the camellia journal

And when I told her, she cried, tears flowing freely down her cheeks.

The story of that special moment began on one of our excursions to a Birmingham, Alabama camellia show. I was disappointed at not finding anything new to acquire at the show or the local nurseries. So, on the way home, in the town of Greenville, Alabama, we stopped for lunch at the local Cracker Barrel.

When leaving, we inquired as to whether there were any nurseries in town. Maybe we might find something different. We were told there were no nurseries, but since we were looking for camellias, we should go to see Paul Langford, a local camellia grower who had many plants. After obtaining directions, we set out to find Mr. Langford and whatever he might have in store for us.

Down through a town with camellias on each side of the street as well as around many of the private and public buildings, we came to a winding driveway leading uphill to his home. All along the drive were camellias, as well as a garden of plants all in terraced rows, and an old glass greenhouse. Nothing appeared for sale, but the size of the collection was impressive.

Knocking on his door, we met a kindly old gentleman and inquired about the camellias. Langford invited us to look throughout the collection and take cuttings of anything we desired. A myriad of new varieties for our collection jumped out at us. It was a treasure trove of camellias for growing and photographing. The rest of the winter-shortened day was spent there, and we left amazed at what we had uncovered.

Langford was one of a few active growers in town. Greenville is a town rich with a camellia heritage (one of the largest camellia shows on record took place there) with many registered varieties to their credit including, ‘Pride of Greenville’. Greenville was also the home of H. W. Steindorff, creator of the ‘Lamont Glass’ camellia (named for the Alabama State Representative who had the camellia named the state flower of Alabama). Steindorff, Stabler, Jernigan and Hendrick were other camellians actively naming varieties from this small town.

The next year we returned, but this time with more time to peruse the garden and the plants all over the property. It was then I discovered a white semi-double camellia with red stripes labeled “Miss Lillian”. There were three or four plants all tagged the same way—“Miss Lillian”. But the ‘Miss Lillian’ created by Lillian and Clarence Gordy (who we had met in Ocala, Florida when showing our blooms at the Orlando camellia show) was a blush pink formal double.

It was difficult to address the subject with Langford, but I advised him of the error in tagging the plant. Armed with the Camellia Nomenclature book, I pointed out the problem. He was adamant about the correct identification and assured me that the plant was ‘Miss Lillian’ and was created by a local grower, Ed Jernigan (no known relation to Marvin Jernigan of Warner Robins, Georgia). He sent us to Jernigan’s home to resolve the issue.

Jernigan’s home was not as readily identifiable as a major collector of camellias, as most were along the side and behind the home. We introduced ourselves. He and his wife, Alice, invited us in to talk camellias and to tour the collection. According to Jernigan, another local camellian had propagated the seedling and it had gained wide distribution throughout the town among camellia people and their friends. It was supposed to have been registered as Miss Lillian. I pointed out the problem. It could not have been registered as Miss Lillian because the Gordy bloom had been registered with that name in 2001.

The local bloom had actually not been registered at all. I told Jernigan I would help him register the camellia. In 2008, ‘Lillian Jernigan’ was registered properly. Problem solved. Although Jernigan’s plants—and I expect, all the others in town with the original name—were never corrected.

But, there is more to the story. Jernigan had two other large bushes that were seedlings. I told him they could and should be registered too. He shared cuttings with us so I could have them grafted and get the requisite pictures taken. I proposed naming one for him. He selected the fine white camellia as his namesake. He designated the pink one to be named for Alice, his second wife.

The grafts were successful, but there were no blooms and, therefore, we had no pictures with measurements, etc. We returned to Greenville hoping to obtain the needed photos from the original plants, even realizing the recent freezes might have damaged the buds and flowers and not provide the blooms required.

We were in for a big surprise, and so was Alice. We arrived and knocked as before, and were met by Alice. We learned the sad news that Ed Jernigan had passed away. We were upset, because he had not learned that ‘Lillian Jernigan’ had been successfully registered. We commiserated with Alice and walked out into the garden. As I said, there were no blooms for the registration pictures needed.

We told Alice of the plan to register the seedlings ‘Ed Jernigan’ and ‘Alice Jernigan’. And when I told her, she cried, tears flowing freely down her cheeks, because she had no idea he had wanted one to be named for her. The two seedlings were submitted for registration with the Southern California Camellia Society in 2019 and are listed in the SCCS Supplement to the 2017 Camellia Nomenclature. Alice, who moved from Greenville to be closer to her children, has received a plant of ‘Ed Jernigan’ and ‘Alice Jernigan’ grown from cuttings. Now Lillian, Ed and Alice Jernigan have their places in “camelliadom”, as they had a special place in our hearts.

Note: Paul Langford has passed away as well, but his garden lives on and several of his seedlings will soon be registered in his name. Thank you, Paul, for your commitment to camellias and their growers.