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What is the International Camellia Society?
The International Camellia Society (ICS) is a worldwide non-profit membership organisation devoted to camellias — their knowledge, cultivation and development. Run largely by volunteers through general and regional officers, it connects growers, gardeners, hybridisers, researchers and garden institutions across Africa, Asia, Oceania, Europe and the Americas.
What it actually offers
- Practical growing help — guidance on caring for camellias, FAQs, grafting and propagation, hybridisation, and conservation and preservation.
- Identification and registration — the International Camellia Register and a Camellia Species Register, plus a route for registering a camellia name.
- Reference material — a journal archive, congress proceedings, historical articles and book listings, including a sasanqua book and works by Dr George Orel.
- Gardens of Excellence — a programme recognising notable camellia gardens by region, with published conditions and a status for proposed gardens.
- Special-interest areas — yellow camellias, historic camellias, showing camellias, and awards for historic ornamental camellia trees.
- Community and news — member login, monthly President's messages, obituaries, congresses (recent hosts include Japan and Italy), and a donation channel that supports camellia research.
- Multilingual access — the site is available in German, English, Spanish, French, Japanese, Portuguese and Chinese.
Who it suits
| Reader | Why it fits |
|---|---|
| Home grower with a few plants | Care guidance, FAQs and identification help |
| Collector or hybridiser | Register, species lists, hybridisation and propagation material |
| Garden or arboretum staff | Gardens of Excellence criteria and professional contacts |
| Researcher or historian | Journal archive, proceedings and historical articles |
Membership is the main way to get the full benefit; much of the public site is orientation and reference rather than a shop, so don't expect to buy plants here.
Next step: if you have an unidentified camellia, start with the identification and register pages and note the flower form, leaf size and flowering season before you search — or look for a Gardens of Excellence near you to see named plants in person. The society also lists International Camellia Society alongside related bodies such as the RHS for general cultivation advice.
How do I become a member of the International Camellia Society?
You join the International Camellia Society (ICS) through its website: open the membership section and complete the online join form, or use the member login if you already have an account. The site presents membership as a way to support the society's work promoting camellia knowledge, cultivation and development, with a worldwide membership of almost 2,000 people.
International Camellia Society
What you get as a member
The member area and public pages point to benefits that go well beyond a newsletter:
- The International Camellia Register — the society's core reference for camellia names and registration.
- Gardens of Excellence listings across Africa, Asia, Oceania, Europe and the Americas, useful if you travel to see camellias.
- Journal archive and congress proceedings, including historical articles and papers.
- Practical growing guidance on caring for camellias, grafting and propagation, hybridisation, yellow camellias, and conservation.
- Events and congresses, with recent gatherings in Japan and Italy and earlier ones in Nantes and Dali.
Choosing the right membership for you
If you are a home grower who mainly wants cultivation advice and the journal, standard individual membership is the natural fit. If you are a nursery owner, registrar, breeder or garden curator, the register, identification and DNA material, and the Gardens of Excellence programme are likely to matter more. Anyone working on historic camellia conservation should look at the Committee for Historic Camellia Conservation and the awards for historic ornamental camellia trees.
A practical next step
Before you join, decide what you actually want. If it is identification help, have your cultivar photos and any label details ready, then join and post to the relevant member channel or contact the registrar. If it is travel, check the Gardens of Excellence pages for your region first — that tells you whether membership will pay off in visits near you. If you only want to read about camellias occasionally, the public sections on care, grafting and the register may be enough without joining.
For related reading and events, the American Camellia Society at American Camellia Society and the Royal Horticultural Society at RHS cover camellia cultivation from a different regional angle.
How should I care for camellias in my garden?
For most garden camellias, the essentials are: acidic, well-drained soil; shelter from harsh sun and drying wind; steady moisture without waterlogging; and light feeding after flowering. Get those right and camellias are long-lived, low-drama shrubs.
The practical routine
- Soil and planting: Camellias want humus-rich, acidic soil (roughly pH 5.0–6.5). If your soil is alkaline or heavy clay, plant in a large container or raise the bed with ericaceous compost and plenty of organic matter. Plant so the top of the rootball sits at or slightly above soil level — camellias are shallow-rooted and resent being buried.
