VALDOSTA CAMELLIA AND GARDEN CLUB

September 2015 

A Message From Our President Mark  Crawford 

Another very hot summer is behind us with a hint of fall upon us. The rather wet summer was great for our camellias and should be the prerequisite for a great blooming season. Everyone I have talked with had incredible growth on their camellias and for me, my garden has become a jungle. I have been growing camellias for 15 years and now my oldest plants have become so big they need to be severely trimmed. Just another job to add to the endless list of things to do around the garden. We will start off our club season meeting at Ocean Pond on September 22 at 6:00 for a social hour and dinner at 7:00. Please make your reservation by Friday, Sept. 18th for dinner that is $14.00. We will have a guest speaker to talk about a companion plant for camellias that I am sure you will enjoy. For our regular meetings, we will no longer be meeting at the Crescent. The garden clubs have raised the fee to $135.00 per meeting that is completely unacceptable. Starting in October we will meet downtown at First Presbyterian Church in the fellowship hall. There is plenty of off-street parking and this location will fit our needs very well and it will not drain our bank account. Another change is that we will not be having a show this year. The Methodist church has been a great place to have a show but ever since there are no venders associated with the Christmas festival preceding the parade we have had terrible attendance by the public. It is too much work for the public not to be involved and we have not attracted a new member through the show in 3 years. We can use our time off to reevaluate our show date and location and come up with a new plan. I would like to host a camellia flower display in February somewhere we can get a lot of public exposure. Your ideas are welcome. This year I would like to start a new feature for our newsletter with a Question Box. If you have a question about camellias or other garden plants, please email me or J. D. and it will be answered in the next newsletter. Urgent questions will be answered promptly and be included in the newsletter. I also want to bring to your attention that all the articles from the Northern California Camellia Bulletin are now available full text on the Atlantic Coast Camellia Society website. http://www.atlanticcoastcamelliasociety.org/NCCS%20Journals/NCCS%20Camellia%20Bulletins%201947-1965.html These bulletins are filled with great articles from the peak of camellia growing from 1947 to 1965 with articles written by some of the most famous growers of the time. This month is time to disbud your camellias to 1 bud per terminal branch that will improve the size and shape of the flowers. It is also time to gib so that you can enjoy flowers over a longer period of time especially if you like to cut them to enjoy indoors. Watch your plants for mites and scale as they can become a problem as the weather cools. Look forward to seeing you at Ocean Pond.

Next Club Meeting

Tuesday Sept. 22

6:00 PM

Lake Park, GA

Ocean Pond Clubhouse

Please RSVP

Emily Newbern at 229-245-8086

or enewbern@vol.com

Next Camellia Show

Georgia National Fair Miller-Murphy-Howard

Building

Perry, GA

Sat. & Sun. October 17 & 18

Bloom Entry

7:00 - 10:30 a.m. Sat.

Open to Public Beginning Sat.

at 1:00 p.m.

I AM HONORED TO CALL HIM MY FRIEND

SPOTLIGHT ON RANDOLPH MAPHIS

By J. D. Thomerson

W hat a pleasure it is to write an article about my good friend Randolph Maphis. Yes, a pleasure but also a big task because Randolph Maphis is not just your average guy – he is

accomplished in so many areas and does so many things well that I hardly know where to begin. I will attempt to give you his story but before I begin I want to first say that Randolph is just an overall great guy -- a great friend, a great family man, a great camellia grower, a great camellia club president, a great business manager, a great cook, and so much more. That is a lot of “greats” but if you know Randolph Maphis then you know that it is all true.

Randolph Maphis grew up in the big city of Grand Ridge, FL (that is a joke – the last census was a population of 790 people) about 56 miles from Tallahassee, FL. Many camellia growers will recognize the city of Grand Ridge, FL as the home of Mr. Paul Gilley who grew thousands of camellia seedlings and registered 50 plus varieties naming them for members of his family and even one for his dog. Randolph’s parents knew Paul Gilley and they visited the Gilley’s camellia farm many times. Randolph’s father enjoyed growing many kinds of plants and grew several camellias from cuttings acquired from the Gilley’s. I am sure this lit a spark for plants and camellias in particular with Randolph but early on school, career, and family came first.

