The Brookhaven Camellia Society will host its 44th annualcamellia show Saturday and Sunday at the Brookhaven RecreationDepartment.

Homer Richardson, president of the society, said the public isinvited to view the more than 1,000 camellia blooms that will be ondisplay from 2 to 5 p.m Saturday and from noon to 4 p.m.Sunday.

In addition to the blooms brought in by the show’s judges andsociety members, the public is encouraged to enter blooms that theyhave grown to be judged and displayed. Blooms may be entered forjudging from 7:30 to 11 a.m. Saturday at the recreationdepartment.

Blooms will be entered into special categories, including onefor Lincoln County growers and one for growers who have less than25 plants, Richardson said.

There will also be an indoor/outdoor category, he said.

“This means that people with outdoor plants don’t have tocompete with those grown in a protected environment,” Richardsonsaid.

Thirty-five to 40 judges from North Carolina, Tennessee,Florida, Alabama, Texas, Mississippi and Louisiana will attend theshow, Richardson said.

The public will be able to learn about growing, grafting andpruning camellias and will be able to purchase camellia plants onSaturday.

“The show gives people an opportunity to see such a largevariety of blooms all in one place, and that’s not something that’seasy to do,” Richardson said.

There are more than 50,000 named varieties of camellias withblooms ranging from 1 to 7 inches in diameter, Richardson said.

“I encourage people to grow camellias because they’re reallyeasy to grow and one of the few plants that give you blooms when itmay otherwise be a depressing time without much color,” hesaid.

The show is open to all growers and there is no fee to enter abloom or to attend the event, he said.