Just one camellia can give life to a garden

THE superb early flowers of camellias make them one of the best loved garden shrubs. Here’s how to get the best from them.

There was an exceptionally good show of flowers on camellias this spring. And indeed on most flowering plants: forsythia, camellia, magnolia and cherry trees. When the first camellias were imported to Europe from the Far East, they were straight away planted into heated glass houses, in some cases specially built as camellia houses. It was considered then that these plants were far too tender for growing outdoors in northern Europe. The main camellia species are native to parts of China and Japan that are much more sunny and warm than northern Europe. It was considered that camellias would be fine outdoors in southern Europe, as indeed they are.

But it was slowly discovered that camellias can be grown outdoors in this climate too. The reason it took a bit of time to discover is that camellias are not completely hardy. They can be very variable and react differently in different locations and in different seasons. They are much hardier than given credit for but still their old reputation of being tricky to grow has stayed with them. The aura and mystique of being greenhouse plants has contributed to their luxury status. The fact that camellias tend to be relatively highly priced helps this too, but the camellia is a top-notch plant, a true garden classic.

It has superb evergreen foliage, good plant shape and wonderful flowers at a time of year when few other plants come anywhere close to providing such a spectacular show. It flowers as a relatively young plant and lives to a great age. It can make a very large bush or small tree and it can be pruned to reduce its size. It is amenable to training, although it is very rarely trained. Although it requires a neutral or acidic soil, it roots close to the surface and the soil pH can be changed easily enough to accommodate its needs. Over the years, its own litter layer tends to acidify the soil and old plants are usually found to be growing in neutral or acidic conditions.

The three barriers against growing camellias – hardiness, lime-hating and over-fanciness – can all be overcome. There is no problem with hardiness in mild areas. In inland areas, camellias are vulnerable as small plants and can have the bark killed on larger plants in a very cold winter. For this reason, camellias are often grown in the light shade of trees in colder areas. Also they must be grown at the top of a slope, not the bottom where frosty air accumulates. In cold areas, camellias can be planted close to walls too, especially house walls, and they can even be trained on wires on a wall, tying in the longer branches as they grow. The plant can also be grown in a pot or tub and moved under cover in the coldest weather, or even grown indoors in a conservatory or greenhouse, as the first plants were grown. And the most superbly beautiful and perfect flowers are produced on glass house plants.

Grown in a pot or in a greenhouse, it is essential to make sure the plant never dries out but must not be waterlogged either, and liquid feeding every month of the growing season will ensure a good flower set.

If the soil is limey, it is a relatively easy matter to dig in two or three barrowfuls of rotted leaves or pine needles before planting, packing the soil of a square metre or so with acidifying organic material and leaving it slightly raised. Sulphate of iron could also be added to acidify the soil using about 500 grams per square metre. In subsequent years, the plant can be mulched with rotted leaves and the soil will acidify even more. The camellia’s own leaves, when shed, are slow to break down but make a rich, acidic mulch on the soil surface. As regards being too fancy, the camellia is showy and stylish but it fits into any garden very well. A single plant will ‘lift’ a whole garden.

The best varieties for Irish conditions are the williamsii hybrids, such as ‘Donation’, (bottom, above) ‘Inspiration’, ‘Anticipation’, ‘JC Williams’, ‘St Ewe’, (centre) ‘Debbie’ (top) and the very hardy ‘Brigadoon’. These require less summer sunshine and warmth to set masses of flower buds than the Japanese camellias but some of the latter are good too, such as ‘Adolphe Audusson’ and ‘Jupiter’. The flowering period for all camellias lasts several months. Some flower before the year-end but most come into flower in early spring and last until early summer in most cases. Frost can damage a set of buds and especially the open flowers, but there are usually plenty more buds to follow. Watch out for superb camellias in flower in the coming weeks.