“Helen, do you really just use kitchen scraps on all your camellias?” I get this question at least twice a year, usually from someone who’s seen a photo of my garden and assumes my 200-plus plants must be thriving on nothing but coffee grounds and good intentions. The honest answer is no. And I’m going … Read more
Last spring, a gardener from North Carolina emailed me a question that stopped me in my tracks. She’d been reading the usual camellia companion-planting advice—the same azaleas and hydrangeas everyone recommends—and asked something wonderfully practical: “What actually grows there in nature, where camellias come from?” It’s a question I’d never been asked directly, but it … Read more
Every spring, someone stops by my patio and asks the same question while eyeing my collection of potted camellias: “Can I plant something else in there with it?” I understand the appeal completely. A 50-litre pot devoted to a single camellia can feel like wasted space, especially when you’re juggling dozens of containers in a … Read more
I was standing at the RHS Garden Show last spring when a gardener approached my display table with the question I hear at least once a month: “Which camellia should I buy—sasanqua or japonica?” She held two plant labels, clearly torn between them, and I smiled. After twenty years growing over two hundred named camellia … Read more
Three years ago, I redesigned a bed around my beloved Camellia × williamsii ‘Donation’. It had become a lonely specimen, gorgeous in February but surrounded by bare earth and the wrong neighbours. I realised then that camellia companion plants weren’t a luxury—they were the difference between a specimen shrub and a garden that sings for … Read more
I spent fifteen years buying camellias labelled “compact” at garden centres, only to watch them sprawl into six-foot monsters that swallowed my borders. That’s when I learned the hard way: camellia sizing is gloriously confusing, and the tag doesn’t always tell you what you really need to know. If you garden in a small space—or … Read more
I’ll never forget the moment at last year’s winter garden society meeting when someone asked me, “Helen, which camellias smell nice?” The room fell silent. Three dozen camellia enthusiasts looked at me expectantly, and I had to deliver news that surprised almost everyone: most camellias don’t smell at all. Their faces fell. It was as … Read more
Five years ago, I made a bold decision. My beloved 15-year-old ‘Donation’ camellia—a sprawling, generous beauty with crimson blooms and a spread of four feet—was casting too much shade over my new tea garden. She needed to move. I remember standing in front of her, pruning shears in hand, wondering if I was about to … Read more
I get the email almost weekly. “Helen, can I grow camellias in Zone 6? I’ve always loved them, but I thought they were off-limits for me.” My answer is always the same: yes—but only if you choose wisely. Most camellias are born gardeners of warm climates. Yet after two decades collecting and growing over 200 … Read more
Last spring, my neighbour knocked on the garden gate looking worried. Her prized Camellia japonica ‘Adolphe Audusson’—a deep red treasure she’d planted two years earlier—was turning yellow. Not dramatically, but in that telltale way between the veins while the veins themselves stayed green. I walked over, looked at the plant, and asked one question: “What’s … Read more
