Thursday 17 June 2010

Growing Camellias;

Some of my early flowering Camellias;


Camellia Sasanqua Setsugekka; This is a big bush covered in early autumn with papery. white flowers. It is the first to flower, generally early march and keeps on going until June. It grows from cuttings and sets also seeds.

Camellia japonica Laurie Bray is an early, vigorous, freely flowering bush. Always healthy looking. The flowers are a silvery pink. It flowers for many month.

Camellia japonica Hana-Fuki, was slow in the beginning. After 20 years it has grown to a open small tree with many flowers. The flowers look downwards. Disease free.

Camellia Sasanqua Egao; Early and vigorous, lots of blooms and disease free.


Camellia japonica Ballet Dancer; Absolutely gorgeous flowers, vigorous and disease free.

Camellia japonica Clarence Hearn; large anemone form blooms of deep rose red. This is a tall bush growing in deep shade, still flowers well. completely disease free.


Camellia japonica, Drama girl produces huge flowers in profusion. This is a must have Camellia.
It is one of the earliest to flower and the last to stop. The flowers are as big as C. reticulata flowers. Grows tall and well and no diseases.

This is an early, freely flowering bush, unfortunately I have lost its name.


The fallen flowers make a pretty carpet...

Sasanquas love to grow in the sun. Sasanqua Camellias are among the easiest of garden plants to grow. They flower heavily in Autumn and early Winter with a minimum of care. The glossy dark green leaves of all cultivar varieties always look good .There is a wide range of flower colours and forms available.. Flower colours range through a selection of whites, pinks and reds. A carpet of petals covers the ground below the bush when it is in flower.

The very cold and very dry areas are not suitable, otherwise they will grow mostly anywhere.
I have never noticed any diseases or attacks from insects on my C. Sasanqua. All Year round they look healthy and fresh. They can be pruned to shape or left to their natural growth habit. They grow from seed or from cuttings. From seed you might get a different hybrid.

Sasanqua Camellias are native to the Ryukyu Islands and the islands of Japan. In their native habitat, C. sasanquas grow from bushy plants to small upright spreading trees with some varieties almost vine-like. They do have great tolerance to sunny positions and different soil types. In nature they grow from creek gullies to sunny hillside locations. Generally cultivated C. sasanquas are garden hybrids.

It is an evergreen shrub growing to 5 m tall. The leaves are broad elliptic, 3-7 cm long and 1.2-3 cm broad, with a finely serrated margin. The flowers are 5-7 cm diameter, with 5-8 white to dark pink petals.


Camellia japonica
The genus name, Camellia, honours the work of Georg Josef Kamel, a Moravian Jesuit botanist (1661-1716). The species name, japonica, is Latin meaning 'from Japan'. However, the plant also grows in the wild in Korea, China, Taiwan and other neighbouring islands.
C. japonica is a are gracefully looking evergreen. It grows to a large shrub or small tree, to around 5m (15') tall and 4m (12') wide in cultivation, but larger in its native habitat. The leaves are dark, glossy green with a paler reverse. The flowers, which range in colour from pure white to deep red, are produced from winter to spring. There are thousands of named cultivars and they vary in foliage and habit, as well as in flower size and form.
Camellias will grow in most areas apart from the hot tropics and inland. In areas with alkaline soils they may need to be grown in containers with potting mix for acid loving plants.

Japonicas prefer a slightly acid (pH 5.5-6.0), humus-rich soil with good drainage, and protection from direct sun and strong winds. Fertilize in spring with camellia and azalea food, and mulch with compost (such as composted autumn leaves) or milled cow manure. Keep well watered, particularly when it is hot and dry.

Once my plants were well established and mulched , growing in a shady position they did not need any additional watering in the hot and dry times. I think it depends on the soil how well it holds the moisture.

Believe it or not:

To be ignorant of what happened before you were born... is to live the life of a child for ever." -- Marcus Tullius Cicero - - (106-43 B.C.) Roman Statesman, Philosopher and Orator




26 comments:

Jean Campbell said...

We'll have camellias starting with C. sasanqua in November and C. Japonica after Christmas. It makes me smile to remember how beautiful they are. Yours are stunning.

eileeninmd said...

