Every October, I walk out to my back garden with a cup of coffee and stop dead in my tracks. The sasanquas are blooming. While my neighbors’ gardens are winding down, fading into rusty hydrangeas and spent daylilies, my garden is absolutely electric with color. That moment never gets old, even after twenty-plus years of … Read more
I almost walked past it. That’s the honest truth. I was at a specialty nursery in coastal Georgia about fifteen years ago, and there it was — a camellia in full bloom, flowers the size of my outstretched hand, petals the color of a flamingo at golden hour. The label read Camellia reticulata ‘Captain Rawes.’ … Read more
Last October, I walked out to my back border just as the morning fog was lifting, and stopped dead in my tracks. ‘Survivor,’ my big Sasanqua, had opened overnight into a blaze of soft shell-pink blooms that practically glowed in the grey light. In that moment, I remembered exactly why I became obsessed with pink … Read more
A few years ago, I squeezed one more camellia into my already-crowded Zone 8a garden by stuffing a dwarf camellia variety into a large terracotta pot on my back patio. That single experiment changed how I think about growing camellias entirely. Small-space gardeners, container enthusiasts, and anyone who assumed camellias were strictly for sprawling landscapes … Read more
A few years ago, my neighbour knocked on my gate and asked why my garden looked so private and lush while hers felt exposed to the street. I pointed to the dense wall of glossy green foliage running along my eastern boundary and said, simply, “camellias.” She looked genuinely surprised. Most people think of camellias … Read more
Some of my most treasured garden moments happen in February, when everything else looks dead and grey. I walk out into the cold morning air, coffee in hand, and there they are — white camellia varieties glowing like lanterns against the dark foliage. Nothing else in my garden does that. Nothing else even comes close. … Read more
People always assume camellias are purely visual plants. I used to think the same thing — until a spring morning about fifteen years ago, when I walked past my Camellia lutchuensis hybrid and stopped dead in my tracks. The scent hit me like a warm breeze carrying something between jasmine and honey. That moment completely … Read more
Every autumn, my neighbor stops at my fence and asks the same question. “How do you have flowers already? Mine don’t bloom until spring.” She grows a gorgeous Camellia japonica. I’m standing next to a wall of Camellia sasanqua blooming its heart out in October. That single conversation captures the essence of the camellia sasanqua … Read more
Every January, my neighbor stops at my fence and asks the same question: “Helen, what on earth is blooming in your garden right now?” The answer is almost always a red camellia japonica. There is something almost defiant about a deep crimson flower opening in the dead of winter, when everything else looks grey and … Read more
If you’ve ever stood in front of a camellia in full bloom and thought, “I need that in my garden” — this complete guide to growing camellias is exactly what I wish someone had handed me thirty years ago. I killed my first two camellias before I figured out what they actually needed. Wrong soil, … Read more
