The little-known versatility of the winter classic camellia | Discovery | Gardening Australia

We’re at Palmwoods on the sunshine coast, north of Brisbane. Set in a mosaic of avocado, custard apples and pawpaw orchards and banana plantations, you’ll find a totally comprehensive collection of plants not typically associated with the subtropics; camellias! Subscribe 🔔 http://ab.co/GA-subscribe
Along with his wife Steph, Darryl Baptie has dedicated the last 23 years of his life to collecting, cultivating and propagating these flowering stalwarts as the owners of Camellia Glen Nursery.

Reigning monarchs of winter flowers, Camellias are a genus of attractive evergreen shrubs that are highly prized for the beauty of their exquisite blooms over winter and their shiny, dense evergreen foliage. Camellias hail from east and south Asia, where they were cultivated for hundreds of years, with tens of thousands of hybrids available today.

Growing Camellias in the Subtropics:
“Contrary to popular belief, Camellias thrive in a wide range of conditions…. they are hardy and trouble-free…they’ll flower their heads off,” says Darryl. “In QLD our weather – that is the issue – they’re flowering in winter and they want it to be cool and dry”.

Most of the myriad of modern cultivars we see today can trace their parentage back to two species of Camellia: Camellia japonica and Camellia sasanqua. Darryl’s tip for growing in the subtropics is to start with a cultivar of Camellia japonica.

“In the subtropics, they flower from May to July. After that, it becomes too hot for the others (that flower later) to flower well. The flowers of Camellia japonica are sensitive to sunlight”.

Depending on the variety you can expect your Camellia japonica to grow anywhere from 1-4 metres and will respond well to pruning. “Put them where they get morning shade, particularly if it’s a double flowering form."

When planting a Camellia Darryl says, “Add gravel and sand to bulk up the planting hole, it assists drainage during extremely wet periods, especially on heavy clay soils or poorly draining soils, so when the added compost has rotted and lost volume, the tree won’t slump.”

For pruning, Darryl says there’s a Chinese proverb that says, “birds should be able to fly through the camellia tree”. For non-philosophers, this means clearing out the centre of the plant to promote airflow and allow sun penetration. Darryl cautions against pruning after December to avoid heat stress.

Cultivars:
These foundational species are hybridised over and over again to create the dazzling array of limitless cultivars gardeners know and love. Darryl says their goal is to "get as many different varieties in people's gardens as we can", and his current count is around 350 varieties.

Seed Sowing:
Camellias are mostly grown from cuttings, to ensure exact copies of the mother plant. But Darryl says it’s more than possible to grow camellias from seed, allowing you to experiment with creating your own varieties. You can take the pollen from one plant that has characteristics that you like (eg double flowers) and deposit it on the receptive stigma of another plant with characteristics that you also like (eg reddish foliage). Wait for the seed to set, cross your fingers and you might end up with a plant that has a combination of both.

Camellia seed ripen at different times depending on variety and location. However, seed generally mature in early autumn. When seed are mature the pod begins to crack slightly, and seed are ready to be picked. Fresher seed will result in better germination

Soak the seed for 12 hours or crack carefully the hard coat to aid in germination. Plant in a good free-draining seed-raising mix. Keep the mix damp over time. Seeds usually germinate in one month if planted immediately after harvesting and can be pricked out and transplanted into containers outside once germinated.

Featured Plants:
CAMELLIA ‘EMPEROR OF RUSSIA’ - Camellia japonica cv.
CAMELLIA - Camellia sasanqua cv.
CAMELLIA ‘VALENTINE DAY VARIEGATED’ - Camellia reticulata cv.
YELLOW CAMELLIA - Camellia petelotii var. petelotii syn. C. nitidissima
CAMELLIA ‘SWEET EMILY KATE’ - Camellia cv.
CAMELLIA ‘WYNNE RAYNER’ - Camellia cv.
CAMELLIA ‘NICKY CRISP’ - Camellia cv.
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