DAPHNE, Ala. — When the 68th Annual Camellia Club Show opens this weekend, you can bet that Daphne resident James Oates will be there.

Oates, a 48-year member of the Camellia Club of Mobile, has grown the flowers for the past 50 years. He’s nurtured species such as the Delores Oates, a pale pink variety named after his deceased wife and registered with the American Camellia Society; the don cklaer, a speckled dark pink and white bloom; and the pink pagoda, a more common, pale pink flower.

Camellia trees can live for over 200 years, Oates, a past president of the club, said. The flower deserves attention — such as this weekend’s show — because it is the state flower of Alabama, he said.

The 68th Annual Camellia Club Show will be held Saturday from 3 to 9 p.m. and Sunday from 12 to 4 p.m. at the Target entrance of Colonial Mall Bel-Air, Mobile.

Anyone can enter their camellia blooms in the show Saturday from 7 to 10:30 a.m. There’s no entry fee, according to the club’s official Web site, www.mobilecamellia.org.

The show is free to the public and is expected to feature about 2,000 blooms, Oates said. Calls to the current club president were not returned by press time.

Plants will be for sale and seasoned gardeners will answer questions about camellia planting and care, according to the club’s site.

The show allows the public to enjoy the flowers and gives gardeners a chance to show results of their hard work, according to organizers.

The Camellia Club of Mobile began in 1940. It now has 400 members, with nearly equal numbers of men and women; 40 live in Baldwin County, Oates said.

The club meets on the second Saturday of the month from September through April. Meetings through March will be at Mobile Botanical Gardens in Langan Park.

For more information on the club, or this weekend’s event, call 251-443-9929.