the camellia journal

 “Sure, we’re moving out this weekend, take anything you’d like.”

That was the culmination of several trips to Hattiesburg, Mississippi that started with a Saturday jaunt to one of Stephanie Grimm’s favorite used book stores, the Book Rack. Our first stop was, of course, the Book Rack where Stephanie traded her already read books (and some of mine) for ones she wanted to read and found on the myriad of shelves of romances, fiction, and other used books. She had a banner day, finding many books she was looking for from her lists, based on carefully researching their synopses and deciding if they were her type of story (generally love stories where the protagonists have bumps in the road that are resolved and the couple marry or are happier than ever before—a romantic version of Grimm’s Fairy Tales with the typical happy ending).

After lunch, out came an old membership list of the American Camellia Society and a Hattiesburg street map in order to find properties where camellias had been. It’s often difficult to track old properties down in smaller towns as there are frequently just post office box numbers and the city name. These do not correspond to anything currently in use. A few properties were found with street names and numbers but reaped sparse results. But then, as the day grew to an end, we found the Peck House (Osher Lifelong Learning Institute), on the campus of the University of Southern Mississippi, an area where supposedly some camellias had been growing.

At last, we found many camellias in its gated yard. Looking at the front door of the office revealed the learning center was not open on weekends except for special events. No luck that day. We walked around the whole property hoping for an open gate, but to no avail, so we had to shelve more detailed viewing for another time. What was visible were about 30

plants, most in good condition (a few somewhat not strong and healthy) including several sasanquas and many japonicas.

The only clearly identifiable variety was a ‘Betty Sheffield’, although others, from a distance, appeared identifiable.

Inevitably, we planned to return on a weekday within the hours the Peck House was open. Of course, the first stop was once again the book store, but this day was primarily for camellia hunting. The gate was open and we could drive in, but the door was locked. After knocking loudly for what seemed like forever, a staff member came to the door and inquired as to our business. No classes or activities were going on at the time. We explained our mission and were welcomed to walk through the garden and obtain cuttings of anything we wished.

Since we were taking cuttings, it should be obvious nothing was still in bloom—yes, it was summertime. We mapped the plants and took cuttings of everything with hopes of identifying them later (designating them “HSB” and a number— one has since grown and bloomed and was identified as a ‘Mabel Bryan’); the staffer called the volunteer gardener and he came over. He too was interested in preserving plant varieties (although not exclusively camellias) and was interested in our efforts—it was a wonderful conversation and we communicated several times afterward. Another staffer commented she had a camellia at her home and after we completed our efforts at the Peck House and she completed her

duties for the day, we followed her to her home and gathered cuttings there. She showed us pictures of the bloom which  

was not readily identifiable.

With more time left on a beautiful, and successful, summer day (thank goodness for daylight savings time) we headed to  the home of Dr. Robert E. Schwartz, a known camellia enthusiast and Charter Member of the American Camellia Society

(a street address was listed in the old ACS membership list).

We arrived at the address to find a group of young people having a BBQ/ beer party. We asked for the owner and a couple stepped forward and asked what we wanted. We explained what we were looking for and when we asked if we might come in and look at the plants there and obtain cuttings thereof, they replied, “Sure, we’re moving out this weekend, take anything you’d like.” We learned they were University of Southern Mississippi students, renting the property, who had wound up their studies and post school activities and were heading homeward. Part of their responsibilities included maintaining the yard,

so taking cuttings was something they could approve.

The plants Dr. Schwartz had there were mostly along the back of the property as a hedge, although definitely not all the same variety. None were labeled. They were very green and healthy, but clearly hadn’t been pruned much as some were growing into and through each other. There were also some other specimen plants throughout the typical city lot property.

Again, we identified nothing as there were no blooms, but knowing Dr. Schwartz’ reputation, we knew there would be good varieties, even if we already had them all. They were dubbed “HAT” and numbered for sticking. Now that they have rooted and are happily growing in pots at Camellia Heaven, they await identification when they bloom.

But the Schwartz story doesn’t end there. Three years ago, I made contact with Jimmy Reeves in Hattiesburg who was very interested in camellias. He had dropped his ACS membership. I wanted to know why and whether anything could be done to retain him.

He was a really interesting fellow and owned a store specializing in antiques and custom home furnishings direct from China (Dragon Court Designs). He also had the largest collection of architectural elements from the Ming to Qing dynasties for home decoration. Instead of lions and tigers and bears, oh my; it was foo dogs, Buddhas and dragons, oh my!

I went to visit him when his own camellias were blooming. I visited his home, admired amazing and large camellias, and identified some of the varieties he had that were not already labeled. We spoke of possibly re-starting the camellia club in Hattiesburg. He planned to visit the Ozone Camellia Club and Northshore Camellia Society shows. He did attend the Ozone show.

He told me he would try to get permission for me to visit a client’s property that had thousands of camellias and also obtain permission for me to take cuttings there (which as of this writing still has not occurred). He said his client indicated many still had their tags and there were hundreds of seedlings that had sprouted up over the years.

I was surprised I had not heard of such a large property in the area with that many camellias. I told him the story related above to indicate my interest in preservation, and my interest in finding old camellias in the Hattiesburg area. In a later phone call, he said he had talked with his client about a visit and said they agreed that could happen in the future.

But to my real amazement, he said that after relaying to them my story, they told him the property had been the nursery of Dr. Robert E. Schwartz himself. Needless to say, my interest in visiting is even more intense, as he may have grown varieties for sale created by other local growers, and might also have had several varieties that I might not already have in the Camellia Heaven collection.

More when that visit occurs. Wow!