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Gardening With Dora
The camellia that will be in full bloom in another month or so is Camellia japonica. Most of us don't worry so much about this fine hair that we're splitting and just lump them all together and call them all either "Japonicas" or "Sasanquas" or simply "Camellias." To further murk up the water there is another camellia family, Camellia senensis. Leaves from this group of plants provide the world with tea. We don't embrace this one as an ornamental, but leave it to the tea farmers to grow it commercially. The sasanquas are a little smarter than the japonicas. Sasanquas set their flower buds in late summer and are finished with the blooming display long before the first hard freeze. The japonicas are just now getting enthusiastic about flower bud formation, and along about January are likely to find themselves with a mulch of little frozen, unopened buds at their base. Both these species like moist, acidic soil. Each shrinks from the north wind and like to be heavily mulched. Fertilize them both in spring with a fertilizer formulated for acid-loving plants. (Azalea fertilizer works well.) Epsom salt will increase bloom size and number. Camellias can be severely pruned if they get out of hand. Wait until after they have finished blooming before you cut them back. Camellia blooms are glorious and are the reason we plant this shrub in the first place. The blooms on C. japonica are huge. The colorful petals are waxy and furled with prominent yellow stamens in most. The selection of bloom type seems endless ^ singled, doubles, variegated. Anything you can do to combinations of red and white is available. The sananquas have smaller leaves than the japonicas and this affords them more tolerance to full sun. The blooms on sananquas are smaller, but the range of flower configuration and colors are just as varied. Blooms on both these plants are too heavy for cut flowers. They cannot be encouraged to sit upright and will stare steadfastly down at the tabletop. They only last a day or so before they give it up and plop off. The only sensible way to display camellia blossoms is to float them in a dish.
This means, of course, that they can only be enjoyed standing up.
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