During his high school days he met a special lady named Marilyn Edenfield who after several years of dating agreed to be his wife on May 4, 1968. They celebrated their 46th anniversary this year. Marilyn and Randolph are parents of three children. Scott is following in his dad’s footsteps working as Grocery Manager at a Publix store located in Tallahassee, FL. Sam, one of his two daughters, is a lawyer currently living in McLean, VA, just outside Washington, D.C., and Charlene is working as a nurse in Tallahassee. Randolph and Marilyn are very proud grandparents of 8 grandchildren.

Randolph coached both girls softball and boys baseball in the Tallahassee City League for over 15 years. All three of his children played ball and their Dad was most often their coach or assistant. Randolph was also very active in the Boy Scout program. Scott joined the scouting program in first grade and continued with the program long after earning his Eagle Scout. For 11 years, Randolph served either as an Assistant Scout Master or Merit Badge Counselor and also sat on the Eagle Board. Citizenship in the Community, Citizenship in the Nation, Citizenship in the World, Rifle Shoot, and Family Life are just a few

of the topics he taught in the Boy Scout program.

One of Two Large Greenhouses at the Maphis Home

Photo of Camellia Grower Mr. Paul Gilley

Randolph and Marilyn Maphis

Randolph Maphis and Mrs. Roberta Hardison at a Publix Camellia Display

After attending college Randolph soon began a long and very successful 38 year career with the fast growing Publix Supermarket Corporation. After just three short years he was promoted to Management where he worked the next 35 years including 20 years as overall Store Manager. Bill Curry, Vice President of Publix, said the following about Randolph: “There is nothing average about Randolph Maphis as he has always been at the top of the scale in thoughts about life and work. He is energetic and filled with drive; he exemplifies the story about giving work to the man who is the hardest worker for he will get the job done. He is honest and outspoken, never have I worked with anyone with any more personal integrity than Randolph Maphis. He is a man of his word, he admits his mistakes and he will not lie. Randolph is my friend for life.”

Likewise, Marilyn is a very gifted lady and has also had a very successful business career. She worked with the state of Florida and also was the Owner of two Hallmark stores for many years. Marilyn is a very detailed person and works very hard behind the scenes. I know for a fact that much of the planning and details of this year’s ACS National Convention were ironed out and planned by Marilyn. Randolph told me that “He rides on the bus but Marilyn drives the bus.” Randolph seriously became interested in camellias in 1981 when he and Marilyn moved to a new house in Tallahassee, FL located only a half mile away from the home of Dick and Roberta Hardison. The Hardison’s are another family that serious camellia growers should have heard about. Dick Hardison was a very brilliant man that held many advanced education degrees who worked in the Public Health Department field. He set and oversaw health regulations for the

seafood restaurant industry for many years as well as other duties dealing with immunology and health safety. Randolph said he first met Dick Hardison sometime in 1981 when he went to buy some azaleas that Dick Hardison also grew and sold. When he arrived at the Hardison’s home it was during camellia bloom season and he was just totally amazed at the 700 plus blooming camellias varieties planted in the ground at the Hardison’s place. Randolph was then quickly hooked on camellias. Over the next 15 years, Randolph helped Dick Hardison perform thousands of air layers each year and graft hundreds of camellias in addition to all the other jobs such as mixing dirt, fertilizing, spraying, etc., and in the process Randolph began to acquire a nice collection of camellias himself. Dick Hardison was a very special friend to Randolph and was a great camellia mentor. In 1982 Dick Hardison invited Randolph to join him, Lee Roy Smith, and Bob Gramling on a road trip to Valdosta, GA to attend the Valdosta Camellia Show. At this show they introduced Randolph to Hulyn Smith. Well, Randolph and Hulyn instantly became good friends. Hulyn invited Randolph to visit his camellia garden and greenhouses in Valdosta, GA and Randolph bought several camellia scions to graft from Hulyn. Randolph’s and Hulyn’s friendship just continued to grow over the next several years. He would visit Hulyn many times each year and help Hulyn with all the many camellia tasks. After that first year of buying scions from Hulyn the rest were all given to him at no cost. Hulyn shared all his rare varieties and

Camellia Reticulata Marilyn Maphis

Photo of Dick and Roberta Hardison

Hulyn Smith and Randolph Maphis

seedlings with Randolph knowing that if someone else did not grow these varieties they might be lost forever if one of his died. Hulyn and Randolph worked together for many years registering many new camellia varieties. In fact, many of Hulyn’s old seedlings are still being registered by Randolph even after Hulyn’s death in March, 2011.

