fall-blooming camellias | CAROLYN'S SHADE GARDENS

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Fall-blooming Camellias Part 2

Carolyn’s Shade Gardens is a retail nursery located in Bryn Mawr, PA, specializing in showy, colorful, and unusual plants for shade. The only plants that we ship are snowdrops and miniature hostas. For catalogues and announcements of events, please send your full name, location, and phone number (for back up use only) to carolyn@carolynsshadegardens.com. Click here to get to the home page of our website for catalogues and information about our nursery and to subscribe to our blog.

Red-flowered Camellia japonica (introduction in process)

In my previous article, Fall-blooming Camellias Part 1, I showed you my camellias and provided some background on the development of these remarkable plants. Here I want to convey the astonishing variety of cultivars available for your fall garden.

On December 2 (before the freeze), I was privileged to visit the camellia collection of Swarthmore, PA, horticulturalist Charles Cresson who grows over 60 varieties. Charles not only showed me around his gardens, but helped me stage the photographs—thanks Charles. Here are some of the incredible specimens I saw.

Camellia x ‘Snow Flurry’ (Ackerman Hybrid)

Camellia x ‘Winter’s Dream’ (Ackerman Hybrid)

Camellia x ‘Autumn Spirit’ (Camellia Forest Introduction)

Camellia x ‘Winter’s Snowman’ (Ackerman Hybrid)

Camellia x ‘Winter’s Charm’ (Ackerman Hybrid)

Camellia x ‘Scented Snow’ (Camellia Forest Introduction)

Camellia x ‘Winter’s Beauty’ (Ackerman Hybrid)

Cranberry-flowered Camellia (not introduced)

White-flowered Camellia (not introduced)

The two photos above are of cold hardy camellias that have never been offered for sale.

Red-flowered Camellia japonica (introduction in process)

Of all the camellias I saw during my visit, and there were many more than appear here, you can probably tell that the red-flowered camellia in the photographs above and at the top was my favorite. From its plentiful plump buds to its robust red flowers with bright yellow stamens to its dazzling dark evergreen leaves to its lush and luxurious habit, it is outstanding. It is a straight C. japonica species collected by the Morris Arboretum in 1984 on an island in Korea. The island is the most northern range of this species. Although technically a spring bloomer, it also flowers in fall. Charles hopes to introduce it for sale soon.

For more information on Ackerman hybrid camellias, read William Ackerman’s article “Camellias for Cold Climates”. For a wonderful selection of camellias from a nursery that hybridizes them, visit the Camellia Forest Nursery website. Camellia Forest is located in Chapel Hill, NC.

Carolyn

Note: Every word that appears in orange on my blog is a link that you can click for more information.

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Fall-blooming Camellias Part 1

Posted in evergreen, Fall, Fall Color, Shade Shrubs with tags Ackerman hybrid camellias, Camellia x 'Elaine Lee', Camellia x 'Winter's Darling', fall-blooming camellias, US National Arboretum on December 8, 2010 by Carolyn @ Carolyns Shade Gardens

Camellia x (Unknown Ackerman Hybrid)

From 1992 to 1997, I earned two Certificates in Ornamental Plants from Longwood Gardens. Of all the horticultural classes I have taken, these are the best, and I still use the course books as my primary plant reference. As I worked my way through the 18 required courses from bulbs to perennials to shrubs to vines, I made a mental life list of the plants I wanted in my garden. Some I added immediately, but others were stored away to be added in the future as I discovered them randomly at the nurseries I visited. This year, fall-blooming hardy camellias rose to the top of the list.

Camellia oleifera

Bark on Camellia oleifera grown as tree (Cresson garden)

Actually, my flirtation with fall-blooming camellias began about 10 years ago during a tour of the Morris Arboretum when I was given a tiny seedling of their Camellia oleifera (two photos above), which was a cutting of the original and famous ‘Lu Shan Snow’ at the U.S. National Arboretum. It has grown into quite a large shrub with beautiful cinnamon-colored bark, glossy dark evergreen leaves, and copious single white flowers from late October into December. It is also completely cold hardy, but not resistant to deer who dined on it voraciously. There were to be no more camellias in my future until I freed up a space for them inside my deer fence.

