the camellia handbook

7/27/2019 The Camellia Handbook

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Handbook

For GrowingOrnamental

Flowering

Camellias

CamelliaShop.comPO Box 13987

Savannah, GA 31416

Email: [email protected] us online at

Www.CamelliaShop.com

Your ultimate online

source for Fine Quality

Camellias


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From our

Garden to

Yours!

Camellias are evergreen shrubs and trees that are native to

China, Japan and Southeast Asia. They adorn our gardens and

homes with bountiful blooms during the fall and winter months

when all other blooming plants are fast asleep.

Camellias made their way to America in the 18th century. In

fact, some camellias still exist today from this time period mak-

ing this truly a species of historic nature. Once grown only as

greenhouse flowers in the colder regions such as Boston and

Philadelphia, these beauties have found their place in southern

gardens and southern hearts from Virginia, to South Carolina,

Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana all the way to the

West coast in Oregon , Washington and California.

CamelliaShop is mail order only. We do not operate a retail

nursery. We invite you to visit CamelliaShop.com online and

begin to explore all of the great varieties we have as well as

detailed information we have on each variety. Youll also find

growing tips, techniques and much much more as you begin

your camellia journey.

At CamelliaShop we have been growing camellias for over 50years! We are a family owned and operated business and we

truly love what we do. Camellias inspire us, intrigue and mys-

tify us with their beauty and elegance. But most importantly,

they make us want to share what we do and what we love with

gardeners everywhere!

We specialize in all types of camellias, both the ornamental

blooming species as well as Camellia sinensis, The Tea Plant.

We grow all of our own camellias from our own stock. No bro-

kers, no middlemen. We grow them, we ship them and we

stand by them. Our camellias come straight from our hands

into yours. And were there for you after they become yours. If

you need help or advice on your plants, were here for you.

Please feel free to contact us at any time!

The CamelliaShop Family

Table of Contents

On the cover from top to bottom.

Camellia japonica Black Magic, Camellia hybrid

Cinnamon Scentsation, Camellia sasanqua Leslie

Ann, Camellia sinensis, Camellia hybrid Fragrant

Pink, Camellia japonica Tudor Baby, Camellia japon-

ica Seafoam

The Queen of Ornamentals 3

The Many uses of Camellias 5

All in the Camellia Family 9

Camellia Japonica 12

Camellia Hybrids 14

Camellia Sasanqua 16

Camellia Sinensis 18

Fragrant Camellias 19

Cold Hardy Camellias 22

USDA Climate Zone Map 25

Planting Camellias Outdoors 26

Planting in Climates 28

Growing Camellias in Containers 29

Fertilizing your Camellias 30

Water, Humidity & Mulching 31

Soil pH for Camellia Cultivation 32

Growing Camellias Indoors 32

Camellia Insects Disease & Pests 33

Treating for Scale & Mites 35

Camellia Flower Forms 38


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CamelliasThe Queen of Ornamentals

For centuries, the camellia has adorned gardens, tables and la-pels with their beauty, grace and charm, but how did they come

to be and what makes them so special?

Camellias are evergreen ornamental shrubs that produce a wide

variety of blooms. There are hundreds of thousands of varieties

world wide that have been officially named and logged, and

probably equally as many that have not. So, what makes the

camellia special?

Camellias are different than any other ornamental shrub. They

bloom in the fall and winter, for the most part, when all other

plants are sleeping. There are no thorns or sticky sap to deal

with and they can grow for hundreds of years with minimal care

once they become established. The colors, shapes, sizes and

bloom times of flowers vary greatly with almost every color but

bluebut thats a dream that hopefully will be attained at some

point in the future. Some have fragrance, some have unusual

growth habits such as low and spreading to upright and tree

form. Some camellias have fragrance, while others do not.

They can grow in most any mild climate and with the develop-

ment of new cold tolerant camellias, now can be grown in areaswhere they once did not survive. They can be planted outdoors

in mild climates or they can be grown in containers. They have

been used as specimen plantings, hedges, foundation plantings

& screens. Their

addition to the gar-

den is one that can

be enjoyed for years

and years to come.

The first mention of

camellia in history is

that of Camellia

sinensis, or as we

call, the tea plant.

