the camellia journal

I was shocked at his reply. “No, he named it Sylvester for the cat.”

The W. L. Smith collection of camellias included his namesake, ‘W.L. Smith,’ a white camellia with red and pink stripes, also described as a dark red and pink striped red and edged white. Other creations included varieties named for his daughters – Sharon Smith, Penny Smith, Patsy Smith, Susan Smith, and Virginia Smith. We had ‘W.L. Smith’ and what we assumed was ‘Penny Smith’ in the Camellia Heaven collection. The latter, obtained from the Hody Wilson Garden and labeled P. Smith, maybe ‘Patsy Smith.’

Of course, the Grimms needed to find the Smith garden and obtain the full set. Using usual methods, no Smith address

was available. Not to be deterred, I called an old college friend, Jeno Kalozdi, who had property there and whose company operated the Kalencom Factory Outlet store in Tylertown where his amazing sales attracted people from. miles around. However, he didn’t know of the property. Another dead end? For an initial open house at Camellia Heaven, we needed transport for those unable to walk the property so I borrowed a “mule” (Kawasaki ATV) from him. A Tylertown employee brought it to me, and while doing so, I engaged him regarding the elusive W.L. Smith property. He said he’d check with the

garden society. If it were the property he was thinking of, there were issues regarding the land, as W. L. Smith had died, and an ownership dispute ensued. He wasn’t sure we could ever get on the grounds. In a few weeks, he called and told me where I could find the property, but reiterated his concerns. “What the heck,” we said. “Worst case is we take a trip into the country for nothing.” To Tylertown, we went. To our dismay, the property was gated, but we saw a large grove of camellias nestled

under large pines, giving them a perfect growing environment. Close, but no cigar! At least this was the right place.

I kept in touch with Jeno’s employee regarding the disposition of the property. At last, a resolution was obtained, and the children had regained control. He gave me a telephone number of one of the daughters, Sharon, that I might try. A phone call later and we were off to Tylertown again. This time the gate was wide open to greet us. 

What a delight just driving along the driveway. To the left was row upon row of blooming camellias, and as we approached the house, there were plants on both sides of the road. We stopped well away from the house as we were met by several barking dogs that ran up to and under the truck. We crawled forward and Sharon and children came from the house to settle the dogs. We spoke for a while and set out exploring the grounds. The collection was divided into sections of favorites and plants named for the family.

Some still had their tags, but most did not, especially since that huge grove of plants (well over a thousand) were unnamed seedlings W. L. Smith had planted to see what might develop. The undergrowth was thick in a lot of the areas, but we trudged through fi finding all manner of wondrous blooms. Sharon was pleased that we could help identify many of the plants. We came upon a very large plant with purple single blooms. I immediately knew it was either a Night Rider or its pod mate Black Opal. Next to each other, these varieties are easy to distinguish, separately, not so. I had both varieties’ blooms

in the back of the truck and compared them. Its larger size immediately identified it as Black Opal. Later we found another on the property. We found most of the family-named varieties, at least the ones named for the “women of the family.” Two, Penny and Virginia, were not evident. As it was getting late, we agreed that we would return again.

On that next trip, we took cuttings of the “women of the family” varieties except the missing ones which remained elusive. We met Sharon’s sister, Susan, who was also thrilled with our interest in the collection and their brother, John, who also dropped by. We inquired about the seedlings. Sharon insisted she was shown a blue camellia. We tamped down her exuberance saying it would certainly have been registered if it existed. It was probably a lavender or a Mathotiana-like bloom that turned bluish in the cold. Another seedling was to be named Elvie Bidwell, the grandmother. John walked

us around while telling us of his special days with his father and the many plants they grafted together. He pointed out another unnamed seedling. I said, “Since all the other family members had plants named for them, I guess this one was to

be named for you.” I was shocked at his reply. “No, he named it Sylvester for the cat.” I felt sorry for John that despite his commitment to helping his father with the camellias, there was no camellia named for him. I suggested registering it with his name, and John said, “No, that’s not what my father wanted.” John spoke lovingly of his father’s generosity and support of the community. When a Tylertown church was in financial trouble, he gave them thousands of daylilies to sell. His donation put them back on a firmer footing. W. L., like so many other camellians, chose daylilies as his second joy.

A return took place in early 2014. As my wife, Stephanie, had passed in October, Harriet and Keric Buckner, Camellia Club of New Orleans members, joined me and helped me map part of the garden and add tags for the plants I could identify. I took several cuttings at that time for graft ing including some from the grove of seedlings; those that had potential, especially the blue stones. Nearly all took, including ‘Sylvester.’ ‘Elvie Bidwell’ took it initially but failed when planted later. One of the seedlings bloomed and was shown at the Brookhaven show. A simple single with a frosted pink overcast, it won best seedling. I told Sharon to pick a name for future registration. She said to name it for Stephanie, and so I will, adding it to the several plants named for Stephanie or in her memory. I told her I wanted to track down one of the purplish ones that did not graft, and then she told me the bad news. The girls and John had divided up the property, and Penny, who had no interest in the camellias, took the front portion which included the seedling grove. Unbeknownst to the other siblings, she agreed to sell the pine trees shading the seedlings. Surprise, surprise! When heavy equipment moved in to remove the pines, the seedlings in the way were cut down. The seedling grove was lost along with any named varieties that fell on her portion of the land. A

a great loss, as many other seedlings were potentially nameable varieties.

A recent call to John determined Sharon had left the property, but he and his new wife built a home on their portion, and I was welcome to return. I still wanted to find a real ‘Penny’ (or ‘Patsy’ depending on which I have), ‘Virginia’ and ‘Elvie Bidwell.’ I mentioned the loss of the seedlings and (not really to my surprise) learned many were growing back from their roots. I was told even more may have grown, but with the total loss of cover from the pines, many of these interesting camellias were

burned by the sun and lack of regular watering. I will return and hope that the seedling grove is recovering its glory and that named varieties are also regaining life (after near death). A camellia we found there, tagged ‘J(ohn) Thurman,’ is a special treasure I have sought in order to unite it with ‘Hyacinth Thurman’ in Camellia Heaven’s Louisiana section. I am hoping I can get there despite the Covid-19 pandemic. Something to look forward to.