It’s that time again. The breeze is cooler, the leaves are turning.  Pumpkins and mums are popping up everywhere.  Finally mild days prevail and rain has softened the ground.  Fall is in the air…and camellias are getting ready to burst into color.

If you find something is missing in your Fall landscape…..that “something” could be a few strategically placed flowering evergreen,s like Camellia sasanqua. There could not be a better time to get in the garden and do some planting, and Camellia sasanqua (kah-MEE-lee-a   suh-SAN-kwah) is a great choice to bring interest and excitement to your Autumn landscape.

Originating from southern Japan and China, these cool weather blooming beauties have found a home in the southern garden.  This outstanding group of camellias are also versatile growing in full sun and partial shade, adding charm and interest at a time in which most plants are going dormant.    There are over 200 different named cultivars available ranging in many colors, bloom styles, and sizes to choose from.  Let’s go over a few!

One of my all-time favs and probably the most popular of all is a variety called ‘Yuletide’.  Fiery red blooms with a distinct yellow center.  Yuletide is a heavy bloomer with a dark green leaf and compact habit. It can grow to 8’ tall and almost as wide, feel free to do some light trimming in the spring to maintain a smaller plant.  Use Yuletide in a large container, as a small screen or as a specimen in the garden.  Literally hundreds of blooms will appear on one mature plant from October til December!  ‘Pink Yuletide’ is the new twist on this older cultivar with all the same attributes except for flower color, which is a soft pink.  Equally impressive!!!

Yuletide

Pink Yuletide

Here are a few low growing varieties better suited for smaller spaces.  These varieties are great for container gardening!

Shishigashira

‘Shishigashira’- Arching habit with large rich pink flowers.  Blooms early.  Great for banks, under planting a larger backdrop hedge or foundation planting.  Very colorful and used for many different applications in the garden.

Bonanza Camellia

‘Bonanza’- Another early blooming arching type, with semi-double reddish pink flowers.  Very similar in growth habit and size to ‘Shishigashira’.  Fast growing up to 4’ tall and 6’ wide.

Mine No Yuki Camellia

‘Mine No Yuki’- A bushy type with white flowers in abundance.  Averaging 5’ tall and 7’ wide.  This one really puts on a show and its white blooms really show up in the landscape.  Beautiful habit and easy to grow.

Marge Miller Camellia

‘Marge Miller’- A true ground cover type!  Very unique.  Only growing to 1’ tall with a spread of 4’.  Cascades over walls and is popular trained into a tree-form where the branches will weep straight down to the ground.  Definitely a collector’s choice.

Some camellia sasanquas can grow into large shrubs or small trees, such as ‘Fairy Blush’.  This camellia has small leaves and small blooms, and a big impact in the garden.  Loose open habit and loaded with buds and flowers in the Fall.  Blooms are soft pink almost white.  Very easy to grow and unique!  Suited for larger areas.  Use as specimen or screen for a very cool effect.

Fairy Blush Camellia

 

‘Kanjiro’ is another large type with rich pink flowers and rapid growth rate.  This plant will grow into a small tree with time.  Heavy bloomer and very consistent bud set every year.  Can be used as an espalier also.  One of the oldest and most popular of all Camellia sasanquas.

Kanjiroa Camellia

These are just a few of the many that are out there waiting on you to find a them a new home in your garden!!!  In my opinion, camellia sasanqua is just as important to the Autumn landscape as mums, pansies, maples and any other plant you may already have.  They help you extend the season in your garden and give color and interest at a time when other plants are loosing steam.

Try a few and watch your garden become more diverse and colorful well into the cooler months of Fall.

 

Jody Shaul, Manager of The Gardens of Blackhawk