JEWELS OF THE SOUTH

Simple or showy, camellias brighten the winter scene

Astately Southern garden requires camellias.

Ima Hogg knew that when she planned the gracious gardens at Bayou Bend, which include more than 50 varieties of the evergreen shrub. Those camellias have a long history.

Miss Ima started collecting them in the 1930s, said Bart Brechter, Bayou Bend’s curator of gardens. She bought many of them from Edward Avery McIlhenny, the son of the inventor of Tabasco sauce, at his Jungle Gardens estate on Avery Island. He propagated Louisiana native plants and imported plant varieties like the camellia, which originated in Asia.

McIlhenny named one variety ‘Missima,’ which many people mispronounce, Brechter

said. “It’s Miss Ima.”

Buffalo Bayou’s camellias haven’t suffered from the freeze or flood, Brechter said.

And now, while they’re blooming, is the perfect time to plant camellias in your own Southern garden.

There are two common types of camellias. “Sasanquas start blooming in midDecember and continue through January,” Brechter said. “And then the japonicas will start blooming late January through April. It’s quite a long blooming season.”

While Miss Ima’s favorite was the ‘Pink Perfection,’ Brechter favors the showy ‘Leslie Ann,’ a formal double sasanqua with white petals that turn to pink at the tips. “And all the japonicas are pretty to me. We have a tri-color called ‘La Peppermint’ that I like,” Brechter said.

I have long admired Bayou Bend’s camellias. The stunning variety of white, pale pink, deep red and striped blooms open early and take center stage in the winter garden. Some are as simple as an old rose; others are as showy as a peony.

A recent trip to Charleston, S.C., made me think I could grow them in my own yard. In Charleston, everyone grows camellias.

They are a good fit for the Houston home garden, too, Brechter said. “They do need an area that’s not as sunny. And they need to have the crown of the roots system dry, so plant them high.”

He plants them on top of our clay soil and lets them root themselves, packing dirt and mulch around the roots. “Keep them mulched through the summer. The roots should stay consistently moist, but not wet.”

There’s a spot in my backyard bed with filtered sunlight, irises, a few azalea bushes and a bird bath. I may just yet create that Southern garden.

Melissa Ward Aguilar photos / Houston Chronicle CAMELLIAS ARE EARLY BLOOMERS, ADDING COLOR TO THE GARDEN WHEN LITTLE ELSE IS IN FLOWER. CAMELLIA JAPONICA ‘DEBUTANTE’

MOST CAMELLIAS HAVE NO SCENT. AN EXCEPTION IS THE FRAGRANT ‘CINNAMON SCENTSATION’ HYBRID

CAMELLIA SASANQUAS BLOOM DECEMBERJANUARY. CAMELLIA SASANQUA ‘KANJIRO’

Brett Coomer / Houston Chronicle ‘Pink Perfection’ was Miss Ima Hogg’s favorite camellia.