Growing Camelias All Year Round

Winter never lags if you have camellias in full bloom all season. We grow them in our greenhouse and on our glassed-in porch. Our 22’x24′-foot glass house was built many years ago and paid for itself almost at once with savings on winter vacations—with camellias in bloom, why go away!

Pin

They like cool temperatures, so low heating costs—we keep the greenhouse night temperature just above freezing. So you see, this is a hobby that is content with any size pocketbook.

Growing Camellias

We started more than 25 years ago with a plant of Professor Charles Sargent—a japonica camellia.

We still have the original plant—now in a 14″ inch tub. It spends summers under our apple tree and winters on our enclosed porch.

Professor Sargent is now taller than we are and considerably more rotund. Each Christmas, its green leaves and double red flowers make it an appropriate holiday decoration.

Our potting soil consists of compost, sharp sand, and peatiness.

We use a balanced acid fertilizer, like that packaged for azaleas and rhododendrons, avoiding any that contain aluminum sulfate, which is said to lock up phosphorus.

Proper nutrition results in thick green foliage and larger blooms, but this is one case where too little fertilizer is better than too much—so follow directions on the package.

A starved look, oddly enough, can come from an overdose of fertilizer, which causes root damage through excess salts.

Best Time To Repot

The time to repot camellias is just after flowering and before spring growth starts, during 2 or 3 weeks in late April and early May.

It is a good idea to repot every other year to reduce the danger of salt accumulation. Cut off some old roots, and new ones will soon grow to replace them.

Important Pot Culture

Prune and shape plants when you repot them. If pruning is done later, the bloom is lost.

Camellias set flower buds very early. By the beginning of June, I can already distinguish flower buds from leaf buds.

Drainage is important in pot culture, so place a pebble layer in the bottom before filling in with soil.

If an established plant is poorly drained, push an ice pick or screwdriver into the drainage hole and twist it to open up the soil, so water drains freely.

When pots are plunged into the ground outdoors for the summer, drainage will be good if you place a smaller pot beneath the drainage hole. This also keeps out earthworms.

Watering must be done carefully at all times.

Over-watering results in soggy soil and rotting roots, but buds and flowers will drop if a plant gets too dry. So strive for a happy medium.

To leach out excess salts, give enough water twice a month, so it runs freely from the drainage hole.

Camellias need fresh air even in the coldest weather. We open the greenhouse ventilators at midday and leave them open at night.

On sunny winter days, we open the ventilators wide enough to keep the temperature below 65° degrees Fahrenheit.

If the temperature is too high or the air too dry, buds will drop. Night temperature is never allowed to go above 50° degrees Fahrenheit or below freezing.

Sun-scorched blossoms are certain unless we supply shading in winter. White flowers suffer most, but all colors show some damage.

We use a Saran cloth that cuts light 10% percent. Even with this, some burning occurs on the top blooms.

We have noted foliage sunburn only when a plant accustomed to growing in the shade is moved into full sun.

When we put our plants outdoors in a sunny spot for the summer, we get them out early in May to give them time to adjust to the hotter July and August sun.

Year-Round Schedule Of Camellia Care

Disbudding Camellias

Disbudding camellias prevent plant injury. We once lost a Professor Sargent that bloomed itself to death.

So now, when we think, “That plant never bloomed so well before,” we are certain to give it an anxious second look.

Disbudding to adjust the burden of bloom to the plant’s capacity reduces bud drop to a minimum.

One flower to a twig is enough. In July and August, we go over each plant and pinch off buds, especially one of each pair, so those that remain will be evenly distributed.

Camellias are usually free of disease, but if any foliage blight appears, we control it with fermate and sulfur dust and keep all water off the foliage.

If an occasional leaf is affected, we remove and burn it.

Badly diseased plants can be cut back hard to encourage new clean growth. Often this results in a better-shaped plant.

We pick up all fallen leaves and faded flowers regularly to eliminate a source of infection.

Varieties To Select For Collection

What varieties should you select to start a collection?

Choose kinds with different blooming seasons—early, midseason, and late—so you will have several months of flowers.

Also, select various blossom forms—single, semi-double, peony, and imbricated (petals overlapping like shingles).

For us, winter bloom starts early in December with Alba Plena, a perfectly imbricated pure white. Then Professor Sargent chimes in, followed by delectable pink Debutante.

By February, most varieties are in bloom. Purity and Sarah Frost are last, and March may bring the finest bloom if spring is late. By April, it is all over.

Here are some of our other favorites:

• Elegans (midseason) has a large, peony-like pink flower—a strong grower
• Chandleri Elegans is its white-streaked counterpart
• Herme (late), an informal double, variegated pink, red, and white, is said to be the only fragrant japonica.
• Governor Mouton (late) is red, streaked white
• Latifolia (late) is rose-colored and has prominent yellow stamens.

Single camellias are usually larger than doubles.

Mathotiana Rubra (midseason), known by several names, including Purple Dawn, has dark red, 4-inch blossoms, sometimes veined with purple along the edges. Our plant had over 100 blooms this year.

Lotus (midseason), recently chosen Camellia of the Year, is largely white, almost single, with many yellow stamens.

Lady, Clare (early midseason), an enormous pink, and Brown’s Red are among our best singles. Sweet Vera (midseason) streaked red, pink, and white has fine veining.

Other whites we like are Mathiotiana Alba (late), Purity (late), and most of all, a misnamed variety known as Magnoliaeflora (midseason ), which is as beautiful as a waterlily.

Mathiotiana Alba often has blossomed with parts of the petals shading from pink to deep red. One of ours has a branch that produces only pink flowers.

Our camellias have given us a pretext for sociability—as if we ever needed one.

Our friends have learned that Sunday afternoons in February and March will find us at home with the camellias, ready for company and a cup of tea.

44659 by Aleita And Ernest Scott