Annual Aiken Camellia Show will be held at the Aiken Mall this weekend

The 57th annual Aiken Camellia Show comes into bloom this weekend at Aiken Mall.

The show will be open to the public from 3 to 8 p.m. Saturday and 1 to 6 p.m. Sunday, in a mall storefront opposite Bath & Body Works. The juried show follows the American Camellia Society's standards for the flowers, and the show is sponsored by the Aiken Camellia Society. The show usually averages about 1,000 flowers entered each year, according to society member Stephanie Weldon.

"It all depends on the weather," Weldon said. "The people with greenhouses will have blooms; the outdoor growers may or may not. The cold kills blooms. I've got some camellia buds planted in pots that I've brought inside and I'm talking to now, hoping they'll open in time for the show."

Camellia Show awards include best in show, special awards for local growers, best white camellia, novice class awards and group-of-three and group-of-five awards.

Category classes include japonicas grown indoors and outdoors, reticulatas and reticulata hybrids, non-reticulata hybrids, miniatures and collections of three and collections of five blooms.

The show will also feature a display of Japanese flower arranging by the Augusta/Aiken Chapter of Ikebana International and a display of bonsai by Fred Wieland.

Membership information will be available at the show for both the Aiken Camellia Society and the American Camellia Society, and those who join the American Camellia Society at the show will receive a free camellia plant.

"We're always looking for new members. It's a great group of people. There are people here whose parents grew camellias," said Weldon. "It's great to have beautiful blooms in the middle of winter. Cold weather will kill blooms but not buds, so we've always got new blooms to look forward to."

The Aiken Camellia Society meets from October to March on the second Thursday of the month at St. John's United Methodist Church.

For more information about the society or about the show, call Lee Poe at 648-8249 or Jim Dickson at 279-9451 or e-mail Weldon at weldonr@bellsouth.net.

Contact Suzanne Stone at sstone@aikenstandard.com.