Love-hate relationships - Camellias

I don't suppose I am the only gardener who has a hate relationship [or to be milder], a disliking for, certain plants. In fact I know I am not. Why are we particularly attracted to some plants and repelled by others - childhood memories, uninspiring associations, fashion ......?

Camellias
Here is a shrub that has its lovers and haters. In the gardening press a number of writers have emphatically come out against them. So does the camellia deserve to be so disliked in some quarters?

They are generally of the neutral to acid soil persuasion which puts them alongside rhododendrons, pieris and the like. I personally wouldn't want to garden entirely on acid soil although I can see the attraction - meconopsis, nomocharis and their ilk.

Plus point - spring flowering camellias are supposed to be planted in east facing semi-shaded positions to protect the flowers from frost [the flowers go a lovely semi transparent mushy brown when frost bit]. The theory being that the sun doesn't melt the frost too quickly and bruise the petals caused by the cells bursting. East facing is not generally the most popular orientation for a lot of plants. Being originally scrub or forest understorey shrubs camellias are not lovers of bright sunlight and exposure in the summer. Good news all round you would think, a way to brighten up those dingy dusty garden corners.[Hilliers note that some camellias will do better in a sunny position, perhaps the more tender one's benefit the most?]

Plus point 2 - they flower earlier in the year when there is less colour around. In a cool conservatory you can have them in flower from January onwards if not earlier. They also flower when very small which can look a little odd, huge flowers on a small twig, but it shows willing. Masayoshi [seen to the right] starts flowering in early February.

Plus point 3 - they are evergreen and generally [but not exclusively] have shiny dark green leaves. Some have attractive coppery new growth. So far so good.

Thumbs down - There is the question of taste - one person's exotic and colourful is another's 'OTT'. I cannot bring myself to like the pinky pinks of camellias such as Donation and Debbie. Even in a wilder setting a huge cascade of Barbara Cartland pink can be a little overpowering.
Plus point 4 - colours range from pure whites through soft pinks, splashed reds/whites to deep red [not forgetting the yellows]. What a choice!

Thumbs undecided - there is a stiffness to the flowers of some cultivars, too controlled for my taste. I will contradict myself here, having seen Nuccio's Gem in flower, so formal and perfect it is almost unreal, a bit of a showstopper.
Plus point 5 - stray from the normal garden centre offerings and you will find that the flower forms include small singles e.g. Cornish Snow through to large soft doubles.

Plus point 6 - some camellias are even scented! Scented species camellias are perhaps more tender, including e C.sinensis [tea], C oleifera, Csaluenensis and C lutchuensis. C lutchuensis in particular has been crossed with C japonica cultivars to produce scented flowers, for example, Scentuous has a rather lovely blush-white muddled flower with a hyacinth scent. Fragrant Pink and Quintessence are amongst a number of other spring flowering scented cultivars.

Camellias only flower in spring - spring flowering is a bonus but it's not entirely true. Camellia sasanqua is one of the autumn flowering camellias [and is scented in an odd sort of way]. There are a number of different cultivars to choose from in whites and pinks.

Thumbs undecided - bushes can look somewhat dark, dense, and scruffy, which is fine in a woodland setting [where this can be tolerated] and a big 'wow' factor in season if you have ever visited some of the Cornish gardens in Spring. In a smaller garden context a little judicious pruning here and there could loosen the 'feel', and some shaping after flowering would help to dispel scruffiness and dinge.

Camellias are even useful - Camellia oleifera is apparently used for cooking oil and of course the tea plant is Camellia sinensis.

Camellias then would seem to have a lot going for them..................

I fought shy of buying camellias for a long time, even tthough I couldn't bring myself to pass by one in flower, whatever colour and form, in a nursery or garden, often announcing their aerial presence with a pool of discarded blossom on the ground. How could I not admire them for their exuberant luxuriance at a sparse time of year?

I have embarked on my own experiment which is only 4-5 years old. I am growing camellias in ericaceous [acid] compost in pots [not for the organic gardener although I am told there are now peat-free 'acid' composts around]. Over time I will endeavour to make them into standards, that is a long bare single stem with a spray of branches on top. I have seen pictures of camellias treated as standards in China and liked the idea. Judicious snipping of lower leaves and branches is already taking place. Patience will need to be practiced as I don't want to take too much off the plant and deprive it of the ability to produce its food to grow. In pots they can also be moved around the garden to add 'presence' to shady areas, I move mine out from the semi shade when in flower so they can be really admired.