Beautiful camellias. Your yard must be just lovely.

lotusleaf said...

My nursery lady had some camellias, but I did not believe that they'd flower in our tropical climate. After reading your very interesting and informative post, i plan to buy a couple of plants.

Mandy said...

Gorgeous! Ballet Dancer and Clarence Hearn are two I'll be looking for...they jumped off the screen to me, so I must find them! They look incredibly fluffy!

Ami said...

You have so many beautiful camellias. Especially Camellia japonica Laurie Bray and Camellia japonica Clarence Hearn are just gorgeous! Thanks for sharing the beauty in your garden!

Stephanie said...

I wish they will grow nicely here. Their blooms are so gorgeous and lovely :-D

It is so good that you know their botanic names. Here, it is difficult because the nurseries do not provide the names. We have to find out ourselves!

murgelchen said...

Liebe Titania,
Deine Camelien sind wunderschön.
Ich habe nur eine und die steht nicht in meinem Garten, sondern im Pott auf dem Balkon und hat leider ausgeblüht.
LG,
Helga

iheartsunnydays said...

Lovely camellias, your garden must be bloomin' beautiful!! My mum grows quite a few of these too.

Vilt og vakkert said...

Heisann!

Lucky you, who have camelia growing in your garden.
I have tried to nurse them inside, but failed.
They are so beautiful and smell so good ;:OD)

Janie said...

We had some camellias in the yard when we lived in Louisiana (southern US). You have an amazing array of them, all beautiful.

Carolyn ♥ said...

I can only dream about camillia's. Sadly they won't grow in my garden... love seeing your beautiful blossoms!

BernieH said...

Such beauties ... sadly they don't grow well up here. It's very uncommon to see them ... maybe it's the humidity and the heat combination!

Laura in Paris said...

I love the Camellia japonica, I have one on my deck but I have to check with the help of your post what type it is.

Anonymous said...

All your blooms are so beautiful. I loved the pretty carpet of fallen blooms too. The C.japonica is my favourite!

I did try growing one plant but it didn't do well. I think the heat here was just a little too much.

easygardener said...

Camellias are beautiful. I particularly like Hana-Fuki with its long golden stamens.

Anonymous said...

What a treat to see your lovely camellias in the middle of our summer. Since I moved farther north, I no longer have any, but am looking for those that can take colder temps.

Pietro Brosio said...

Splendid sequence of camellia photos, Titania! I really enjoy all of them!
Happy weekend :-)

Babara said...

Wunderschön deine Kameilien! Du Glückliche hast kein Problem sie durch Kälte zu verlieren wie wir hier. Meine zwei im Garten ausgepflanzten haben diesen Winter leider nicht überstanden...obwohl ich die Hoffnung noch nicht ganz aufgegeben habe, dass sie evtl. doch nochmals austreiben. Weitere habe ich zum Glück im Topf und diese standen geschützt und sind somit noch da zum Geniessen.
Es liebs Grüessli,
Barbara

Carver said...

Your camellias are so beautiful. I loved your shot as guest host of skywatch. That golden sky is wonderful.

This Is My Blog - fishing guy said...

Titania: Your photo is featured on Sky Watch this week and it is beautiful.

Arija said...

Hallo my friend! You have a wonderful collection of camellias. A garden really makes living worth while.

Alles Gute . . . Arija

penny said...

Your flowers and blog are absolutely delightful, Titania.

Ann, Chen Jie Xue 陈洁雪 said...

Our camellias are almost all gone now. Yours are so beautiful How many trees do you have?

Flowers store said...

like your flowers....
i really like the pink one..thanks for sharing this collection(",).

Florist china said...

Really like this website, this really helps and very useful.

Neverland said...

Hi Titania,

I love your Camellia flowers. We live on acreage in Tallai and have rocky soil. Down near the creek of course it is rich loam but it floods. However, we have over the years planted a rain forest there. We have decided to make our camellia garden on the rocky slope overlooking the rainforest. It is qute shady but gets some sun. We hope it is enough though. I have read that the japonicas need sun to flower well, and that in shade they will flower, but not profusely and the growth is more open not bushy