Sacramento celebrates favorite flower at 100th Camellia Show

For a special milestone, Camellia City is celebrating its namesake flower in style – with an amazing camellia show and sale at a new location.

This weekend, March 2 and 3, the Camellia Society of Sacramento will host the 100th annual Camellia Show at the Scottish Rite Center, 6151 H St., Sacramento. Show hours are 3 to 6 p.m. Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. Admission is free.

In addition to the show, the society will offer more than 250 camellia plants for sale, mostly in unusual and hard-to-find varieties. Proceeds from the sale help support the show. Donations are also welcome.

As a special commemorative, the society will sell buttons and refrigerator magnets saluting the 100th anniversary. A popular attraction is camellia waxing – preserved blooms encased in wax.

Highlighting the show, hundreds of blooms will be on display, with a trophy table packed with the very best. In addition, a photo contest will present camellias at their peak of beauty. Flower arrangements featuring camellias will be displayed by the Sacramento Floral Design Guild and Ikebana International, Sacramento.

The public is invited to enter blooms from their own gardens. Entry deadline is 10 a.m. Saturday; doors open at 7:30 a.m for entries.

First held in 1924, the Sacramento Camellia Show predates the local Camellia Society (which formed in 1943) by almost two decades. The early show took a year off in 1933 due to a hard freeze in December 1932 that destroyed camellia buds.

Before the Camellia Society took over, the first shows were run by the Tuesday Club (a local women’s literary and social club that at one time had 1,200 members) and then the Sacramento Garden Club, which formed in part to organize the camellia show.

Camellias were so popular because, at that time, almost everyone seemed to have at least one bush in their garden. Many heritage camellia plants, dating back several decades, still dot local parks and public places.

Sacramento’s camellia history dates back to the Gold Rush era: In 1852 a local nurseryman imported thousands of camellia plants from Japan. James Warren thought he was getting Camellia sinensis – the common tea plant; these plants could be in demand for tea-loving Chinese workers and miners. Instead, Warren received flowering camellias (most likely Camellia japonica). He sold them to Sacramento customers to decorate their gardens.

Thriving in Sacramento’s climate, these imported camellias quickly became popular; they bloom in late winter when few other plants do. Their shiny foliage looks good year-round.

By the 1920s, Sacramento leaders marketed their town as the Camellia City with its own Camellia Festival. Modeled after Pasadena’s Tournament of Roses, the festival featured a royal court, parade, formal dance and even a football game.

Focusing on the flower, the Camellia Society still showcases Sacramento’s favorite bloom – long after the Camellia Bowl played its final down. Thanks to their efforts, camellias are still being enjoyed – and celebrated – in Sacramento today.