Move over roses, camellias have their day

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Ernest Sullivan
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1 Move over roses, camellias have their day 53f8-be0e-50648b5002e7.html

2 Move over roses, camellias have their day By LOIS HENRY Mar 4, camellia varieties By LOIS HENRY / The Californian

3 A wide variety of camellias are on display at the 69th annual Camellia Show on Saturday put on by the Camellia Society of Kern County. Judges Tracy Lynn Steele, Marvin Belcher and Richard Amaya study several flowers at the 69th annual Camellia Show on Saturday put on by the Camellia Society of Kern County. Judges George Harrison, Jim Fitzpatrick and Gary Blackburn examine several blooms at the 69th annual Camellia Show on Saturday put on by the Camellia Society of Kern County. Judge Marvin Belcher gets a closer look at at bloom as fellow judge Tracy Lynn Steele looks on at the 69th annual Camellia Show on Saturday put on by the Camellia Society of Kern County. A "Miss Bakersfield" camellia awaits judging at the 69th annual Camellia Show on Saturday put on by the Camellia Society of Kern County. A "red hot" camellia entered by Lynda and Ron Blake at the 69th annual Camellia Show on Saturday put on by the Camellia Society of Kern County. It took honors but did not win its category. A "ferris wheel" camellia at the 69th annual Camellia Show on Saturday put on by the Camellia Society of Kern County. A small yellow camellia shown at the 69th annual Camellia Show at the Bakersfield Racquet Club Saturday. A small red camellia shown at the Camellia Show at the Bakersfield Racquet Club Saturday. Rod Thornurg/For The Californian Camellia expert Dr. Bradford King, editor of the American Camellia Society Journal and president of the Southern California Camellia Society, helped judge the 69th year of the Camella Society of Kern County showing at the Bakersfield Racquet Club. Rod Thornurg/For The Californian Camellia Society of Kern County displayed this yearâ s winners of these rare flowers. The Camellia Show was held at the Bakersfield Racquet Club. This is the 69th year of this organization. Rod Thornurg/For The Californian This Joe Devico variety was one nearly 500 flowers on exhibit at the Camellia Show held at the Bakersfield Racquet Club. This was the 69th year of the Camellia Society of Kern County organization. Red hots, ferris wheels, debutantes, butter mints, man sizes and, of course, Miss Bakersfields (well, maybe), were locked in fierce competition Saturday morning at the 69th annual Camellia Show at the Bakersfield Racquet Club downtown. Judges peered intensely at hundreds of the colorful flowers. They bent close to examine each petal and consulted their camellia nomenclature books to make sure the blooms were up to snuff.

4 Should this variety have more white? Is that bloom on the small side? Shouldn t this flower have a tighter spiral? It s serious business, judging camellias. And the judges knew their business. Some have been at it more than 40 years. Bakersfield s long-running camellia show/competition rivals those of southern California in size and interest, said Susan Stull, chairwoman of judges for the show, which is put on by the Camellia Society of Kern County. The flowers will be on display today from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The show had 40 exhibitors this year, many of whom were first timers. There s a lot of enthusiasm, Stull said. Two of those novices were Ron and Lynda Blake, who fell in love with camellias after moving to Bakersfield from Montana in 2012 to be closer to children and grandchildren. They have six in pots and are planning to take out a sago palm to make the camellias permanent residents in their yard. They entered a red hot in this year s competition and Lynda watched anxiously as judges examined that category. In the end, the Blake s red hot didn t win a best of or runner up, but it was moved to the honor bloom table, which is quite an honor for a novice, Stull said.

5 I m just excited about them, Lynda Blake said of camellias. They re beautiful flowers. Oh, about the Miss Bakersfield camellia, Stull said that s a flower that was propagated many years ago by a local cement contractor and camellia enthusiast named Ted Alfter. It s a very specific flower and, though some may resemble a Miss Bakersfield, it s apparently rare to find a true Miss B. And so the quest continues. Opinions expressed in this column are those of Lois Henry. Her column runs Wednesdays and Sundays. Comment at call her at or lhenry@bakersfield.com LOIS HENRY ONLINE Read archived columns by Lois Henry at

ACS Novice Judges: Richard Amaya. Other Judging Participants: Anne Dashiell, Carol Stickley

ACS Novice Judges: Richard Amaya. Other Judging Participants: Anne Dashiell, Carol Stickley January 27-28, 2018 Southern California Camellia Society Early Show Descanso Gardens 1418 Descanso Drive La Canada Flintridge, CA 91011 Number of Blooms Exhibited: 845 Number of Attendees: 1250 Number