Margaret Thornhill 
Last spring, I walked out to check on my ‘Donation’ camellia — a gorgeous Williamsii hybrid I’ve babied for six years in my Zone 8a garden — and stopped dead in my tracks. Half the leaves had turned a sickly, washed-out yellow overnight. My stomach dropped. I’d seen camellia leaves turning yellow before, but never … Read more
Every February, my neighbor stops at the fence and asks the same question: “Helen, how on earth is that thing blooming in winter?” She’s pointing at my Camellia japonica ‘Nuccio’s Gem,’ its pristine white double blooms completely unbothered by frost. I love that question. It leads perfectly into the thing camellia enthusiasts get asked most … Read more
A few winters ago, I stood at my garden gate staring at what I was convinced was a dead camellia. We’d had a brutal cold snap — temperatures dropped to 0°F overnight — and my beautiful ‘Korean Fire’ had turned every leaf crispy brown. I nearly dug it out. Instead, I waited. By late April, … Read more
The first time I spotted a variegated camellia in full bloom, I actually stopped walking mid-path and just stared. It was a cold February morning in my Zone 8a garden, and there it was — ‘Desire,’ a Camellia japonica with petals so perfectly striped in deep rose and white that it looked almost painted. That … Read more
If you’ve ever stood in front of a camellia in full bloom and felt genuinely confused about what you were looking at, you’re not alone. Understanding camellia bloom forms was something I struggled with for the first few years of growing them seriously. I remember bringing home what I thought was a peony-form camellia from … Read more
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
