Margaret Thornhill 
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
A few winters ago, I cracked open a fat, ripe seedpod from my Camellia japonica ‘Adolphe Audusson’ and held three dark brown seeds in my palm. My husband asked what I was planning to do with them. “Something slow,” I told him. That moment is really the best way I know to introduce the topic … Read more
The first time I tried growing camellias in clay soil, I nearly gave up on the whole endeavor. My beloved ‘Professor Charles S. Sargent’ — a rich crimson double japonica I’d been coveting for years — sat sulking in a waterlogged bed for two full seasons before I finally admitted the problem wasn’t the plant. … Read more
Every spring, I walk my garden and do what I call my “mulch audit.” Last April, I crouched down beside my ‘Nuccio’s Jewel’ japonica and scooped up a handful of the material around its base. It smelled earthy, felt loose and crumbly, and the soil underneath was a deep, rich chocolate brown. That bed gets … Read more
Last spring, I watched my prized ‘Nuccio’s Gem’ japonica sulk through an entire bloom season. The flowers were sparse, the leaves pale yellow-green, and no amount of fertilizer seemed to help. After years of growing camellias, I should have tested the soil first. When I finally did, the pH read 7.2 — far too alkaline … Read more
Years ago, I nearly lost a prized ‘Donation’ camellia — a stunning Williamsii hybrid I’d waited three years to bloom — because the soil pH was completely wrong. The leaves turned yellow. Growth stalled. She sulked in that border for two whole seasons before I figured out what was happening. That experience taught me everything … Read more
