GNO Gardening magazine January 2019
Camellias By: Chris Dunaway
Evergreen Trees & Shrubs to Plant Now By: Anna Timmerman
Home Citrus Production By: Dr. Joe Willis
Benefits of Compost By: Lee Rouse
January Planting Guide In the Kitchen with Austin Upcoming Events Farmer’s Markets in the GNO Area January Garden Checklist January Lawn Do’s & Don’t’s
A honey bee collects pollen from a Camellia sasanqua ‘Fragrant Fairies’ bush at the New Orleans Botanical Gardens.
Photo by: Chris Dunaway Camellias
f you love plants and appreciate beauty as I do, Sasanqua camellias have dark-green, shiny leaves that then you have undoubtedly noticed the are about 2 inches long, and the shrubs' mature I wonderful collection of camellia flowers on heights range from 2 feet to 12 feet, depending on the display in the area. Tucked variety and growing away in shady hiding spots conditions. The flowers of or even towering over a sasanqua camellias nearby home, camellia typically bloom in plants can bring a welcome Southern Louisiana from splash of color during the October through cold winter in an otherwise December. The blooms are bleak landscape. Healthy usually white or pink, camellia plants also add a about 2 to 4 inches in deep rich green texture to diameter, and can have the garden all year long single or double rows of even when not in bloom. petals. According to Mary Mizell of Japonica camellias are Mizell’s Camellia Hill usually 6 to 12 feet tall, Nursery in Folsom, LA, although they can reach a “There are over 250 known height of 25 feet under species of the genus perfect conditions, and are Camellia which is the largest Photo by Chris Dunaway generally larger than subset in the Theaceae plant sasanquas. Their leaves are family. Some other species Camellia japonica ‘Professor Charles S. Sargent’ also larger than those of of camellias are sinensis, reticulata, vernalis, hiemalis sasanquas, usually about 4 inches long and more and oleifera. Camellia sinensis is the tea plant that is leathery. Japonica camellias begin blooming a bit later used in the production of tea. Camellia reticulata is than sasanquas. Usually starting in December and known for its extremely large blooms. Yuletide is an flowering through February, although the timing can example of Camellia vernalis though it is often labeled vary by variety and environmental conditions. a sasanqua because it shares many of the same Japonicas typically have larger flowers than traits. This is a similar case for the well know Shi Shi sasanquas, up to 5 inches wide and partially or fully Gashira and Kanjiro camellias which are commonly doubled. The flowers are in many colors, including refered to as sasanquas but are actually of the species white, pink, rose, red and mixed red and pink, and Camellia hiemalis. There are plenty of other species of they are lightly fragrant. Japonicas are also a bit the genus but not all are found in the United hardier than sasanquas and do well in U.S. States.” The lines are becoming even more blurred as Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 6 breeders cross species to create new hybrids. Two through 9. species of Camellia are generally available: japonicas Although camellias require very little effort once Camellia j