Over the centuries,

camellia sinensis has

become the source

for the worlds sec-

ond most consumed

beverage next to

waterTEA. Legend has that around 5000 b.c. a Chinese

monk, tired and weary from his work, began a pot of soup but

before he could add ingredients, leaves from a nearby tree blew

into his brew and as he tasted it, he instantly felt refreshed.

After a cup of tea, you can understand why this beverage has

remained throughout the centuries.

The first records of ornamental camellias other than tea plants

date back nearly 2000 years ago in Chinese literature and in

artwork. Writings and paintings describe clearly Camellia ja-

ponica in its natural statesimple and single. Camellia sasan-

qua is noted to be native from

Japan. Camellias, first found

in temples and in the places of

noblemen, soon made its wayinto the gardens of commoners

or those of lesser nobility.

China, Japan and Southeast

Asia are thought to hold the

nativity of camellias, in one

form or another.

Camellias slowly made their

way from their native home-Camellia sinensis Tea Plant

Camellias as Huntington Gardens in California


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lands into other areasEurope, Australia, New Zealand and

North America. Each of these regions have climates within

their borders that are suitable for growing camellias, and in

some areas they have thrived since the early part of the 18th

century.

The first camellias brought into North America were in the lat-

ter 1700s and were sent to Savannah, Georgia. These were

seeds of Camellia sinensis and were sent to the Trust Gardens

in the hopes that tea could be established here as an agricultural

crop. For many reason, the tea did not survive and it would be

some time before it could be established again, this time inCharleston South Carolina.

Camellia japonica soon arrived to North America and it was

certainly a plant species for the rich and wealthy, often grown

in glass greenhouses in the north because the winters were too

harsh. It wasnt long before Camellias made their way down

south to antebellum gardens underneath Live Oaks trees drip-

ping in Spanish moss and they found a climate very suitable for

their culture. Some of the oldest camellias today can be found

in these old plantation gardens such as Magnolia Gardens in

Charleston South Carolina - the souths first romantic garden.Middleton Place, also in Charleston SC is home to a formal

garden bursting with camellias, simple in form, that stand ma-

jestically on the banks of the Ashley River. Camellia fever

spread to all parts of the country and to the gardens of simple

folk as well as the noble plantation owners. The latter part of

the 19th century and the first part of the 20th century there was

a camellia boom of sorts and everyone was planting, sharing

and developing some of the most beautiful camellias that we

have today.

As part of the Camellia boom that hit, Camellia shows began

springing up in the 1930s and 1940s and was a site to see, as

they still are today. People would come from everywhere,

bringing in baskets full of camellias to present for exhibition -

sometimes thousands at a time. Years ago, The Mens Garden

Club in Savannah GA reported at one of their shows, over 5000

blooms entered into competition. During this time Camellia

clubs developed and people who appreciated the flower, all

became members and most of these sponsored camellia shows

to engage in friendly and sometimes not-so-friendly competi-

tion. Today there are hundreds of camellia organizations withmembership in just about every city and country that grows

camellias around the world.

Camellias have certainly come a long way from their humble,

single form beginnings and in a relatively short period of time.

With the advancements in hybridizing, new varieties and possi-

bilities are emerging every day. Blue camellias? Summer

blooming camellias? Why not! Its all possible and hopefully

something you will see in the future!

Camellia reticulate Milo Rowel planted in Magnolia Gar-dens in Charleston.

Jim Parker , Savannah Park and Tree, stands beneath thecamellia which is nearly 20 feet tall.

A beautiful display of flowers in a Camellia Show Entry.Just imagine thousands of blooms in one place!


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We refer to camellias as the Queen of Ornamentals.That is mainly because there is no other shrub that canoffer the varying characteristics in foliage, flowers, bloomseason and grow habits.

There are many applications to using camellias in yourgardens and outdoor spaces as well as indoors. Themost common use is to just place them in a spot theylove and watch them grow! Some of the oldest camel-lias, and the largest we have seen, are located in theheart of the south where some camellias have been datedfor over 200 years. There are other gardens around theworld where they are much older than that. Camelliascan be used in a variety of garden types from formal tooriental type garden, or just to simply brighten up a spotin the yard where you frequently visit.

Large Growing Trees

Large growing varieties can be transform into trees inmost cases. Some can reach heights of 20 tall and 10-12

feet wide or better. Camellias grown for this purpose willneed a lot of room to fully reach their potential. Some ofthe most beautiful camellias in the world are enormous inheight. Since they can live for hundreds of years, it iscertainly worth the effort to see them in their naturalform.