- Water: Keep the root zone evenly moist, especially in the first two years and during late summer, when flower buds are forming. Drought then often means buds drop before opening. Avoid letting pots stand in water.
- Light and shelter: Morning sun with afternoon shade suits most varieties. Deep shade reduces flowering; hot west-facing walls scorch leaves. A sheltered spot out of cold, drying winds protects both foliage and open blooms.
- Feeding: Use a fertiliser formulated for acid-loving plants, applied in spring after flowering and again in early summer. Stop by mid-to-late summer so new growth hardens before winter.
- Mulch: A layer of leaf mould, pine bark or compost conserves moisture, suppresses weeds and slowly feeds the shallow roots. Keep it clear of the trunk.
- Pruning: Little is needed. If you must shape or thin a plant, do it right after flowering, before next year's buds form. Remove dead or crossing wood at any time.
- Pests and problems: Watch for scale insects, aphids and vine weevil in containers. Yellow leaves between green veins usually signal soil that is too alkaline or a nutrient imbalance rather than disease.
- Containers: Use ericaceous compost, a pot with good drainage, and repot or top-dress every couple of years.
Choosing what to grow
Sasanqua and vernalis types flower earlier and tolerate more sun; japonica varieties offer the widest range of flower forms and bloom in late winter and spring; reticulata hybrids have larger, showier flowers but are less cold-hardy. Match the type to your climate before you fall for a particular bloom.
A useful next step
If you are trying to identify a plant you already own, or want to check whether a named variety suits your conditions, the International Camellia Society publishes care and cultivation guidance, an international register of cultivar names, and lists of Gardens of Excellence where you can see mature plants growing. Local camellia societies and specialist nurseries in your region are the best source of advice tuned to your soil and winter temperatures.
How can I identify or register an unknown camellia cultivar?
For an unknown camellia, the realistic path is: identify it as far as the evidence allows, then decide whether it is a named cultivar, a species, or something worth registering as new. The International Camellia Society is the main reference point for both steps: International Camellia Society.
H3 First, gather evidence You cannot identify a camellia from one flower photo. Useful records include:
- Flower: full face, side view, back of the flower, petal count, colour, stamens, fragrance, diameter, and whether it is single, semi-double, formal double, peony, rose or anemone form.
- Leaves: shape, size, margin, tip, colour, venation, and whether they are glossy or matte.
- Plant habit: upright, spreading, weeping, dense or open; estimated height and spread.
- Flowering season: first and last bloom, and whether it repeats.
- Buds and young growth: colour and hairiness can separate species and hybrids.
- Origin: garden, nursery, country, and any old label or purchase record.
H3 Then use the ICS registers The ICS site includes the International Camellia Register, a Camellia Species Register, identification and DNA material, and a journal archive. Search the register with your strongest fixed characters first — flower form, colour, season, leaf size — then compare full descriptions rather than names. The journal archive is useful for older cultivars that predate online nursery catalogues. The "Caring for Camellias" and FAQ pages help if you are unsure whether a feature is genetic or caused by growing conditions.
H3 Registering a camellia Registration is for a cultivar that is not already named and is being propagated and distributed. You need a description that follows the register's conventions, a proposed cultivar name, and a record of the parentage if known. The ICS "Registering a Camellia" page explains the process and the International Camellia Register is the body that publishes accepted names. A name is not protected by registration alone; it fixes the cultivar name so nurseries and gardeners use the same plant under the same name.
H3 A practical decision rule
- If it matches an existing register description closely, treat it as that cultivar and verify with a second character, such as leaf or season.
- If it matches only partly, it may be a seedling or a hybrid; keep records and compare with named parents.
- If it is distinct, stable in propagation, and you can distribute it, register it rather than giving it an informal garden name.
- If it is a wild-collected species, use the Species Register and identification resources before considering a cultivar name.
Next step: photograph one flower and one leaf shoot from the same plant on the same day, note the date and location, then search the International Camellia Register with those details before contacting the ICS. For broader cultivation context, the Royal Horticultural Society at RHS and your national camellia society can help with local identification.
