Find beauty, history, legends at Camellia Festival

The 2019 Savannah Camellia Festival is coming Feb. 21-24 and will be all about indescribable beauty, with an intertwining of history and legends. Last year the world of camellias was turned on its head with the return of the Savannah Camellia Show after a prolonged absence.

Much of the rich camellia history began in Savannah with our own Judge Arthur Solomon, famous as a Chatham County commissioner and perhaps more so as a plantsman and one of the participating founders of the American Camellia Society.

In fact, Feb. 21 kicks off the festival with tours of the Judge Arthur Solomon Camellia Trail at the Coastal Georgia Botanical Gardens. This is one of the premier camellia gardens in the country and should be in peak bloom. You will see over 1,000 camellias, including several species that are rare in the United States.

Feb. 22 will be a day of legends as Coach Vince Dooley and wife Barbara are the scheduled guest speakers at a sold-out luncheon. While the coach retired from football years ago, he called one of his best "reverses," except this one was off the field, as he has become a renowned horticulturist and author.

On Feb. 23, the competition commences. The garden opens at 7 a.m. for flowers to be brought in for display and judging. If you have some stunning camellias, this is the place to get your feet wet in the friendly confines of a camellia show. This is how you learn and meet other like-minded friends. The show will be judged from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. and be closed to the public.

The Savannah Camellia Show will then be open to the public from 1 to 5 p.m. There will be hundreds of camellias on display to create a "plant lust," if you will, making you want every variety for your garden. A couple of camellias that will stun you beyond your wildest dreams are Frank Houser and Variegated Frank Houser, both of which are camellia reticulata hybrids.

It seems that for one reason or another, the camellia industry has been associated with heroes and legends and those with a dedication to service, such is the case of Dr. Frank Houser and his friend Dr. Walter E Homeyer. Houser was a WWII hero. During his two and a half years in service overseas, he commanded the Third Army Hospital in Paris. During the Battle of the Bulge, he worked behind the lines treating massive casualties and also commanded hospital trains ferrying the wounded from D-Day invasion back to Paris.

After the war, Houser returned to Macon and began a 65-year career in medicine. He became one of the first doctors to experiment safely with penicillin. He was Man of the Year in Bibb County, and General Practitioner of the Year by the Medical Association of Georgia.

The camellia world, however, is indebted to him for his love of camellias, and some 15 varieties he created. It was his friend and neighbor Homeyer who created the Frank Houser camellia. Homeyer, an anesthesiologist, is among the elite in camellia breeding. In addition to seeing Frank Houser camellias in the show, look for them during the garden tours.

The camellia show opens again from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Feb. 24. Special tours of the Judge Arthur Solomon Camellia Trail are set for 2 p.m. Feb. 21, 1:30 p.m. Feb. 23 and 12:30 p.m. Feb. 24.

Norman Winter is a horticulturist and national garden speaker. He is a former director of the Coastal Georgia Botanical Gardens. Follow him on Facebook at Norman Winter “The Garden Guy.”

What: Savannah Camellia Festival

Where: Coastal Georgia Botanical Gardens, 2 Canebrake Road

When: 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Feb. 21-22; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Feb. 23; 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Feb. 24

Cost: $5 total per person for any or all four days

Info/tickets: coastalgacs.wildapricot.org

Sold out: Former UGA coach Vince Dooley and wife Barbara will speak at 11:30 a.m. Feb. 22; the event is sold out.

IF YOU GO