Camellia: The Rose of Winter

by Mary Adams

 As landscapes hibernate into the greys and browns of the winter months, there is something so visually vivacious about camellia blossoms. They add beautiful bursts of rose-like flowers to otherwise colorless gardens.

Camellias are dark evergreen shrubs which grow in zones 7-9. They grow best under a canopy of dappled shade, like a stand of pine trees or other shifting shade. They require an acid soil. Even in ideal conditions they are classified as slow-growing landscape plants that can take quite a few years to reach maturity.

There are two major groups of landscape camellias: Camellia sasanqua and C. japonica. The sasanquas typically start blooming in late fall, usually around November, with a smaller, simpler flower. It’s the japonicas which are the show stoppers. Their larger, showier blossoms, three to five inches in diameter, typically bloom from January to March.

Flower size alone isn’t the only feature that sets the japonicas apart. Their flowers frequently grow as doubles or triples, or even in peony-like tight clusters. For this reason, the japonicas provide a terrific focal point in the landscape. The sasanquas with their smaller blossoms stand out when used in a mass planting, even as a hedge.

Both types of landscape camellias offer flowers that range in color from whites and shades of pink, to peachy reds. There are even some marbled varieties. With over 3,000 cultivars to choose from, it is no surprise that camellias are sometimes called the rose of winter.

Camellias are native to China, Japan and Korea. They were first shipped to the United States and Europe in the 1800s. In the U.S., they were originally grown in greenhouses and sold as indoor plants. When it was discovered that these shrubs could handle the outdoors in the southeastern part of the country, they shifted to being plants for the landscape. Both of these landscape species can tolerate freezing temperatures, as can their tightly-closed flower buds. However, open or partially-opened flowers cannot survive. This is one advantage the sasanquas have over the japonicas. Depending upon the quirks of Mother Nature from year to year, they typically have finished blooming before the first freeze of the season arrives in the northern and central parts of the state.

Florida gardeners often experience seasonal change only as a flip of a calendar page. But sometimes a cold snap will find them admiring their blooming camellias through a steamy kitchen window while sipping a warm beverage. If their warm beverage of choice happens to be a cup of hot tea, they can be grateful for another plant related to their landscape beauties: Camellia sinensis. Although in the same genus as our lovely ornamental varieties, C. sinensis is not grown for its diminutive white flowers or as a landscape plant. Instead, they are grown as an agricultural crop, for the harvesting of their leaves - tea leaves.

Flowering landscape camellias provide a bright spot in the drab winter landscape. Their shiny forest-green leaves serve as the perfect backdrop for their exquisite flowers. They are a must-have flowering perennial for northern and central Florida.

Mary Adams earned her degree in Environmental Horticulture from the University of Florida, Gainesville.

© 2014 Mary Adams. Originally published in Florida Gardening, Dec / Jan 2014. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.