Camellias Are Easier Than You Might Think

Just when you've tucked everything in for the winter, prayed for a mild season and begun to peruse the seed catalogs, low and behold the Camellia out does itself in the back garden! What a joy to find these beautiful blooms when everything else is dormant. Not only do they brighten up a dreary landscape but they are wonderful in the house as cut flowers too.

I have long lost the variety name of this pink one but it is the first to bloom of my several hardy Camellias. Look how many flowers it has this year!

 



Early in January the big red one beside my basement door will be covered with flowers - sometimes in the snow! Around late February or March the two toned red and white one will flower. It looks like a peppermint candy dripped all over it. It is one of my favorites because it is the same variety as the one my mom tenderly carried to Alabama when we moved from Florida when I was about 10. That bush bloomed in our laundry room the first winter. Mom had placed it there until she could plant it in the spring. I thought it was the prettiest thing I had ever seen.

 

 

Camellias are in the same family as the tea plant that we get our favorite southern summer drink, sweet iced tea. There was a time when no one north of zone 4 or 5 could grow camellias outside a greenhouse but with the culture of the new cold hardy ones, we all can have a bush or two in a sheltered place in our yard. Mine are under tall oak trees or planted near the foundation of my home. They do like a little shade and water but I must admit the ones out under the oak trees (the pink one above) are growing in dry shade and in clay soil. They must be pretty hardy to survive our hot dry summers and my neglect.

 

Look for cold hardy camellias in your local garden centers in the spring. I bought nearly all of mine at Lowe's. Camellias are beautiful even when they are not in flower, the leaves are dark green and glossy. Give them a sheltered spot and acid soil and they will live happily for years. If you can grow azaleas, you can grow camellias.  

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.

Camellias at Planting Fields Arboretum

Planting Fields Arboretum is a State Park located on Long Island, NY. It was once a former Gold Coast estate and is now a public arboretum and historic site. It has 409 acres of greenhouses, rolling lawns, formal gardens, woodland paths and plant collections.

At any time of the year it is a fantastic place to visit. But in February, the real show is the Camellias.

Planting Fields is the home to the Camellia Greenhouse, designed by Lowell & Sargent/Olmsted Bros. in 1917-1922. Today it houses over 300 plants, some of them from the original collection brought over from England in the early 1900's.

Looking around at all the different varieties, I couldn't help but be amazed at this incredible plant and gorgeous flowers.

If you live in the area, Planting Fields is holding a Camellia Weekend festival in a few weeks. Check out their website for more details:  http://www.plantingfields.org

Even if you miss the festival, I still recommend you go to the greenhouse to see the Camellias. They certainly brighten up a winter day!

FLOWERS FOR WINTER BLOOMS

Do you get blue during the gray winter days like I do? One thing that cheers me up is having blooming house plants to look at. I even have a few winter bloomers outside too. 

baby African Violets

Pictured here are a few of my favorite house plants that bloom merrily in my windows all winter. Most are easy to care for. Some of these are actually growing in water and I will plant them in pots and move them outside when spring comes .

The stars of my window sill are the African Violets. I have an east facing window in the kitchen and
violets are very happy there. I have so many of them that they won't all fit in the window so I put some in our sunny studio window and switch them out as they bloom. Violets are so easy to propagate by putting a stem (leaf not bloom) into water and waiting - a baby plant will form on the bottom. Pot it up when it has several tiny leaves. The ones above are ready to pot.

Blue African Violet

Big Blue Violet

Tradescantia pallida (Purple Queen)

Some of my favorite outside plants are happy growing in water in the house. I root them over winter and plant them back outside when the weather warms. The Purple Queen above and the Coleus below are two of those. Coleus don't usually bloom inside but I love their colorful leaves.

Colus "Inky Fingers"

Rex Begonia 

This big Rex Begonia has small pink flowers but the leaves are it's crowing glory! They are a good sin inches across.


Sedum are great in the house, they don't care if you water them or not. Give them a bright window and they will be happy. These also stay outside in summer - a sunny spot. 

Sedum and Aloe plant

These are a few of the plants I have inside. I also winter over hanging baskets of Airplane plants and orchids (that are not blooming right now) in the studio and a few other things too. What are your favorite house plants?