Retired Huntsville attorney and Master Gardener Jim Gaines traded the long hours and the high demands of lawyering for gentler times and the seasonal rewards of gardening when he and wife Nancy, also a lawyer, retired to Magnolia Springs some years back.

Jim and Nancy bought an older historical home there that was once the local post office. "My grandfather, who was a surgeon in Anniston, loved to spend his summers down here and he fell in love with the gorgeous camellias he found growing," Jim shares. "Later on, he built a house where the mayor now lives along with a greenhouse where he began growing camellias and expanding his love of gardening. Any green thumb I have, I got from him and my parents, who also loved to garden."

In the earlier years of the 20th century, Alabama school children selected the goldenrod as the official state flower. The unassuming wildflower brightened the Alabama countryside with its liberal plume-like flowers and represented the state well for more than 30 years.

However, certain ladies felt that the lowly goldenrod, as a common wildflower, was undeserving as the state flower. They thought camellias would be more appropriate as a state representative, and in 1959, camellia japonica replaced the goldenrod as Alabama's state flower.

Today, the South is considered the heart of camellia country, even though the plants originated in eastern and southern Asia. There are more than 3,000 named varieties of camellias, and Jim, with 141 shrubs, is well on his way to approaching that number.

"I like to grow one of each variety," Jim shares. "When I retired here in Magnolia Springs from Huntsville, I went wild over camellias with just four or five bushes to start."

Some of the ones Jim now nurtures include variegated varieties such as Drama Girl, the compressed Alba Plena, which first came to America in the 1700s, and the lush beauty, Grand Marshal.

Jim plants all of his camellias in his winding and natural landscape and in borders along his informal yard. He buys his camellias from local growers who are nationally known, flower shows in Mobile and Florida and local nurseries.

"I jam my Suburban with camellias when Nancy and I head out on a hunt," Jim says with a smile. "The camellia is a lazy person's plant. I don't usually fertilize them and I water with a hose if it gets too hot. I do like to label each camellia, although the squirrels like to eat my labels," he says.

Jim doesn't spend time propagating, as he is more interested in collecting one of each variety. Other favorites include pink empress, or the English name, Lady Claire, and corkscrew type growth varieties. The lovely blooms can range in size from a few inches to near saucer-width.

The fall of the year is the perfect time for planting camellias in this area.

“I plant them in the ground, then stand back and watch them grow,” Jim explains. “They live and bloom beautifully here. I don't plant them too deeply, as that is the quickest way to kill a new shrub.”

Jim became a Baldwin County Master Gardener in 1996 to learn how to grow in this area.

"I became a lot better gardener when I moved here. This area has a great climate and just about everything grows well," Jim says. "Growing camellias in our southern landscape is not difficult at all. I garden to learn more through doing, and there is nothing more thrilling than watching something grow. Camellias exist in a remarkable range of colors, forms and sizes, and they are not favorites of deer."

Besides his beloved camellias, Jim enjoys growing the shade-loving ligularia, sasanquas, oranges, blueberries, a few vegetables, gingers and lace leaf maples.

Jim and Nancy share their love of gardening and both are active members in the Baldwin County Master Gardener group.

"Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts,” Rachel Carson once said. “There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature."

As autumn unfurls itself toward winter, gardener Jim Gaines would heartily agree as he follows the winding path through his prolific camellia blooms.

Editor’s note: Dooley Berry, who writes the Beyond the Garden Gate column every other week, will be taking a break for the winter months, as there aren’t many plants thriving during this time. However, she will be back in February. To suggest a spring garden that could be featured in Beyond the Garden Gate, email people@gulfcoastnewspapers.com.