Camellias are easier to grow than many people believe, so Graham Clarke gets on his soapbox to extol their virtues
I’ve been a fan of camellias for as long as I can remember and I have always grown them, regardless of the soil. Of course, these shrubs are acid-lovers (being in the same family as heathers and rhododendrons), yet I currently live in a chalk area and have some of the most lustrous camellias it has ever been my pleasure to look after.
These are woodland plants, originally hailing from India, China and Japan. When they were first introduced into England in the mid-18th century, they were kept in stifling hot houses, the gardeners then believing that everywhere in Asia was tropical.
As time went on, they realised that these plants were actually made of sturdier stuff: the plants seemed fine in unheated conservatories! It was not until much later that camellias were commonly grown outdoors, and today we scarcely grow them under cover at all.
Depending on the variety, flowers can appear over a long period from midwinter to late spring. They are usually tolerant of a cold British winter, and they don’t usually mind a wet one either.
Slow thaw
Let’s get the bad news out of the way first: the worst thing about camellias is that you should not allow the early morning sun to fall upon their flowers after a freezing night. Quick thawing kills off the cells within the petals, and the whole bloom turns brown. If the thaw is slow because, say, the plant doesn’t receive direct sunlight until much later in the morning, then all is well, and the blooms stay in pristine condition.
Of all the evergreen shrubs one can grow, it is the camellia that has arguably the most handsome foliage. It’s glossy and rich green, and can shine like a beacon amongst most other evergreens.
Camellias grow well in light shade, though they flower more profusely where there is a reasonable amount of sunlight. In fact, they are ideal for lightly shaded walls, and some of the more lax varieties can even be trained onto them.
The light, open habit of camellias suits mixed, informal planting. The denser, more upright varieties, with heavier flowers, are ideal for more formal planting schemes, and containers.
There are dozens of species and varieties to choose from, and if you look through a specialist’s catalogue, expect to be bewildered. If buying potted camellias from a garden centre, go when the plants are in bloom – any time from now onwards really – so you can see exactly what the flower looks like.
Graceful and free-flowering
The following are all camellias with which I’ve had personal and up-close experiences, and I’d recommend them all.
First
