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CAMELLIA guide

camellia shrub with bright pink flowers and dark green foliage

Container GrowingDeadheadingFeedingProblems – Buds Falling Off – Brown LeavesPruningSoil RequirementsSowingVarieties – Common Camellia – Red VarietiesWinter Care

An elegantly ornamental plant with great ethnical meaning in the Far East , the Camellia used to be a unfaltering favorite of the European High Society in the mid - Nineteenth Century.1Europe . ( n.d . ) . International Camellia Society . Retrieved March 13 , 2023 , fromhttps://internationalcamellia.org/en-us/our-organisation/europe

Then the American South made the Camellia its own .

tall camellia plants with pink flowers in South Korea

Jeju Island, South Korea

Camellias are – of course – highly valued in their native lands of East Asia and South - East Asia where they are not only popular but are an factor of the cultures of the nations.2Camellia japonica . ( n.d . ) . Kew Royal Botanic Gardens . Retrieved March 13 , 2023 , fromhttps://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:828524-1

In our Camellia guides , we have :

“ By cautiously choose camellia varieties , you could have a garden full of bloom from October to May , when their colour can provide some much - take felicity and pollinator can use them in abundance ” .

close up of white Nuccio’s Gem flower

C. japonica‘Nuccio’s Gem’

“ Additionally , ” says Patricia : “ camellias can be leave to develop into trees – nice specimens for a garden – or pruned to suit one ’s pauperization .

“ One does n’t have to fuss over camellias . ”

Overview

PreferredFull Shade / Partial Shade

ExposureSheltered

Height4 – 8 MB

doubled coloured camellia flower with pink and white petals and yellow stamen

Spread4 – 8 megabyte

Bloom TimeAutumn and Winter or late Winter / former Spring ( depending on case )

PreferredClay , loam , sand

beautiful Camellia japonica with pink flowers in their native habitat

MoistureMoist but well enfeeble

pHAcidic / Neutral

In general , Camellia plants are evergreen bush , mostly of unsloped wont though a goodly number are rounded or unfold .

Camellia japonica shrub covered in snow

Their height typically straddle from 2 - 5 m though old , well - cared - for plants are much taller .

The simple leafage are usually thick , calendered and of a bass light-green coloration .

Many , though not all , Camellia varieties lay out very well as both the plant and the blossom have a neat , manicure , and symmetrical appearance , particularly the varieties of erect habit and flowers of Formal Double form .

small camellia seedling in a tiny pot

The flowers are large and showy and single - signifier efflorescence have prominent chickenhearted stamen .

Many cultivar , include the most - prized ones , have semi - double or double corolla .

The double form are divided into a further three sub - forms but the ‘ real ’ double form is ‘ courtly Double ’ .

Formal forked - anatomy flower do not display stamens .

Their colours include white , off - white , and various specter of garden pink , rose , red , and fuchsia .

Some varieties are double - coloured , these coming in stripy , variegated and mottled stylus .

When other plants are abeyant or dead , Camellia comes into its own and blooms .

A vigorously - chosen commixture of Camellia varieties will reinforce you with colorful flush from at least October through March .

Habitat & Growing Conditions

In the natural state , bothC. japonicaandC. sasanquaare found at elevations of up to 1,000 m in the wooded and forested neighborhood of China , South Korea , and the south of Japan . They develop in acid soils .

In Japan , C. japonicais adapted to freezing temperatures and snow .

They rejuvenate and bloom after the passageway of winter .

Camellia species do not favour full sun though most species will arise and even prosper in full shade .

Their predilection is for part - Dominicus , part - shadowiness vulnerability where they are sheltered from the mid - sidereal day and afternoon Sunday .

Indeed , they are accustomed to this type of shelter in their aboriginal woody and forested home ground where they are also shielded from inviolable , cold winds .

The huge absolute majority of Camellias are H5 stout in the United Kingdom – meaning they are able to survive in all but the cold domain of the British Isles .

Camellia cultivar that are sturdy in sub - freezing temperatures are identified by the parole ‘ Winter ’ in their name .

Planting Camellia

Camellias may be planted in pots but at some point these long - populate plants will involve to be transfer to larger containers or into the dry land .

Whilst care should be taken to venture vernal camellias and to limit exposure   to cold easterly wind , ripe camellias can withstand windy conditions , ” explains Horticultural Consultant Colin Skelly .

“ When camellias first   get in the UK , they were considered glasshouse plants , but we are lento realising that they are far fearless and tougher than first idea . ”

They are best grown in a location of partial tad where they are shield from the good afternoon ’s hot sunniness though they will blithely thrive in shadier locations too .

Seedlings and growing plants need such shelter even more than mature plants . plant should also be protected from stiff , cold air current .

In position of their preferences , Camellias should be planted under the wraith of larger plant or tree or close by some structure or a bulwark .

Optimally these plants should be shield from the southern sunshine in the summer and from north winds in winter .

The idealistic meter to originate Camellia is in spring for a ‘ triple play ’ .

The efflorescence season is over , the cold-blooded winter has departed , and new plants can get establish before the return of winter .

References