What is the International Camellia Society (ICS) website?

Updated

The International Camellia Society (ICS) website at internationalcamellia.org is the online home of an international non-profit society with almost 2,000 members worldwide. Its stated purpose is to promote the knowledge, cultivation, and development of camellias through various initiatives. If you are looking for an authoritative, society-run source on camellia growing, identification, registration, or conservation — rather than a commercial nursery or hobby blog — this site is built for that role.

Who runs it and who it is for

The site describes ICS as an international non-profit society. That framing matters for how you use it: content is organized around member services, society governance, and educational material rather than product sales. The audience is broad — home growers, collectors, hybridizers, garden professionals, and anyone involved in camellia conservation or registration.

What you can actually do on the site

The homepage and navigation point to several distinct functions:

  • Join the ICS / Member login — membership sign-up and a members-only area are both surfaced on the homepage.
  • Learn about camellias — a dedicated "About camellias" section, including "Caring for Camellias" with FAQs, plus pages on grafting and propagation, yellow camellias, hybridisation, conservation and preservation, and identification and DNA.
  • Reference registers — the International Camellia Register and a Camellia Species Register, along with guidance on registering a camellia.
  • Gardens of Excellence — a curated listing of notable camellia gardens organized by region (Africa, Asia, Oceania, Europe, and the Americas), with separate entries for Gardens of Excellence and other gardens and parks, plus published conditions for the Garden of Excellence designation.
  • Articles and research — congress proceedings, a call for papers, historical articles, and a searchable Journal Archive.
  • News and events — news items and president's messages, plus past congresses (Japan 2025, Italy 2023, Nantes 2018, Dali 2016).
  • Organisation and governance — general and regional officers, committee for historic camellia conservation, awards programs, by-laws, and privacy policy.
  • Support and remembrance — donation options and obituaries.

Language options

The site offers a language selector covering Deutsch, English, Español, Français, 日本語, Português, and 中文. If English is not your first language, you can switch before navigating deeper into the registers or care guides.

Practical notes before you dive in

  • Some areas — notably member login — are gated behind membership. The site shows a "Join the ICS" path, so expect member-only content to require signing up.
  • The registers and Journal Archive are the strongest reasons to visit if you need naming standards, historical records, or species references.
  • Garden listings distinguish between "Gardens of Excellence" and other gardens and parks, so check which category a location falls under before planning a visit around it.

If your goal is quick camellia care advice, start with "Caring for Camellias" and its FAQs. If your goal is research or registration, go straight to the International Camellia Register and the Journal Archive.