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
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
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
Every November, my neighbor stops at the fence and stares at my garden like I’ve broken some rule of nature. “How are those still blooming?” she asks. Honestly, I never get tired of that question. Designing a camellia garden that flowers for six consecutive months didn’t happen by accident. It took years of planning, a … Read more
Every spring, I get some version of the same question in my inbox: “Helen, can you root camellia cuttings in water, like you do with pothos or coleus?” I completely understand the appeal. Water propagation looks magical on social media. You stick a cutting in a jar, set it on a sunny windowsill, and watch … Read more