My first choice was an impulse buy on a day I was feeling florally deprived, Camellia japonica Masayoshi which I understand is a generic term for a number of cultivars. The small twig with its two huge semi-double red, splashed white flowers beckoned to me across the garden centre, and home it came. It isn't growing particularly fast but it starts into flower early so I can't complain.

I then decided to get more 'focussed' and searched the web for UK camellia suppliers, I ended up at the Bodnant web site. I bought Camellia sasanqua Narumigata, Narumigata flowers in the autumn and is oddly rather than pleasantly scented. It is less chunky in its growth and style of leaves than the japonicas and williamsii. I have found it is particularly susceptible to bud drop if the compost dries out and have lost out on a good show due to inattentive watering at the critical time. My form is a pure white single with a central gold 'boss' of stamens. It also has attractive coppery young foliage.

And then there were four - my mother bought me a mystery camellia twig and got a free mystery camellia twig, one is Cornish Clay, a semi double white and quite a shy flowerer, the other turned out to be a pinky pink and has been banished! Camellias are apparently quite easy from cuttings taken early in the year which I haven't tried, and as previously noted, flower when small.

I have been sorely tempted at an Abbotsbury Sub-Tropical gardens 'end of season' sale with Mrs D W Davis [very large pale pink flowers] or Contessa Lavinia Maggi a stripey, bad taste but fun, but didn't succumb. It was inevitable then that when I later saw a small Lady Vansittart, for sale, another stripey with white flowers streaked red, that I bought her, but am not yet sure I like the flower form, its a bit pointy!

In 2003 I fell for Quintessence a scented semi double blush pink [it didn't like me], and then having run out of room in my own garden I bought my father the Scentuous and Nuccio's Gem for his birthday.

So there you have it, my camellia confessions! 4/5 in favour of the camellia?

References:
Shrubs [1989] and Conservatory and Indoor Plants Volume 1 [1997] - Roger Phillips and Martyn Rix

Manual of Trees and Shrubs, Hillier [1981]

Nursery links

Bodnant Nursery
I haven't visited Bodnant Gardens in Wales since May 1989. My comments at the time were "The Dell was still good, the azaleas making great clashing riots of colour and a gorgeous scent. The borders obviously not in full swing. Saw embothrium in full flood for the first time. However we managed to miss the ever so famous laburnum arch". As you might guess from the reference to azaleas it is an 'acid' garden and it is well worth visiting.

Burncoose Nurseries
I have never visited the nursery, but when I went regularly to the London RHS shows, especially in the spring, I would head for their stand as it would always be packed with exotic delights such as acacias in full flower, and I think the first time I saw Camellia Scentuous. They also exhibit at the Bath Flower Show in May where there are always crowds packed around their stand. The web site is fairly easy to navigate around and the two camellias I bought online from them were good and strong.

Trehane are another well known camellia supplier and a visit to the nursery will sorely tempt you!

Garden links

Abbotsbury Sub-Tropical Gardens
I have visited this garden a number of times over the years more often than not at the end of the main growing season in October to see what bargains might be had from the Plant Centre. Abbotsbury is situated very near Chesil Beach in Dorset and the micro climate is conducive to plants that are generally more tender in the UK. You know you have arrived as soon as you go down towards the restaurant area on a wooden walkway, luscious plantings of tender and not so tender plants crowd towards you and entice onwards into the jungle.

Within the garden there are formal enclosed gardens and more open areas to visit. I remember one year the many different hebes were in full flower which was a marvellous show a-hum with bees. I also like the Mediterranean bank which is good for a late show. When I visited, in October 2001, the stand-out plant was the Dichroa febrifuga for its startling blue flowers, a little leggy but eye-catching. Glimpses of the golden pheasants foraging in the ferny dell area and the frequent eruptions from the Kookaburra aviary also add to the exotic feel.

Updated March 2007

@Kari's garden 2002 - 2007