The Camellias

Queen of the southern winter garden, the camellia is now hardy in the North.

In the warmest regions of the U.S., camellias are in their glory this time of year. Across the country - in Seattle and Portland, Sacramento and Pasadena, Pensacola, Savannah and Charleston - autumn, winter and spring just wouldn't be the same without the perfection of camellia blossoms. Whether they're grown as specimen plants, as foundation shrubs, in woodland gardens, as hedges or ground covers, in containers or trained as espalier or bonsai, the camellia's abundant, showy flowers - ranging in color from the purest white to the deepest reds - add a striking, gracious element to the landscape. With life spans reckoned in centuries, these handsome evergreen plants are a lasting garden investment. More and more gardeners - from those in the mildest USDA Plant Hardiness Zones (9 and 10), where tree-sized, 100-year-old camellias are considered treasures, to those in colder areas (zones 6 and 7), where cold-tolerant camellias are making their debut - are discovering the ancient pleasures of growing camellias.

Native to a swath of Asia from Korea and China to Japan, Taiwan and Indochina, the first written record of camellias grown for ornament dates to 863 a.d. Not surprisingly, many of the favorite camellia varieties grown in the U.S. originated in Japan and are sold under their Japanese names. But along with these old standbys, you'll find varieties named 'General George Patton' and 'Prince Eugene Napoleon', a sign that camellias are a passion America and Europe long ago came to share with Asia. Today, U.S. breeders such as the world-famous Nuccio's Nurseries in Altadena, California, Dr. William Ackerman of the U.S. National Arboretum in Washington, DC, and Dr. Clifford Parks of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill are leaders in breeding camellias for flower form, color and hardiness.

Types of Camellias

More than 200 Camellia species are found wild in the forests of Asia, where they grow to be large evergreen shrubs or small trees up to 45 feet tall. Most garden camellias are cultivated varieties or hybrids of three species: Camellia japonica, C. sasanqua and C. reticulata.

The classic garden camellia is Camellia japonica and its hybrid offspring, referred to as the japonicas. They are the hardiest of the common ornamental species and have the greatest variation in flower form and color. In favored zones (8 to 10), they have a long bloom season stretching from November to May, but the hardiest varieties can be grown in zone 7 and even in the mildest parts of zone 6, where they bloom in early fall. One older variety, dark red 'Paulette Goddard', has proved to be among the hardiest, surviving -5oF with little damage. Japonicas are typically dense, upright shrubs, but there are also low, spreading varieties. Their flowers, ranging from two inches to seven inches across, are found in all of the forms from single to formal double. Even if they never bloomed, they would still be grown for their exceptionally handsome, glossy dark green leaves as much as four inches long.

We carry four varieties - "Pink Icicle", "Winter Star", "Freedom Bell" and "Pink Ice" -,, which are hardy through most of zone 6.

Just which is the second most important group of camellias depends on your outlook and location. Fall- and winter-blooming Camellia sasanqua is popular as a landscape shrub, despite the fact that its flowers are the flimsiest of the three groups. The sasanquas - a term that covers C. sasanqua and its close relatives C. hiemalis and C. vernalis - compensate for their easily shattered flowers by producing masses of blooms. They also get the votes of many gardeners in colder areas, for they are nearly as hardy as the japonicas, and their bloom concentrated in October and November precedes the most severe weather. Finer of leaf and generally not as tall as japonicas, they range in habit from densely bushy and upright to low, spreading forms, similar to an azalea. The sasanquas are also more sun tolerant than the japonicas.

The third main group is composed of Camellia reticulata and its hybrids. More tender than japonicas and sasanquas, the reticulatas produce fewer flowers on upright, open plants. Awesome reticulata blooms as much as nine inches across are the darlings of the exhibition halls. The open-structured reticulatas are especially well suited for espaliers, and being trained to a wall helps support the enormous blossoms.

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