Backyard Camillias

I've written about my Camilla's before but this year they have outdone themselves. I honestly don't know why they have all bloomed so beautifully this time. I didn't do anything different and our winter was average. My early pink one bloomed in late December and the one above has been blooming since the end of February and it is nearly the end of April now. It is very happy in it's shady, moist location  -near central heat and air unit and gets condensation from that.

This pink and red stripe had two very different blooms on the same bush. Most all were true to type but I had one solid red near the bottom.

Look at the big fat bud on this red bush. It's blooms are even beautiful when they fall to the ground!

Camellia flowers stay a long time in a cut arrangement too. Look how pretty this one is.

All my Camellias are winter hardy varieties that can take our cold temps here in the upper south. It got down below 20 degrees this winter. They are all planted in sheltered places or under large trees and I leave the fallen leaves as ground cover until late spring. I think that gives them a little extra winter protection. I'm trying to propagate some from stem cuttings. I'll report on how that goes when I see the results.