heat ofspring iaponicas keep on floweringuntil end of September but in cooltimes up to end of October. At thetime of writing this article, end ofNovember, there are still flowersabout but I would not call themchoice by any means.

C. reticulata flowers in August andis mostly finished by mid-September,which gives a very short floweringseason compared to many of the ia­ponicas. Thompsonii and its sportrosea are probably our sorts thatflower over the longest period. Theystart to bloom in early April and stillhave plenty of flowers and buds onthem at end of September. The As­pasia Macarthur group also flowerearly but do not keep it up as longas Thompsonii. Having no frost coldenough to damage our flowers ratherspoils us in Sydney and we expectto find every variety blooming forabout five months at least.

In the early days of camelliagrowing in Australia, the nurseriesmostly sold grafted plants, and thisis evidenced by the number of sin­gles and doubles growing in old gar­dens. At the time these plants wereplanted ,singles were not consideredcamellias and it is plain that the

plants were grafted ones and that thestock has taken possession, killingout the formal double which wasoriginally put in. To illustrate thispoint further, one of our old nursery­men moved on to a place about 50miles from Sydney. He took withhim half a dozen camellia seedlings,which he planted in the one hole,doubtless intending to plant themout separately at some later date. Asso often happens he did not get thetime to do this and the plants grewup as one bush. Many years later,a Mr. G. C. Linton acquired the prop­erty, and being a keen gardener, henamed the different sorts. One ofthese he called Alexander Hunter,after the original nurseryman whohad planted them. Some little timeafter, I met a daughter of AlexanderHunter and in talking about camelliasand particularly the Linton ones, shesaid to me, "Father would turn in hisgrave if he knew that they hadnamed a single flowering type ofcamellia after him." Whether it wasthis habit of suckering, and takingpossession of the original plant inmany cases, or not, I do not know,but the nurseries gave up graftingas a means of propagating andturned to layering. This method con­tinued until the 1930's. Finding thatwith "a greatly increasing demandand rapid increases in wages, thatlayering was not a commercial prop­osition, I tried my hand at cuttings.Lacking the necessary experienceand the necessary stock plants, Iwent out into the old gardens andtook old growths. The combinationof old plants and old cuttings had themost disastrous effect. I hardly gotone to root. What I did observe wasthat where a growth had been takenfrom sturdy shoots coming up fromthe base of the plant, or where theold wood had been cut back, induc­ing stronger growth, I had some sortof success. This put me on to theright track and I found that I had totake the last growth to be formed,

Northern California Camellia Society, Inc. 15

and where possible off young plants.Later on I found that I had to takethem before they had reached toofirm a condition, but then again theymust not be too soft or they wouldjust drop their leaves and be a fail­ure. The too-firm ones would root intime but would take too long andtherefore were not a paying proposi­tion. Alba plena and Fimbriata needto be in a softer condition than othersorts or they will not root. Most ofthe other nurseries have followedsuit and now practically all camelliasgrown in Australia are grown fromcuttings. The main exception is C.reticulata which is grafted as the cut­tings do not root readily and evenwhen they do the plant seems tolack vigour. I do not think we willever use grafting to the extent thatyou do in America. Firstly there isthe nuisance of the stock growingup and secondly cuttings root soeasily and the plants grow so fastthat I see no advantage in it. Graft­ing is a much more expensive wayof doing things. Of course by graft­ing one can turn unsalable sorts overto more popular varieties, and in thecase of large stock, get a large plantquicker than by a cutting, but onceyou have your stock established it ismerely a matter of routine putting incuttings each year. Cuttings are readyto take in December and are pottedup in April. If the original cuttingwere large enough the pots are fullof roots by August and I have on oc­casion sold a plant only eight monthsfrom the time of taking it. In the earlyspring the plants are moved into alarger sized pot and are ready forsale by March when the coolerweather has set in. That is fifteenmonths from the time of taking thecutting and the plants vary in heightfrom nine to eighteen inches accord­ing to the variety and the quicknessof its growth. For advanced plants Iusually grow them for one year in aseven inch pot and the next yearthey are moved into a four gallon

container. This means that we haveplants from three to five feet high inthree and a half years from the timethe cutting was taken.

