It’s a very snowy weekend here in New England, and we are expected to have almost constant snowfall from Friday night, until Sunday night. Accumulation is expected to be less than 5 inches, because it is a very light snow. Very cold and pretty outside, in the greenhouse, it feels more like a cloudy day in Tokyo. Here are some new camellia images, with some new varieties blooming for the first time today.
Camellia japonica ‘Margaret Davis’, a lovely bicolored blossom with a striped edge. The pink color is almost florescent.
Camellia ‘Lipstick’, this odd blossom is referred to as an anemone-form.
The Japanese are currently in love with this crested floral form, which they call BOKUHAN, most growers refer to this floral form as ‘anemone form’. This variety, ‘Lipstick’ is a new addition to my collection, and this is its first blossom of the year. It’s a very young plant from a cutting.
Camellia ‘Silver Tower’, a form that the Japanese call HAGOROMO. Hagoromo means ‘feathered robe’ or ‘celestial robe’.
Camellia lutchuensis, a fragrant species in its pure form, collected in China. This blossom is less than an inch long.
Hardy Japanese forest bamboo, Sasa vietchii holds the snow well. With only a few inches expected today, the snow remains on the flexible leaves. This bamboo looks best in the garden in early winter.
A Higo-type camellia, with its huge boss of stamens seems to be waiting for the winter sunshine before it decides to open on this chilly, snowy, day.
A Camellia bud opens on a larger shrub, planted in the ground in the greenhouse. I’ve found that the camellia’s that are planted into the soil, do better than the potted ones; they grow faster, and stronger. Many Nineteenth Century heated greenhouses in New England had large camellias planted in the soil for use as winter corsage material for winter weddings and for the local florist trade.
The snow stopped last evening but I got about 5" more. The camellias are beautiful. That Margaret Davis is very pretty but the whites steal my heart. Silver Tower has a nice form, but fragrance would top even form. Thanks for sharing all these beauties.
Beautiful Camellias. I bought a camellia recently, which is putting out new shoots and growing well in a container. I am worried whether it can withstand our summer (38C) in April and May. Nobody I know grows camellias here.
Where could I mail order the top two varieties you mention – the Margaret Davis and Lipstick? I am in Central Florida. shannonmitchell1@msn.com
Both can be ordered from Nuccio's Nursery in Pasadena, CA. nucciosnurseries.com/
, other nurseries carry them too, but this is where I buy mine, and I highly recommend them. You cannot order from their website, so you will need to do it the old fashioned way, from a black and white paper catalog. If there is a Camellia Society show in your area, attend it and bring a note book and a digital camera, that's how I chose my list.
While visiting CA on business two February's ago, I attended a regional camellia show at Descanso gardens, and took note of my favorites. Later, I visited Nuccio's, ( a great location and nice people), and chose my plants. They packaged them and shipped them home. Later, I ordered the rest from their catalog. Use Google to look up the names, and you should do fine.
Thank You Matt. I believe we have a Camellia Society in Lakeland, FL. I will check it out the next time they have a show and your source as well.