MOBILE, Ala.—The Camellia Club of Mobile Saturday and Sunday will host its 69th annual flower show at Colonial Mall Bel-Air.

The show will run from 2 to 7 p.m on Saturday and from noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday.

The camellia is Alabama’s state flower, known for its beauty.

“They’re just beautiful flowers,” Jim Dwyer, club president, said. “Once they’re established, they don’t require a lot of care.”

Camellia enthusiasts gather each year to showcase their flowers and vie for awards. Guests meet to share gardening tips with fellow flower growers.

Receving will start at 7 a.m Saturday and will end at 11 a.m. Sunday.

Entry cards can be obtained from the exhibitor greeter, N.C. Barnard. Entries must include participants’ names and flower species to be eligible for judging.

“Flowers are judged on their freshness and true-to-form condition,” club representative Jim Oates said.“True-to-form means that (the flower) is supposed to look like what it’s registered as.”

Flowers are also judged on quality, including how the flower is arranged in the bloom, according to Dwyer.

The club awards trophies for best blooms on exhibit including the First Lady’s Trophy, named in honor of Dolores Oates.

Contestants can also win awards for best japonicas, reticulatas and hybrids, with awards given for a range of flower sizes.

The show will include two categories: grown protected or indoors and grown unprotected or outdoors.

The protected/indoors category includes blooms grown inside that are protected by an enclosed structure, such as a greenhouse.

The unprotected/outdoors category includes blooms grown outdoors with no protection from the weather, except for natural protection such as trees or shrubs.

“Our show will have people there to discuss how to grow camellias, cultivate them and fertilize them,” Dwyer said. “We’ll also have hard to find camellias that people can buy.”

The Camellia Club of Mobile, begun almost 70 years ago by local hobbyists, hosted its first camellia show in 1941.

The club’s purposes are to increase interest in camellias; distribute educational information about growing camellias; and host a free annual camellia show.

For more information, visit www.mobilecamellia.org.