Something About Seedlings – Part 4

Your seedlings that germinated should already be about 3 to 4 inches and Spring germinations should be popping up. In the next few months, you will probably be potting them up from your small cells or “communal” pot(s) into larger containers for the next stage of growth (remember to pinch off the tip of the tap root). Water deeply every few days depending on the weather conditions and fertilize lightly (the plants are really small – do not over fertilize). Unless you want to put under grow lights for 18 hours a day or so, plan to be patient. You might get lucky and see results in just a few years, or may wait for a decade or more.

While I have between 4,000 and 5,000 seedlings being watched for more special blooms, Pat Johnson has to hold the record for a non-commercial grower with reputably 14,000 seedlings. This octogenarian awaits new beauties to register each year and has registered a large number for the past few years. Her new registrants will even include one named for our own Jim Campbell. Unless the recent rules adopted by the American Camellia Society are changed to allow more than 5 registrations by a single grower per year, Pat will have to outlive Methuselah (estimated to be 969 years) to see all her fine new seedlings named and registered.

At this point, I’d like to comment about a unique public garden in Greenville, Alabama, Beeland Park* and its hundreds of seedlings. It cannot qualify for a Camellia Trail designation because that designation requires most of the camellias are properly identified by name. This park cannot qualify because it was created by requesting seedlings from Greenville’s local growers; the hundred plus trees have never been named. It is a special place to add to your camellia adventures. Look for the ones that remind you of existing camellias; look for ones that don’t. 

Additional seedlings I assisted in registering over the years included three fine specimens from Gordon Rabalais ('Carlton Lacour', 'Carlton Lacour Variegated' and 'Red Shift'). Another, his X31, that was to be named was lost by both of us. Good seedlings should be reproduced as soon as practical to be sure they are not lost before they can be registered. Hopefully, Gordon adds more new varieties to the camellia world in the years to come.

A friend, Dr. Richard Christmas, had two seedlings his father had grown. While the original plants have had some difficulty coping with their age and the storms that hit Ocean Springs, I’ve grown several large plants and a few extras for him. The first, a lovely white camellia, I had hoped he’d name 'White Christmas”; however, if successfully registered, it will be named for his father, James Yancy Christmas. The second, a pink bordered white which I wanted to name 'Christmas Gift' should be named for his mother, Elva Downing Christmas. Naming new varieties for wives, and other family members or friends is the main appellation given registered seedlings. Famous (and infamous) people also are picked for camellias for example, General George Patton (and many other generals and military leaders), Richard Nixon, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, Lurleen Wallace, Governor Richard W. Leche, our own Mayor Webb Hart, and a whole new series of First Ladies of Georgia, to name a very few. Such naming of camellias for famous people is now only permitted with their approval.

Speaking of the infamous, hopefully our Society will not succumb to the political correctness of the day and rename such varieties as Robert E. Lee, Rebel Yell, Civil War, and others. There is precedent for doing so however, the camellia 'Communist' was renamed 'Wall Street Red.' Wow! That sure makes you think!

Surely, more new varieties will emerge from Camellia Heaven, Pat Johnson, the Strobach’s, the prolific Jim Smelley and the many others in camelliadom fascinated by seedlings, as well as, the commercial growers like Nuccio’s in California.

I will continue to help people apply for registration, hopefully, the American Camellia Society will relax their rules on uniqueness of varieties somewhat. After all, if the new regulations were followed yesteryear, submissions for varieties like 'Something Beautiful', 'Tammia' and 'Grace Albritton' might have resulted in only one approval despite proven genetic differences. They were genetically unique despite the fact that most can’t identify their modest differences. Many people wanting to name their seedlings for family members are unlikely to ever show their creations. For them, naming and registering a camellia is like naming a star for their loved one. In the end, it’s recognition, a celebration of ancestry, and a touch of vanity.

Enjoy your wild seedlings and maybe you will also learn to hybridize, cross pollinating special varieties to create something different – like a gigantic flower blooming in the summer, or a purple and gold bloom (or pick your school’s colors), or the elusive blue camellia (that only exists as a book title). Have fun, you never know what mother nature has in store.

*Beeland Park was approved to join the Camellia Trail at the 2023 winter board meeting of the American Camellia Society (recognizing its special uniqueness as a camellia garden).