As it so often happens to camellia addicts Randolph soon ran out of room to plant anymore camellias in his yard. He went shopping for a bigger lot somewhere in Tallahassee that had the right amount of shade trees, good rich soil, and plenty of room for camellias including greenhouses to keep them cozy and warm during the winter months. In the year 2000 he bought the perfect empty lot for his camellias but it took four more years to convince Marilyn that they should build a new house and move to this property. During the meantime (years 2000 – 2001) the property housed Randolph’s chicken houses (see photo.) Later in 2002 he built his first greenhouse for his camellias and finally in 2004 their house was built and he and Marilyn moved into their current home. Randolph now has two large

greenhouses that house about 400 camellias and there is not a “dud” in either greenhouse. His collection of Reticulata hybrids must be seen to be believed. He also has about 200 plants in pots. Randolph is currently selling camellia scions and grafted camellias just as Hulyn Smith asked him to do right before Hulyn’s death. The purpose is not really to make money but to continue distributing these rare camellia varieties that Hulyn developed or found from other growers from all over the world – many of these varieties can be found no place else and once you see them you will want them – they are really incredible. He grafted about 560 grafts this year. Several of these camellia varieties were auctioned at this year’s ACS National Convention for one hundred dollars or more. Randolph and Marilyn joined the Tallahassee Camellia Society in 1985. As is the case with many camellia clubs most members at that time were elderly and many long time

leaders soon died. Randolph and Marilyn with the help of several others worked extremely hard for many years to maintain and increase club membership during a rough time. Randolph has served three different terms as President of the Tallahassee Camellia Society since joining and has been the Tallahassee Camellia Show Chairman the past several years. Currently, the Tallahassee Camellia Society is very healthy with 70 members. The health of the club is evident in the outstanding 2015 ACS National Convention which was held in Tallahassee this past February. Randolph of course served as the Chairman of the convention and with much help from Marilyn and other club members it was a tremendous success.

Randolph never rests for long so expect more exciting things from him soon. If you do not already know Randolph Maphis then by all means you need to get to know him. Attend area camellia shows and join the American Camellia Society and you will see him and read about him. He is definitely a great “camellian” but just as great a person.

Randolph’s Chicken Houses and First Greenhouse

Blooms in Randolph’s Greenhouse

Randolph at the Tallahassee Camellia Show

“ I T’ S R E A L L Y A B O U T T H E P E O P L E”

TheBloomsareGreat—But,CamelliaClubsandSocietiesareAboutFriendships

Ihave thousandsofphoto’sofcamelliabloomsonmycomputerbutnotnearlyenough of the folks that grow them and enjoy them. Here are a few ofmyfavorites.Iamnotincludingnamesonpurpose—ifthereareanypeopleinthephoto’sbelowyoudonotknowpleaseaskothersatourcamelliameetingssowecantellyouallaboutthem.IneedtogetphotosofmanyValdostaclubmemberssoIwillbechasingmanyofyoudownwithacameraandpostingyourphotosinfuturenewsletters.

Join the Valdosta Camellia & Garden Club Today

Informative meetings – Camellias and much more! Share your gardening ideas and expertise with other members Group events

Meetings are typically held the 4th Tuesday of the month from September through March

in Valdosta. Call Mark Crawford at 229-460-5922 for more information.

o $10.00 Individual member o $15.00 Joint membership

Name:

Address:

City, State Zip Code:

Telephone:

Email:

Gardening Interests:

Mail or give to: Sandra Seago Treasurer, Valdosta Camellia & Garden Club 1802 N. Oak St. Valdosta, GA 31602

We look forward to seeing you at the upcoming meetings!

(Please come as our Guest and you can decide if you want to join later)

Typical Meeting Time: 6:30 PM 4th Tuesday of the month from September through March

But please e-mail or phone Mark Crawford to make sure of meeting date/time/location as we occasionally meet on other dates and at different locations

E-mail: craw142@bellsouth.net

Phone him at 229-460-5922