Camellia x (Unknown Ackerman Hybrid)

This spring I removed several large and ailing boxwoods from a sheltered spot by my patio and simultaneously found a source for specimen camellias—it was a “perfect storm” for my venture into the fall-blooming camellia world.

Camellia x ‘Elaine Lee’

I purchased three gorgeous plants. The first, Camellia x ‘Elaine Lee’ (photos above and bottom), has semi-double white flowers that bloom from November sporadically through January. It has an upright form with an average growth rate to 5 feet. The second, Camellia x ‘Winter’s Darling’ (photo below), has miniature, anemone-form deep cerise pink flowers that start at the end of October and continue through December. It has a moderately upright habit and grows slowly to 3 to 5 feet. The third is an Ackerman hybrid camellia (photos top, above, and bottom), but I am not sure which cultivar. It has semi-double deep pink flowers. All three have beautiful glossy dark evergreen leaves.

Camellia x ‘Winter’s Darling’

These hardy fall-blooming camellias, along with many others, were developed by Dr. William Ackerman at the U.S. National Arboretum by crossing C. oleifera with more ornamental forms to produce superior plants. They are truly hardy in the mid-Atlantic, but should be sited to protect them from winter sun and our winter winds, which come from the northwest, and mulched in winter. They prefer a well-drained site in part shade.

Camellia x ‘Elaine Lee’

For more information on Dr. Ackerman’s hybrids, read his article “Camellias for Cold Climates”. For more information on camellias, go to the International Camellia Society’s website. Stay tuned for my next camellia post which will highlight photographs from my recent visit to a private collection of over 60 camellias.

Camellia x (Unknown Ackerman Hybrid)

The U.S. National Arboretum, which is part of the USDA, is the source for many of the best plant breeding programs in the U.S. It also maintains national collections of plants. The arboretum is currently planning to deaccession its Azalea and Boxwood Collections as well as part of the Perennial Collection. In the case of the Azalea Collection, although budget concerns were mentioned, one of the reasons given was that it attracted too many visitors. I may be wrong, but I can’t imagine this happening in the U.K. If you would like to find out more about this amazing azalea collection and the efforts to save it, go to the Save the Azaleas website.

Carolyn

Note: Every word that appears in orange on my blog is a link that you can click for more information.

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November GBBD: Make a Spring Shopping List Now

Posted in Fall, Fall Color, Garden Blogger's Bloom Day, How to with tags Arum italicum 'Gold Rush', black fountain grass, Clematis 'Warsaw Nike', Cyclamen hederifolium, Disanthus cercidifolius, fall-blooming camellias, fall-blooming snowdrops, Galanthus 'Potter's Prelude', Geranium 'Rozanne', hardy cyclamen, holly osmanthus, Italian arum, Morris Arboretum, Osmanthus heterophyllus, Pennisetum 'Moudry', Spiraea 'Magic Carpet' on November 15, 2010 by Carolyn @ Carolyns Shade Gardens

This Clematis ‘Warsaw Nike’ decided to produce one final flower in mid-November

Now is the time to walk around your garden and assess what you need to add to make late fall a peak time in your landscape. Do you need more trees and shrubs with brilliant fall color? Could your garden benefit from more plants that bloom later in fall? Make a list and take photographs so that when you are shopping next spring you know what you need and where it should go. As an added benefit, you can enjoy each miraculous discovery like the Clematis ‘Warsaw Nike’ pictured above, which I found during my own fall inventory.

If you need ideas, visit local arboretums and gardens. I always find a trip to the Morris Arboretum near Chestnut Hill, PA, highly inspirational and informative. I have added a permanent category to my sidebar for places to visit and get ideas.

Today is Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day for November (follow the link to see fall photographs from other garden bloggers). Here are a few more highlights from my mid-November stroll through Carolyn’s Shade Gardens:

Fall-blooming Snowdrops ‘Potter’s Prelude’