Camellia
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| Camellia |
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 'Yuletide' Camellia bloom |
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| Camellia |
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HISTORY
The Camellia is a large family of flowering broadleaf evergreens that grow wild in parts of Asia. There are over 250 different species of Camellia. Only two of these are widely grown as ornamental landscape plants in the United States.
Japanese Camellias (Camellia japonica) is found in Japan, Korea and China. This is the most well-known and widely used Camellia in North America. Japanese Camellias were first introduced to the US in about 1800. American cultivation of the plant began as an exotic greenhouse plant in northern states. It wasn’t until 1819 that a Charleston nursery began selling the Japanese Camellias as a southern landscape shrub.
Camellia sasanqua comes from southern Japan. Sasanquas bloom in the fall between October and December. This flowering landscape plant is hardier and tolerates a wider climate variance than C. japonica. The sasanquas has been grown in the United States since the mid 1800’s. Today there are over 2,300 named Camellia varieties in cultivation.
CHARACTERISTICS
The evergreen leaves of Camellias are rich in color and have a glossy surface. Given the right planting environment, these are easy to grow shrubs that are drought resistant once established.
Camellia japonica prefers high filtered shade with competition of larger tree roots. This makes them the perfect under story planting beneath the Southern Pines. Planting Camellias beneath old shade trees is not successful. Shade trees have many surface roots and the camellia cannot compete for food and moisture. Additionally, there is insufficient filtered sunlight beneath the heavier canopy of deciduous trees. This will cause camellias to be rather thin and leggy instead of being full in foliage.
Camellia sasanqua can be grown in part to full sun but is best sheltered from the hot afternoon sun. When grown in full sun, they require consistent watering to protect the leaves from burning. For a lower maintenance shrub, it is best to plant them in afternoon shade. Sasanquas do not be protected from the winter wind like Japanese Camellias do in the cooler climate of their northern growing zones. In part shade, the sasanquas are also quite drought tolerant once established.
USES
In the residential landscape, the Camellia makes a fine single specimen shrub, ornamental hedge or four-season privacy screen planting. The larger growing forms of the sasanqua can be made into a fine looking flowering tree when properly pruned. Due to their slow growth rate, it will take many years to grow a camellia to the height necessary to make it a tree form. For this reason, when bought from a nursery already in tree form they are quite expensive.
Tea Camellias (Camellia sinensis) are also grown in North America. This evergreen shrub is less ornamental and cultivated for tea brewed from the leaves. Tea-Oil Camellias (Camellia oliefera) is grown for the valuable oil made from the foliage.
HOME USE
The two types of Camellias used for yard and garden ornament are distinctly different. It is easy to see why you cannot live in the south and not have these evergreen shrubs planted in your yard. They bloom and give cheerful color in the colder, dreary days of the cold season. Camellias are rather slow growing but the beauty of the blooms makes them well worth the wait for maturity.
Camellia sasanqua has a smaller, spreading shape and flowers between late September and late December. The flowers are borne in great abundance, though smaller and less showy than those of C. japonica. Sasanquas are more tolerant of colder temperatures and exposure to wind and sunshine. These fall flowering Camellias are hardy in zone 7-9. These broadleaf evergreen shrubs mature to between 18” and 10 feet in height depending on the variety.
The Japanese Camellias are far more complex in flower types. They bloom in winter to spring and bloom shapes are available in many different forms. C. japonica has larger leaves and the flowers tend to be white or pink toned. Cultivated varieties of this kind of Camellia can grow to 20 feet in height or more with advanced age. They are shaped rather narrow and formal in appearance. They need the right amount of shade and shelter to thrive and are hardy in zone 8-10.