People brave stormy weather to celebrate milestone and see lots of flowers
These were just a few of the camellia blossoms entered for judging at the 100th Sacramento Camellia Show. Debbie Arrington
Updated
Rain couldn’t dampen Sacramento’s love of its favorite flower.
Over a soggy weekend March 2 and 3, more than 3,000 patrons – and hundreds of flowers – packed the Scottish Rite Center for the 100th Sacramento Camellia Show.
“We had more people than we’ve ever had, at least in many, many years,” said Julie Vierra, president of the Camellia Society of Sacramento and the show’s co-chair. “(The flow of people) was constant – it never stopped! We were very busy both days.”
The final tally, finished Monday night, was impressive: Some 47 exhibitors entered 1,743 blooms, Vierra said. More than 3,100 guests attended the show.
“It was the biggest show we’ve ever had, at least since the early days at Memorial Auditorium,” Vierra added.
Living up to Sacramento’s moniker as the Camellia City, the Sacramento Camellia Show is recognized as the nation’s oldest and largest show of its kind. It’s been a highlight of Sacramento’s garden calendar since its 1924 debut. For decades, it filled Memorial Auditorium with flowers as part of the city’s Camellia Festival.
For its century milestone, the show moved from the Elks Lodge in Greenhaven to the larger Scottish Rite Center near Sacramento State in the River Park neighborhood. The new location and extra space were a hit, Vierra noted. “People said how much more they liked it.”
Cold rain and wind – which can quickly batter tender camellia blooms – were an extra challenge for exhibitors. About 1 inch of rain fell on Sacramento between Friday afternoon and Sunday evening. The storm included gusty winds with blasts over 30 mph.
“We were picking (flowers) in the pouring rain on Friday night,” said Vierra, who won nine trophies with her camellias. “It just goes to show how hardy they can be. They can take a lot of beating and still look good.”
Sacramento stalwarts Don and Joan Lesmeister won Best of Show with "Phyllis Hunt," a spectacular Reticulata camellia that measured more than 7 inches across. The light pink variety originated in Australia in 1998.
“It was absolutely perfect – a gorgeous flower,” Vierra said of the winning bloom.
Best large Japonica camellia (the species found in most Sacramento gardens) went to "Black Magic," grown by Kathy Fields.
Dozens of flower arrangements were displayed by members of the Sacramento Floral Design Guild and Ikebana International, Sacramento.
Vierra noted many community members brought flowers from their gardens to enter in the flower show – or just to be identified.
“Sunday night when it was all over, I was really happy,” she said. “I felt good about all the work we did.”
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Garden Checklist for week of Jan. 12
Once the winds die down, it’s good winter gardening weather with plenty to do:
* Prune, prune, prune. Now is the time to cut back most deciduous trees and shrubs. The exceptions are spring-flowering shrubs such as lilacs.
* Now is the time to prune fruit trees. (The exceptions are apricot and cherry trees, which are susceptible to a fungus that causes dieback. Save them until summer.) Clean up leaves and debris around the trees to prevent the spread of disease.
* Prune roses, even if they’re still trying to bloom. Strip off any remaining leaves, so the bush will be able to put out new growth in early spring.
* Clean up leaves and debris around your newly pruned roses and shrubs. Put down fresh mulch or bark to keep roots cozy.
* After the wind stops, apply horticultural oil to fruit trees to control scale, mites and aphids. Oils need 24 hours of dry weather after application to be effective.
* This is also the time to spray a copper-based fungicide to peach and nectarine trees to fight leaf curl. (The safest effective fungicides available for backyard trees are copper soap -- aka copper octanoate -- or copper ammonium, a fixed copper fungicide. Apply either of these copper products with 1% horticultural oil to increase effectiveness.)
* When forced bulbs sprout, move them to a cool, bright window. Give them a quarter turn each day so the stems will grow straight.
* Browse through seed catalogs and start making plans for spring and summer.
* Divide daylilies, Shasta daisies and other perennials.
* Cut back and divide chrysanthemums.
* Plant bare-root roses, trees and shrubs.
* Transplant pansies, violas, calendulas, English daisies, snapdragons and fairy primroses.
* In the vegetable garden, plant fava beans, head lettuce, mustard, onion sets, radicchio and radishes.
* Plant bare-root asparagus and root divisions of rhubarb.
* In the bulb department, plant callas, anemones, ranunculus and gladioli for bloom from late spring into summer.
* Plant blooming azaleas, camellias and rhododendrons. If you’re shopping for these beautiful landscape plants, you can now find them in full flower at local nurseries.
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