People from all over are Brookhaven-bound this weekend, and onething unites them: Camellias.

Meanwhile, with the 46th annual Camellia Show coming up Saturdayand Sunday, local Camellia enthusiasts reflect on what brought themto the love of the many-faceted flowers that bloom year-round.

Mike and Geri Jinks had both been exposed to Camellias by familymembers before they bought a house with just under 30 Camelliatrees. When Geri, who worked for The DAILY LEADER at the time, wasinvited to take a trip with the Camellia Society and write afeature story on their visit to see some greenhouse growers inLucedale years ago, the dormant flower fever was awakened. Geribought her first Camellia bush on that trip.

“We had bought the house and about 25 Camellias were alreadyhere and since then, we’ve probably added that many or more,” shesaid. “I don’t count them, I just keep eyeing them, so I don’t haveto admit I’ve bought too many.”

Mike said it was a natural transition, because the he and Gerialready had green thumbs.

“We liked gardening altogether, and these flowers are evergreenand they bloom in the winter,” he said. “And they don’t require alot of care once they’re established.”

The Jinkses’ involvement in the Camellia Society began then.Both went to judging school and after a novice period, are nowfully accredited judges.

Mike Jinks has been the president and the treasurer of thesociety in the time since Geri’s fateful trip.

Geri laughs now, because as a child she spent time in hergrandparents’ yard with all their Camellia plants, but they didn’tinterest her.

“My grandparents loved Camellias, and they had them all over theyard,” she said. “As a kid I was disappointed, because I’d stick mynose in them and they had no smell, then I learned to appreciatethat they bloom when the other flowers don’t.”

Homer and Lynn Richardson both have also been president in theirtime in the Camellia Society, with Homer serving currently. LynnRichardson said when they made the move from Pennsylvania backsouth to Brookhaven, she was looking for some good flowers thatwould grow year-round.

“The first year we moved here, I went to the Camellia show and Iwon a bush,” Lynn Richardson said. “When we began landscaping,Camellias were at the top of my list for landscape plants.”

The Richardsons visited a nursery in Baton Rouge to find plantswith which to adorn their lawn, and Lynn had her sights set on theCamellias.

“I told Homer, ‘I want some Camellias,'” she said. “So we boughtsome more, and we’ve been buying more ever since. They’re greatbecause you can have cut flowers in the winter, you can float themin bowls – they’re very versatile flowers.”

The Camellia showing circuit is an active one too, with showsalmost every weekend during certain parts of the year.

The Jinkses go to four or five shows a year if they can. Gerieven edits a quarterly magazine for the Gulf Coast CamelliaSociety.

“That’s one of those jobs that you don’t get paid, but you havea lot of fun,” she said, adding that Camellia growers nationwideare actually a very tight-knit circle. “It really is a very funfamily of people.”

And Lynn Richardson said the enthusiasm for the plant is notjust based on the fellowship with other devotees, it’s based on theflower’s beauty, good nature and low maintenance.

“I’ve never seen an ugly Camellia, they’re wonderful plants,”she said. “And they live for a very long time.”