Camellia Club of Mobile Newsletter

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________Volume II Issue December 2005 Camellia Show and Christmas Party The Club’s December 11th meeting at the Mobile Botanical Gardens will be a special one - we are holding a practice Camellia Show for our members only. Bring your blooms at 2:00 p.m. to enter this Show, you will be taught the best techniques for exhibiting, how to fill out the cards and how the judges pick the best blooms. Our most successful exhibitors will be judging, and they will not be entering any blooms, so you have a good chance of winning! After the Show, which we hope will conclude by 2:30 p.m., there will be a demonstration of how to wax camellias - a really great idea for the holiday season decorations. A Christmas buffet will be set up for all to enjoy - the Club is providing turkey, ham and dressing, with all the rest of the delicious trimmings and desserts being provided by Club members. If you are planning on attending this meeting, and missed the last one, do contact our Club catering whiz Eileen Dwyer at 251-988-1405 to see if there is anything she still needs for this extra-special meal. There will be no business meeting on December 11th, just a good Show and a great party meal! (P.S. for those who are still dreaming about that super-delicious chocolate cake that we had a couple of months ago - the recipe is further down this page!).

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Camellia Slide Show Well Attended

Elaine Smelley’s slide show of old and new camellia varieties was as popular as ever with 60 people attending. Lots of ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhs’ were heard throughout the program and lots of questions were answered. One very interesting part of the presentation was the selection of new seedlings that have yet to be named, there were some really gorgeous blooms. Our thanks to Elaine and Jim for all their work on this program.

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get in the holiday mood - see a camellia show!

Nothing can make you feel so good as a room full of beautiful camellia blooms - and there is no better place to see them this month than the Pensacola Camellia Club Show at The Wright Place, Wright Street, Pensacola on December l0 & 11. If you want to exhibit blooms, entry time is 8-11 a.m. on Saturday. The Show opens to the public at 2 p.m. The Club has been in operation about the same length of time as the Mobile Club, this is one of the best Shows in our area and they also have plants for sale. You are sure to see people you know at this Show.

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Camellia Chat....

If you happen to be motoring around Baldwin County in the next few weeks, and find yourself on Highway 49, between Highway 104 and Highway 48, look out for an enormous camellia tree that is close to the road in front of an older two-storey apple green and white farmhouse.

There are two trees, but one is really big and covered in buds. Have no idea which camellia it is, but I’m keeping a eye out for it in full bloom.

While poking about in the garden centers of Lowe’s and Home Depot, we came across a whole selection of camellias we had not seen in this area before, many of them from the “April” selection developed by Dr. Clifford Parks. Also found a “Star Above Star” which is a lovely flower.

The Smelleys are almost back to normal at their greenhouses in Mississippi, after having the ends of them blown in and smashed down onto their camellia plants - the wood greenhouse was tilted over by more than three feet. Tom & Becky Root thank all the Club members who turned out to help them finish clearing up their Clark-Root Gardens - they had seven large boats and a bait shack on their property after “Katrina”.

Club Prez George Davis headed a group of Club members who went to the Capitol in Montgomery in November to plant camellias donated by George’s uncle Alden Davis. A ceremony to celebrate Camellia Day will be held there in 2006 - Forrest Latta will have more info on this later.

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VELVET CHOCOLATE CAKE

1 package Devil’s Food cake mix 1 ea. 3 3/4 oz. package instant chocolate pudding

1 cup sour cream 1/2 cup cooking oil

1/2 cup coffee 1/2 cup dark rum

4 eggs 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Combine all ingredients except chocolate chips. Mix on low speed, just to blend ingredients. Beat at medium speed for 1 minute. Scrape sides of bowl and beat 1 minute more. Fold in chocolate chips. Pour batter into well-greased and floured Bundt pan. Bake at 300 degrees for 40 to 60 minutes. Cool in pan for 30 minutes. Turn out and dust with powdered sugar. Enjoy!