Bellingrath Gardens
Bellingrath Gardens is an enchanting scene of flowers and fountains along curving trails beneath moss-draped live oaks and magnolias. It is best known for its world-class collection of camellias, azaleas, roses, and chrysanthemums, which grow in profusion on an 800-acre estate. Bellingrath Gardens was inspired by the owners’ visit to Europe’s most famous gardens. In 1917, one of Coca-Cola’s early entrepreneurs, Walter Bellingrath, purchased this riverfront property named by early French settlers “Isle-aux-Oies,” meaning Isle of Geese. They then searched the countryside to find and buy mature camellias, forming the foundation for what today is one of the largest and best collections in America. The Bellingrath Home, with its quaint courts and porticoes accented by iron-lace grille, represents the enduring legacy of old France and Spain on the American gulf coast.
K. Sawada Wintergarden
Mobile Botanical Gardens
The great Japanese-American plantsman Kosaku Sawada shaped Mobile’s reputation as a world center of camellia development and production. This garden, now bearing his name, is a living monument to him and other great nurserymen from this area including Tsukasa Kiyono, Robert Rubel, Tom Dodd Jr., Alden Davis, Blanding Drinkard, Robert (Bobby) Green Jr. and many others. It was first planted 60 years ago by a group that included Sawada’s sons. Those plants now form the collection’s backbone, augmented by many newer varieties that are continually added and curated by the garden’s staff. In 2014 the K. Sawada Wintergarden was named one of six U.S. gardens to be designated as an International Camellia Garden of Excellence.
Cornerstone Gardens
This unique private garden, within walking distance of downtown, has been named by ACS as an American Camellia Trail Garden and featured in garden magazines nationally. It is the fulfillment of a vision by local attorney and camellia expert Vaughan Drinkard and his wife Linda with two special aims. One is to honor the legacy of three generations of camellia plantsmen including Robert Rubel, Cliff Harris, and Blanding Drinkard, who each contributed to the region’s camellia heritage. The second is to offer a peaceful respite for ministers and missionaries who can come stay in the garden’s historic carriage house during a short-term retreat. It includes a formal English garden as well as a Japanese woodland garden containing many plants of Japanese heritage.
Green Nurseries
The private home and garden of Bobby and Debra Green, once location of Green Nurseries, dates to 1932. The nursery was founded by Bobby’s father, Bob Sr., who had developed a fondness for camellias while working and learning under Tsukasa Kiyono and Kosaku Sawada. The property is now a 13-acre jewel box of 90-year-old camellias, azaleas, sweet olives, and other unique plants that serves as a research and development center for Bobby’s hybridizing work. His 40-year breeding program has yielded numerous camellia cultivars, especially camellia sasanquas, that have earned him the highest acclaim as America’s only 5-time winner of the ACS’ prestigious Ralph Peer Sasanqua Cup and winner of the RHS’ David Trehane Award. This tour will take you through Bobby’s garden and into his greenhouses where his research and hybridization work is ongoing.
Flowerwood Nursery
One of America’s largest production nurseries, Flowerwood is test-growing the new Chinese “four season” camellias for the American landscape market under a licensing agreement with the American Camellia Society and Professor Gao Jiyin. The tour will take you through this impressive facility to see its massive scale, including nearly 100,000 plants of “four season” camellias in different stages of growth. One will be selected and taken to the Main Congress for a ceremonial planting in the ACS Garden at Massee Lane. Flowerwood was founded in the 1930s as a camellia hobby nursery by Mobile attorney Harry Hardy Smith. Now in its third generation of the Smith family, Flowerwood has expanded it into finding and introducing new plants for American landscapes.
American Camellia Society Garden at Massee Lane
The national office and garden of the American Camellia Society is on a 150-acre campus that includes its 9-acre camellia collection, office building, library, visitor center, museum, theatre, conference rooms, greenhouses, and other facilities. It is located in a rural setting among vast commercial peach and pecan orchards about 30 miles south of the host city of Macon, Georgia. Massee Lane was already over a century old when it was bought by Mr. Dave Strother who first planted camellias in the 1930s. Soon his garden became known as one of the finest collections in America, drawing public visitors by the thousands. Strother became one of the founders of the American Camellia Society in 1945, and in 1966 he donated all of this land to the American Camellia Society for its national office. It remains one of the finest collections in America and is recognized as an International Camellia Garden of Excellence.