The Many Uses of Camellias

Varieties that are excellent for tree-camellias are:

C. japonica Sea Foam C. japonica Rebel Yell C. japonica High Society C. japonica Omega

C. hiemalis Kanjiro C. sasanqua Pink Snow C. sasanqua Royal Velvet

Large growing tree-form Camellia japonica


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Low Growing Camellias &Foundation Plantings

Low growing camellias can be used in places almost as aground cover type of planting. Some can be maintainedat 2 or better and tend to spread out. Lower growingcamellias that can be used in places with height restric-tions are:

Camellias can be used as foundation plantings, or for afocal point in plantings around your home or other build-ings. They are commonly used to provide pockets ofcolor in your landscape and even without blooms, theplants fit very nicely into this type of planting.

Even with low growing, pruning will be required to main-tain size your desired size

Low Growing Camellias

C. hybrid Sweet Emily Kate

C. sasanqua Mine-no-yuki

C. hiemalis Yuletide

C. japonica Marie Bracey

C. japonica Dahlohnega

C, hybrid Winters Dream

C. japonica Frankie Winn


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All in the Camellia

Family

By Debbie Odom

I spent a few days in Washington DC and toured many of the

Smithsonian Museums. Our favorite of all was the Natural

History Museum. We viewed many different exhibits on the

worlds history including the origins of plant life. I was so in-

trigued with all of this information. It was like I was seeing it

for the first time. Somehow I chose to forget what I had

learned from my 10th grade biology classes. It began a thought

process on the origins of the Camellia and how it is classified in

the plant world the way it is.

Taxonomy and biological classificationCarolus Linnaeus, and 18th century Swedish botanist, is respon-

sible for most of the worlds classification of plants and ani-

mals, otherwise known as Taxonomy. Although the naming of

plants and animals is an age-old habit, Linnaeus system of

taxonomy remains today as the most widely used method for

plant and animal classification.

Linnaeus was an arrogant but highly intelligent botanist. He

was not modest to tell people later in life that 'no man has ever

transformed science in the way that I have.' He published a

book called Species Plantarum in 1753. This book contained a

listing of all plants known to him at that time and was the

worlds first plant encyclopedia. This book completely

changed the way plants were named.

Linnaeus designed a two word plant name system that we still

use today. This type of name is called binomial meaning

having two names. We often refer to this as the botanical

name. The first name is to indicate the genus and is always

capitalized. The second is to indicate the species and is always

listed with a small letter. For example, Camellia japonica -

Camellia is the genus and japonica indicates the species. Lin-

naeus went one step further. He allowed for the name of the

person that developed the plant to follow the species. For ex-

ample Camellia japonica L or Camellia japonica Linnaeus, as

he often abbreviated. Today this further classification after

the species name is often used to describe a variety, or a seed-

ling or cultivar of a particular species. Commonly used arenames in honor of someone, or specific name to distinguish the

variety or cultivar. For example, Camellia japonica Pink Per-

fection, or Camellia hiemalis Yuletide

Linnaeus loved naming plants after people he admired. He

named the genus Magnolia after the French botanist Pierre

Magnol and the Camellia after Josef Kamel, a fellow botanist.

Linnaeus also was a vindictive man and named plants after peo-

Carlolus Linnaeus


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T h e C a m e l l i a H a n d b o o k

C o p y r i g h t 2 0 1 3 b y D e b b i e O d o m O w n e r a n d O p e r a t o r o f C a m e l l i a S h o p . c o m a n d G r o w Y o u r O w n T e a . c o m . D e b b i e h a s b e e n a p r o f e s s i o n a l

h o r t i c u l t u r i s t i n t h e n u r s e r y i n d u s t r y f o r o v e r 2 5 y e a r s w i t h p a r t i c u l a r i n t e r e s t i n t h e g e n u s C a m e l l i a .

A l l r i g h t s r e s e r v e d . N o p a r t o f t h i s b o o k m a y b e r e p r o d u c e d i n a n y f o r m o r b y a n y e l e c t r o n i c o r

m e c h a n i c a l m e a n s i n c l u d i n g s t o r a g e a n d r e t r i e v a l s y s t e m s w i t h o u t p e r m i s s i o n i n w r i t i n g f r o m D e b b i e

O d o m

P o w e r e d B y B o o k e m o n . w w w . b o o k e m o n . c o m
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