North Augustans win at camellia show

In only the second year since it was revived, about 1,000 blooms were entered Saturday in the Augusta Camellia Show.

Held in the Reid Memorial Presbyterian Church gymnasium, the show attracted exhibitors from several states and featured categories in 17 classes.

David and Anna Sheets, of North Augusta, won Best Bloom in Show with a Margaret Davis variety, "which is a fairly old bloom from Australia," Anna said.

It's the first Best Bloom in Show award the Sheets have won.

"It gives you a sense of accomplishment because you're dealing with people, a lot of them that have been doing this for many, many more years than we have, although we've been growing camellias since about 2000," Anna said. "It kind of puts you in a different league with the folks that have been doing it for a long time."

"It took a long time, but we finally got up there," David said. "We've had a lot just below it. It makes you proud when you finally do it."

Anna said she didn't "remember where I got my plant" but that she and her husband, who are originally from New Mexico, "have a little greenhouse, and I put it in the greenhouse."

"That's the first bloom that bloomed on that plant. All I knew when I saw it, it was perfect," she said. "But I didn't know it was going to be that perfect."

The Sheets, who are members of the Aiken Camellia Society, are certified camellia judges and attend different shows throughout the Southeast, starting in October.

"We do about 12 of them, usually on the weekends, and we take whatever blooms we have available," Anna said.

The Augusta show was presented by the Suburban Garden Club, Town and Country Garden Club, Camellia Garden Club, All Seasons Garden Club and Green Court Garden Club. It was sanctioned by the American Camellia Society in cooperation with Reid Memorial, the Aiken Camellia Society and The Augusta-Aiken Chapter of Ikebana International.

Jim Dickson, of North Augusta, the show chairman and president of the American Camellia Society, said Augusta was once a "mecca of camellias."

Fruitland Nurseries, which was on the site where Augusta National Golf Club is now located, shipped camellias around the world for many years, and the first camellia show in the U.S. was held in Augusta in 1932 at the home of Mrs. Alonzo P. Boardman, a member of the Sand Hills Garden Club. The show continued until the Augusta Camellia Club disbanded in 1979.

"Fruitland's was a wonderful thing that made Augusta a mecca for camellias," Dickson said.

He hopes a camellia society can be established again in Augusta and sponsor the show next year. Six meetings per year (one per month from October-March) are planned. They will include a speaker on camellia topics/culture.

"We hope to put Augusta back on the map as a premier camellia town," Dickson said.

Those interested in forming a camellia society in Augusta can contact Dickson at (803) 292-6606.