Current News

Winter for many people consists of a longing for the coming of summer days with its warmth and consequently a shedding of restrictive winter clothing. For the Camellia enthusiast however winter is the bright highlight of the year for it is at this time the beauty of the Camellia bloom sheds radiance throughout the garden. Again this year except for July, we continued with our competitive monthly benching of blooms which brought many an admiring consideration of the blooms and a wish that we could do better. At our Christmas Luncheon in November the winners of the various sections will be announced. Displays were brought to surrounding community shopping centres and nurseries prior to our main shows in July and August. Our members appreciate the support shown us at these displays.

Apart from Shows held at the TAFE Function Centre at Wollongong, our members were well represented at the Sydney Show held at Gordon and then at Berry on the first weekend in August. Congratulations to all our members who gained placings at these shows.

The 61st Annual Show at Wollongong was the highlight of the year. Good weather prior to the show allowed us to believe that we would receive a satisfactory response from those who participate each year in the show. We were thrilled when our computer records indicated that we had broken all records in respect of entries: 2,510 blooms were benched, well above the then record of 2445 blooms established in the 1990’s. Many members took home excellent blooms due to the lack of benching space. Over the weekend many people came to enjoy the array of blooms and our stock of Camellia plants was greatly depleted. This could be an excellent sign for the years ahead in Camellia interest.

The following are the results of the Annual Show:-

SECTION	BLOOM	EXHIBITOR
Grand Champion Exhibit	Lovelight	Evelyn Utick
Reserve Champion	Royal Velvet	J & W Walker
Champion Japonica	Carter’s Sunburst	C & H Cowell
Champion Non Reticulata Hybrid	Buttons n Bows	J Powell & J Donohoe
Champion Reticulata	Frank Houser	P & D Chilvers
Champion Miniature	Mini Pink	P & T Hamer
Champion Aust. Raised Cultivar	Winter’s Own Variegated	A Gillam
Champion Spray	Fairy Wand	N & C Robinson
Champion Illawarra Exhibit	Dr Clifford Parks	E & M Muller
Champion Collection Three Camellias	Elegans Var x 3	P & D Chilvers
Champion Collection Five Camellias	Debbie x 5	S & K Reiman
Champion Collection Seven Camellias	Carter’s Sunburst x 2, Julia, France, Wynne Raynor, Debbie Desire, Button’s n Bows	S & K Reiman
Special Formal Double	Lovely Lady	Ritchie Griffiths
Most Successful Float Bowl	Debbie x 5	S & K Reiman
Three Camellias Grown by an Exhibitor who has never won a prize.	Elegans, Guilio Nuccio Oke-no-nami	Shandra Egan
Most Successful Exhibitor		J Powell & J Donohoe
Encouragement Award for Exhibitors under 18	1st Valentine Day Var 2nd Valley Knudsen 3rd Grand Marshall	E Collier N Walker T Parker

In an effort to encourage our “younger members” a new section was introduced this year under Encouragement Award and the response was deemed to be excellent. Next year it is proposed to consider dividing the class into sections relating to form or colour.

In respect of the Reticulata Show, entries were down on last year and the show attracted a minimal number of viewers. Low entries could reflect the late flowering of the Reticulata Species in particular. Some Reticulata bushes are flowering weeks after the show and some are yet to flower! The flowing are the major placings:-

SECTION	BLOOM	EXHIBITOR
Champion Reticulata Bloom	Winter’s Own Var	C & H Chapman
Reserve Champion Bloom	Pat Pinkerton	A Gillam
Champion Formal Double Bloom	Black Lace	J Powell J Donohoe
Champion Australian Raised Cultivar	Winter’s Own Var	C & H Chapman
Champion Collection	Arch of Triumph	C & H Chapman
Most Successful Exhibitor	89 points	C & H Chapman

 

. A NEW VENTURE WITH FERTILIZERS
Some seasons ago members of Camellias Illawarra Inc. were given the opportunity by NEUTROG FERTILIZERS of South Australia to trial their product KAHOONA which had been developed for specific use with Camellias, Azaleas etc. Many of our members had been using other Neutrog products on our gardens such as SUDDEN IMPACT and SEAMUNGUS and we found they were excellent products to improve the quality of our Camellia blooms. With the introduction of KAHOONA specifically for our Camellias there has been a noticeable improvement in the condition of the Camellia bush/tree and consequently the quality of the bloom.
Further information will be available in further editions of the website.
Look for the emblem as illustrated above when you are considering a fertiliser for the use on your Camellias.