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No 2021 Camellia Show (but still get a button)

Big Sacramento event is canceled, but souvenirs and plants available

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Debbie Arrington PUBLISHED FEB 17, 2021

Pink, red and white camellia blossoms on table

These camellia entries were all from the 2020 Camellia Show, the last big floral event in the region before the first COVID-19 lockdown. (Photo: Debbie Arrington)

COVID-19 claimed another victim: The 2021 Sacramento Camellia Show.

Annually the nation’s largest show of its kind, the Sacramento Camellia Show is usually held on the first weekend in March. But pandemic restrictions and concerns about patrons’ health tabled this year’s event, which would have been the 97th annul show.

“No official show this year,” said Julie Vierra, president of the Camellia Society of Sacramento. “We are in the same boat (as other clubs who have cancelled events).”

Held just before the first COVID lockdowns, the 2020 Camellia Show filled the Elks Lodge on Riverside Boulevard with hundreds of fresh blooms. It was the last major floral event before pandemic restrictions brought many local clubs grinding to a halt.

Like other garden clubs, the Camellia Society put its monthly meetings on hold, too.

“We keep everyone updated in our monthly newsletters,” Vierra said.

The club had been planning on a 2021 show, including the creation of commemorative buttons and magnets as well as ordering plants to sell. The group now has lots of 2021 buttons and magnets as well as dozens of healthy camellia bushes in need of buyers.

Plants and the collectible buttons have long been major fundraisers for the Camellia Society, Sacramento’s oldest garden club. Instead of at the show, these items are being sold by club members. Persons interested in buying buttons or magnets ($1.50 each) should contact Vierra directly at 916-371-2174.

To buy plants, check out the club’s December 2020 newsletter , also posted on the club’s website. The newsletter contains variety descriptions. Then contact Bill Kitagawa, plant chairman, at 916-591-5654 or nriver_99@yahoo.com .

As for the camellias, Sacramento can still enjoy its signature flower.

“My camellias are gorgeous and blooming early!” Vierra said. “I'm almost in full bloom! I've been posting on Facebook and telling other members to post, too.”

While there’s no show this year, Vierra encourages camellia lovers to share their blooms, both virtually and in person. She has given bouquets to friends and favorite businesses.

For more details and links: https://camelliasocietyofsacramento.org/ .

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Flowers in My Back Yard Series

Aug. 25: Crape myrtles, Sacramento's unofficial tree of summer

Aug. 18: Pollinators adore scabiosa, aka pincushion flower

Aug. 11: Hardy hibiscus adds big tropical impact

Aug. 4: Dianthus a deceptively hardy flower

July 28: Naked Ladies put on summer show

July 21: Thank Luther Burbank for these long-lasting beauties (Shasta daisies)

July 14: How to keep hydrangeas happy

July 7: Grow these bright cosmos for bees and butterflies

June 30: Agapanthus adds blue fireworks to the garden

June 23: Easy-care gazanias fill those hot corners

June 16: Daylilies are perfect for water-wise gardens (and a lot more)

June 9: Grow coneflowers for pollinators -- and yourself

June 2: Sunflowers capture Sacramento's summer attitude

May 29: Are your roses going 'blind'?

May 26: Zinnias are the summer flowers every garden needs

May 19: Plant dahlias now for late-summer flower power

May 12: Know your coreopsis from your bidens

May 5: Mums the word on Mother's Day weekend

April 28: Majestic Matilija poppy is worth a look

April 21: Celebrate roses, America's favorite flower

April 14: Small flowers with outsized impact

April 7: Calendulas do double duty

April 3: Make Easter lilies last for years to come

March 31: In praise of a pollinator magnet (small-leaf salvias)

March 24: Azaleas brighten shady spots

March 17: The perfect flower for beginners? Try zonal geraniums

March 10: Keep camellias happy for years to come

March 3: Fruit tree blossoms are a fleeting joy

Feb. 27: Are your roses looking rusty?

Feb. 24: Treasure spring daffodils now and for years to come

Feb. 17: How and why to grow wildflowers

Feb. 10: Let's talk Valentine's Day roses

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Garden checklist for week of Aug. 16

During this break in the heat, feed your garden. Make sure to water before and after applying fertilizer.

* In the garden, direct seed beets, carrots, leaf lettuce and turnips.

* Plant potatoes.

* Harvest tomatoes, beans, squash, pepper and eggplants to prompt plants to keep producing. Give your plants a deep watering twice a week, more if planted in containers. Also, give them a boost with phosphate-rich fertilizer to help fruiting.

* Watch out for caterpillars and hornworms in the vegetable garden. They can strip a plant bare in one day. Pick them off plants by hand in early morning or late afternoon.

* Feed citrus trees their last round of fertilizer for the year. This will give a boost to the fruit that’s still small.

* Mulch can be your garden’s best friend – it conserves moisture while blocking out weeds. But don't let mulch mound around stalks, stems or trunks. That can promote rot.

* Camellia leaves looking a little yellow? Give them some chelated iron. That goes for azaleas and gardenias, too.

* Pick up after your fruit trees. Clean up debris and dropped fruit; this cuts down on insects and prevents the spread of brown rot. Then feed fruit trees with slow-release fertilizer for better production for next year.

* To prolong bloom into fall, feed begonias, fuchsias and container plants. Always water before fertilizing.

* Fertilize fall-blooming perennials, too. Chrysanthemums can be fed until the buds start to open.

* Prepare for a fall full of flowers by paying a little extra attention to your garden. Cut off spent blooms from roses, annuals and perennials, then give them a boost of fertilizer. Make sure to water plants before feeding. Roses will rebloom about six to eight weeks after deadheading.

* Indoors, start seedlings for fall vegetable planting, including bunching onion, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, radicchio and lettuce.

* Sow seeds of perennials in pots for fall planting including yarrow, coneflower and salvia.

Send us a gardening question, a post suggestion or information about an upcoming event. sacdigsgardening@gmail.com

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