World of Coca-Cola
Atlanta is the corporate home of Coca-Cola, the world’s most popular soft-drink! On our tour of Atlanta, we will take a pause from visiting gardens to tour the World of Coca-Cola where attendees can experience this iconic side of American culture and taste the various flavors of Coca-Cola around the globe. This will be a moment all attendees will go home remembering.
Atlanta Botanical Garden
An urban oasis, the Atlanta Botanical Garden is one of America’s most beautiful and impressive public gardens. It also is home to the annual North Georgia Camellia Show and hosts a modest camellia collection of its own. Its plant collections, beautiful displays and spectacular exhibitions make the Atlanta Botanical Garden a delight to visit. It includes 30 acres of outdoor gardens, the serene Storza Woods highlighted by a unique Canopy Walk, and the picturesque Skyline Garden.
Atlanta History Center
Goizueta Gardens Camellia Collection
Goizueta Gardens is a 33-acre landscape encompassing nine distinct gardens, including a camellia garden honoring the life of Olga “Olguita” C. de Goizueta, a garden lover and philanthropist wife of longtime Coca-Cola CEO Roberto Goizueta. The camellia collection, centered around the Swan House, features original plants that were purchased from notable Japanese-American plantsman, Kosaku Sawada, whose labor and love of camellias were a major contribution to the horticultural world.
Gene's Camellia World
Gene’s Camellia World, founded by Gene Phillips and his partner Marsha Zeagler, is one of America’s leading camellia nurseries near Savannah, Georgia. Gene is a second-generation camellia nurseryman and longtime ICS member who has originated many popular cultivars. This nursery is located on the country estate of Ms. Zeagler’s family and features acres of picturesque camellias, as well as handsome nursery greenhouses with potted camellia inventory. Attendees at the Post-Congress will get to experience this magical place and a “Low-Country Feast” in route to Savannah.
Armstrong Botanic Garden
at Georgia Southern University (Savannah)
This garden is part of a 268-acre arboretum that features over 200 camellia varieties and over 50 camellia species, including one of the largest known specimens of Camellia crapnelliana in America. This garden originally was created to test the landscape potential of various camellia species on the Georgia coast. It also features an interesting compliment of camellia relatives such as the genera Eurya, Franklinia, Gordonia, Polyspora, and Ternstroemia. Other special gardens in the arboretum include a conifer garden and an international garden.
Coastal Georgia Botanical Garden
This relatively new garden has quickly become a top Savannah attraction, featuring an impressive, historic camellia collection that showcases the region’s camellia legacy and attracts more than 100,000 visitors annually. It is highlighted by the Judge Arthur Solomon Camellia Trail named for one of the founders of the American Camellia Society who was known for beautifying Savannah parks, squares, and roadways with live oaks, camellias, azaleas and palms. This camellia collection, curated by the renowned expert Gene Phillips, includes hundreds of both rare and common camellias and their hybrids.
Historic Beaufort
This charming, photogenic resort village is an American landmark, chosen frequently as the filming location for major movies because of its well-preserved architecture, Spanish moss-draped oaks, camellia garden landscapes, and rich Low Country culture. It was chartered by the British in 1711 as South Carolina’s second city, but its history dates to the 1500s. It now is popular among visitors for its walkable streets, quaint shops, historic homes and forts, and significant landmarks.
Tybee Island
This is a seaside vacation hamlet on the Atlantic Ocean, much loved for its relaxed, quirky coastal vibe, wide ocean beaches, historic Lighthouse, abundant wildlife, outdoor activities (biking, kayaking), and fresh seafood (especially oysters). It offers visitors a delightful, less commercialized coastal escape, charming local shops, and gourmet food scene.
Savannah Shopping
Explore the charm of Broughton Street shops or wander the historic City Market and River Street Marketplace, where gourmet delights, fashion, and exquisite jewelry await. Then hop the motor coach to the Tanger Outlet Mall where you will find deep discounts on popular name brands such as Kate Spade, Coach, Columbia, Nike, Skechers, and dozens more.
Contact Us
Email: ask@americancamellias.com
Telephone: (478) 967-2358
Address
100 Massee Lane
FT. Valley, Georgia 31030-6974
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