How can I visit a Garden of Excellence or connect with a local camellia group?
Start with the Society's own listings: the International Camellia Society maintains a "Gardens of Excellence" programme with regional pages for Africa, Asia, Oceania, Europe and the Americas, plus separate lists of other gardens and parks. That is the most direct route to a garden recognised for its camellia collection, and the regional split tells you quickly whether anything is within reach of your travel plans.
International Camellia Society
For visiting a Garden of Excellence
- Check the regional page for your destination first; entries are grouped by continent, with some regions split into "Gardens of Excellence" and "Other Gardens & Parks."
- Note that the Society also lists "Conditions for Garden of Excellence" and a "GoE - Status PROPOSED" page. A garden marked as proposed is not yet confirmed, so verify opening arrangements before building a trip around it.
- Garden pages on a society site usually describe the collection, not visitor logistics. Expect to confirm opening hours, admission and access separately with the garden itself.
For connecting with a local camellia group
The ICS is an international society with members worldwide and regional officers for Africa, Asia, Oceania, Europe and the Americas. Regional officers are the natural first contact if you want to find growers, shows or study groups near you rather than just a garden to walk around. The site also has a member login and a join page, and membership is the route to the Journal archive, Congress proceedings and news.
If you would rather start with plants than people, the Society's "About camellias" section covers caring for camellias, grafting and propagation, yellow camellias, hybridisation, conservation and identification and DNA, and there is an International Camellia Register for checking cultivar names.
A practical route
- Identify your region and check the relevant Gardens of Excellence page.
- Look at the garden's own site or contact it for visiting details.
- If you want people rather than places, contact your regional officer through the ICS.
- If you plan to attend events, the Congress pages (Japan 2025, Italy 2023, Nantes 2018, Dali 2016) show the kind of gathering the Society runs.
For broader garden visiting in a country, national garden schemes can complement the ICS lists — for example National Garden Scheme in the UK, though such schemes cover many plant groups, not camellias specifically.
Decision criterion: if your goal is seeing mature, named camellia collections, use the Gardens of Excellence lists; if your goal is learning to grow them or finding local expertise, join the ICS or contact a regional officer first, then visit.
How can I support the International Camellia Society through donations or research funding?
You can support the International Camellia Society in two main ways: by donating to the organisation generally, or by contributing to its work funding research on camellias. The site lists "Donate to ICS" and "Funding research on Camellias" as separate areas, alongside membership and volunteering-style involvement such as the Committee for Historic Camellia Conservation and the Gardens of Excellence programme.
Practical routes to give
- General donation: Use the "Donate to ICS" section for unrestricted support. This is the most flexible option and typically helps cover running costs, publications and events.
- Research funding: If you want your money tied to scientific work, look at the "Funding research on Camellias" area. This suits donors who care about identification, DNA work or conservation science rather than day-to-day administration.
- Membership as support: Joining the ICS adds your subscription and your name to the society's international base of roughly 2,000 members. It also gives you access to the Journal Archive and member login area.
- In-kind and specialist help: The society's structure — regional officers, the Historic Camellia Conservation committee, awards for historic ornamental trees, and the International Camellia Register — suggests scope for contributing expertise, records or plant material as well as money.
Choosing between them
| If your priority is… | Consider… | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| Broad, flexible help | General donation | Less control over where funds go |
| Scientific or conservation outcomes | Research funding | May be tied to specific projects |
| Ongoing involvement and information | Membership | Requires an annual commitment |
| Preserving heritage trees | Historic conservation work / awards | Often volunteer-led rather than cash-led |
A concrete scenario: a gardener who grows Camellia japonica and wants to help but has limited funds might join as a member and make a small annual donation, while a nursery owner with an interest in species such as C. nitidissima might direct support toward research funding. The trade-off is control versus flexibility — restricted giving targets your interest, unrestricted giving lets the society allocate where the need is greatest.
Your next step: open the ICS site and read the "Donate to ICS" and "Funding research on Camellias" pages before deciding, since payment methods and any project-specific options are set out there. For broader context on camellia conservation and collections, the International Camellia Society itself is the most direct source.
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