Brian Minter: Late fall and winter flowering Camellias are a delight to have in any backyard

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Certainly one of our most precious evergreen flowering shrubs is now in bloom and, relying on the actual species, will proceed to offer a sequence of color over the subsequent seven months.

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Native to China, Southeast Asia, Japan and Korea, Camellias are vital plant in West Coast gardens the place winter temperatures don’t dip a lot under -10 to -15C.

There are over three thousand named kinds of Camellias, with many extra to return. Latest work by Chinese language botanists has tripled the variety of recognized species from beneath 100 in 1960 to over 300 right this moment.

We take pleasure in Camellias not just for their decorative magnificence but in addition for his or her business significance. The Chinese language native, Camellia sinensis, is cultivated world wide for tea manufacturing, and C. oleifera is grown for the precious oil pressed from its seeds and utilized by each the cooking and beauty industries.

We’ve realized from their native habitats that Camellias typically want a milder local weather and love a location barely sheltered from the warmest solar and from sturdy, drying winds. There are exceptions, after all, such because the extra sun-tolerant varieties and ones, just like the Winter’s Star sequence, which can be hardier than zone 6.

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All Camellias should be planted in well-drained soil that’s wealthy in natural matter, like peat, sawdust or finely floor fir or hemlock bark mulch. It’s crucial that they be planted so their trunk is at floor degree and by no means under the soil line. They love cooler roots and admire a slight overlaying of mulch. As soon as established, they’ll tolerate some drought, however as a rule, they like to be moist. A basic drawback in late winter is bud drop, which happens most often if a Camellia is planted beneath the eaves of a constructing and doesn’t obtain any pure rainfall or different moisture.

As with most plant species which can be grown in many alternative international locations, there may be often a dispute about nomenclature. Camellia sasanquas, the earliest blooming varieties — typically known as the ‘chilly camellias’ due to their origins in jap China — are labeled as members of the Camellia hiemalis household, however different botanists consider they’re extra possible a hybrid between a Camellia japonica and a Camellia sasanqua from Japan.

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In any case, late fall and winter flowering Camellias are a delight to have in any backyard. Sasanquas are inclined to have smaller, shiny leaves and are far more pendulous than different varieties, making them splendid for espaliering or trellising. Their flowers, principally semi-double or double, are smaller too, however they greater than make up for his or her dimension by producing an enormous variety of blooms, even on a smaller plant.

I like their sequential flowering behavior, which begins in October and sometimes continues properly into late winter. Hummingbirds are additionally big followers of all winter blooming Camellias, and so they usually frequent these vegetation to take pleasure in their nectar. If we occur to get a chilly spell, the open blossoms will freeze off, however as soon as the chilly is over, their buds will proceed to open. The one unfavorable is their propensity to behave like Miss Piggy and spill flower petals in all places.

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A few of the extra common sasanqua varieties are the intense pink C. Chansonette, the rosy, purple C. Showa-No-Sakae and, my private favorite, the superb trying C. Yuletide, a single purple flower with shiny yellow stamens. In our area, Yuletide does all the time appear to bloom at Christmas.

Essentially the most well-known Camellias are the japonicas. A number of of us suppose they bloom solely in spring, however they really have three distinct blooming occasions. The early varieties bloom from October to January; the midseason varieties blossom from January via March; and the late varieties flower from March properly into Could.

Camellias have plenty of completely different flower kinds from a single to a semi-double to a totally fashioned double. Many sorts have a peony-like bloom; others look extra like an anemone; and, after all, there’s the ever-popular rose type.

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A few of the hottest japonica varieties are Kramer’s Supreme, a wealthy purple peony type, Jordan’s Pleasure, a semi-double pink, Twilight, a totally double pink and Swan Lake, a big, basic trying double white. Within the Japanese Valley, with its chilly outflow winds, I’ve discovered C. Kumasaka, a shiny pink rose type, to be one of many hardiest as soon as it’s established. Yellow is a novel color for a camellia, and C. x williamsii Jury’s Yellow is a good looking creamy yellow peony type with a darkish yellow centre. It earned one of many highest awards from the Royal Horticultural Society.

There’s a great quantity of breeding going down right this moment, each for flower dimension and hardiness. There’s little doubt that we’ll see some new colors, like purples, within the close to future and extra varieties which have a pleasant fragrance.

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Camellias make nice container vegetation, and with their wealthy inexperienced, shiny foliage, they’re wonderful year-round specimens, even when not in flower. Now is a good time to go to backyard shops to see the late fall varieties really in bloom.

Keep in mind, Camellias require an open, porous, well-drained, acidic soil, and if we get a chilly spell, they’ll want slightly safety and probably some additional watering. I’ve discovered, nonetheless, that they develop elevated hardiness as they develop and mature. Camellias are one of the vital versatile vegetation in our gardens, and so they make a improbable contribution to winter color.