RE: Camelia

Dear Tim:

Living in sourthern California is living in camellia heaven. With nearby Nuccio's in Altadena as a source, we have access to hundreds and hundredss of camellia varieties. Most old properties come with unindentified camellias which have grown into huge shrubs, hedges or trees. Nuccio's now sells lots of camellias that are suitable for espaliering against a wall - a great way to grow them in a narrow space.

My favorites are the species, singles, semi-doubles with flluted petals and the rose-form doubles. Sassanquas start blooming in September here and are followed by the japonicas which usually start in December. The bloom period often extends to the end of February and into March.

I like:

Camellia sassanqua 'Apple Blossom' with white single flowers brused on the edges with pink
Camellia sassanqua 'Setsugekka' with large white semi-double blooms with fluted petals and
prominent golden stamens
Camellia sassanqua 'Jean May' with rose-form double flowers of pure shell pink
Camellia sassanqua 'Showa-No-Sakae' rose-form fluted petals of blush pink, very full shrub
Lots of people like 'Yuletide' a single orange red one with prominent golden stamens that's in bloom for Christmas and in Christams colors, but I find the orange-red to hard to place in the garden. It
would be great in a container though.

Two popular species in our area area are:
Camellia lutchuensis - tiny bell-like white flowers on an open arching shrub and very fragrant
Camellia saluenensis and its hybrids with small single white, pink and rose blooms

Japonicas I like are:
Camellia japonica 'Magnoliaeflora with medium blush pink semi-double flowers
Camellia japonica 'Herme' a semi-dboule said to be 2000 years old, pink streaked deep pink with white borders

Enjoy your search!

Robin Corwin
Studio City, CA
Zone 9/10, Sunset Zone 21

From: "Gayle & Tim Kalman" <leahdragonfly@earthlink.net>
Reply-To: leahdragonfly@earthlink.net
To: "Plant Forum Mediterranean" <medit-plants@ucdavis.edu>
Subject: Camelia
Date: Tue, 1 Feb 2005 01:03:07 -0800

Dear All,

Camellias. I have ignored and avoided them. My grandmother hybridized many as a hobby, so I rebelled. I felt that there must be other plants out there more worthy of my generations attention. I was wrong. Camellias are wonderful plants and I now embrace them. Though I am having trouble deciding which ones. So out of curiosity, which do you all like? I have a thing for singles as the doubles and such seem like plant monstrosities to me. But what do I know?

Perplexed. Tim Kalman











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