In conclusion let me stress thepossibility of people getting tired ofpresent day camellias, the same asthey did in the past. The future lies,not in the introduction of more ja­ponica types but in the use of otherspecies, so as to bring out new fea­tures which are not present in theones we already have. For one thingwe could introduce scent into themand this may have to be done withone of the allied cousins of the ca­mellia such as Schima superba whichis described as pure white fragrantflowers 2-2 Yz inches across. Of course,the chromosome count might not bethe same and it might be difficult toestablish a hybrid, but it is worthtrying for. Another hybrid which Iam trying to accomplish is japonicaX sasanqua which would introduce awonderful variation. Imagine a japon­ica bloom on a sasanqua growth. Themain thing is not to get in a rut butbe continuously striving for newerand better things. England has beenworking on saluenensis-japonicacrosses, saluenensis X cuspidata andsaluenensis X thea. Some of theseare quite good but the most of themhave not gone far enough and needfurther inbreeding before we will getsomething really good. The originalidea of this article was a greetingfrom one camellia country to anotherbut if I have written anything thatwill cause more advancement in thecamellia world I will feel that I havenot written in vain.

We have just formed a camelliasociety in Australia, "The Australianand New Zealand Camellia ResearchSociety" and are hoping to put outan annual but I do not think this willhappen before sometime in 1954. Wehave 66 members to date and theseare spread over an area as large asthe United States so everything hasto be done by correspondence.

16 Northern California Camellia Society, Inc.

Plan now to attend

The Ninth Annual CAMELLIA SHOWof the

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA CAMELLIA SOCIETY, INC.

THEME: YOUR CAMELLIA GARDENDesigned by Osmundson and Staley

ART IN ACTION

BERKELEY VETERANS MEMORIAL BUILDINGC:vic Center, 1931 Center Street, Berke!ey

(between Milvia and Grove)

Sponsored by Veterans of Foreign Wars - Berkeley Post 703

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 27 - 2:30 P.M. to 10 P.M.SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 28 - 10 A.M. to 6 P.M.

SAN JOSE CAMELLIA SHOWThe Camellia Society of Santa table of the finest flower of each

Clara County announces its annual variety arranged by color. This is anon-competitive Camellia Show on distinctive and unforgettable show,Sunday, March 7, 1954, from 10 a.m. staged by about seventy businessuntil 5 p.m., at Civic Auditorium in and professional men of Santa ClaraSan Jose. There will be a review County.

Growing Camellias from Seed­(Continued from Page 12)

have the same general color as theparent; in fact, I have had clear redand clear white seedlings from thesame seed pod.

While it is true that the chances ofobtaining a really outstanding newvariety from seed are extremely lim­ited, actually a great deal dependsupon the source of the seed planted.Experience proves that seed obtainedfrom an environment where thereare only a few single or semi-doublevarieties is extremely unlikely to re­sult in out-of-the-ordinary seedlings.On the other hand, I have been quitesurprised at the percentage of dou­bles and fairly good blooms that haveresulted from seed obtained from a

source where there is present a con­siderable number of camellia vari­eties of many forms and sizes offlower. But, even though the blossomshould prove to be ordinarly or du­plicate an existing variety veryclosely, the effort is not lost entirelyfor camellia seedlings make the bestunderstock there is for grafting pur­poses as they have a natural root­system. So try planting a few camel­lia seed. For the person who has pa­tience and likes to grow things it iscertainly an interesting and veryworthwhile experience. Perhaps youmay be lucky and hit the jackpot!In any case, you will have something that you can call your own andthat certain gratifying feeling thatcomes from doing anything that iscreative.