Plant Profile Camellia
Care, Uses and Best Varieties of Shade Loving Camellias
See how to care for, maintain, and use camellias in the garden. More than beautiful winter flowers and evergreen foliage the camellia has a lot to offer gardeners.
A long-lived evergreen shrub, the Camellia plant is a beloved Southern shrub with graceful blooms that have been enjoyed by gardeners for years. Camellias are well suited for part shade. More than just winter flowers and evergreen foliage the camellia has a lot to offer gardeners including improved cold hardiness!
Botanical and Common Name: Camellias are called by their botanical name.
Hardiness Zones: Camellias are generally hardy to zero degrees (zone 7) but new varieties are being introduced that are hardy even in zone 6, especially with some winter protection. Open camellia flowers can be damaged by frosty temperatures below 15 degrees so plant camellias where plant tissues will have a chance to thaw before being exposed to direct sunlight.
Bloom Time & Color: Camellias often bloom during the cool season, the exact months of blooms varying according to the species. Winter blooms are common and flowers may appear anytime from October through March. Blooms on camellias usually range from pure white to dark red and everything in between. Some camellia cultivars even have multi-colored or variegated flowers! Flowers can be saucer shaped single flowers, double blooms, or a peony form camellia with ruffled double blossoms.
Plant Category: Camellias are woody perennials. Most camellia plants are shrub sized but other compact cultivars produce camellias suitable for ground cover, raised bed or container planting.
Foliage: The foliage of the camellia plant is dark green and glossy adding evergreen interest to the garden.
Growth Habit: Camellias are typically upright or slightly weeping in their growth habit.
Dimensions: Camellias usually grow into full shrub size plants around 6-8’ tall however many cultivars exist with much larger or much smaller sizes. See detailed camellia cultivar information below.
Preferred Conditions: Camellias prefer slightly acidic (Ph 6.0-6.5) and well drained but moist soil. If your garden soil doesn’t currently support the growth of camellias consider using an azalea potting mix in a large container and planting one of the more compact varieties mentioned below so you can still enjoy the graceful charm of the camellia without too much extra work. Camellia foliage will scald in full sun in hot summer weather so dappled shade is best.
Maintenance: Camellias should be pruned immediately after blooms fade as the shrub flowers on spring growth. Fertilize sparingly when new growth appears as camellias are slow growing and over fertilization can decrease the number of flowers. Thick mulch two-three inches thick is helpful as well because camellias are not drought tolerant.
Pests or Diseases: A fungus Glorerella cingulata can cause “dieback”; a problem for some camellias that causes first leaves and then branches to die. Be careful to remove any damaged branches that might give the fungus a place to enter and harm the camellia. The other disease that can harm camellias is root rot and Camellia japonica is the most susceptible species while Camellia sasanqua and Camellia oleifera are more resistant which is why they are sometimes used as the rootstock for grafted cultivars. More detailed information about camellias diseases can be found here.
Propagation Methods: The most effective methods of propagation for camellias are aerial rooting or cutting taken from new growth. Many camellias cultivars are so hybridized now they won’t produce well from seed, however attempting to create your own hybrids through careful pollination can be fun for more advanced gardeners. Some camellias, such as most of the formal double blooming camellias, are sterile and will not produce seed.
Companion Plants: Camellias are shallow rooted so avoid planting near other shallow rooted plants such of maple or birch. They enjoy under story levels of pine woods and can be easily combined with other woodland, acidic loving plants such as rhododendron and azalea.
Seasons of Interest: Camellias provide year round interest. Beautiful flowers, sometimes fragrant, are the jewel of this plant and appear in autumn, winter or early spring depending on the specific cultivar. Camellia foliage is an attractive glossy green that provides winter interest as well since it is evergreen and lasts all year.
Uses in the Garden: Camellias are especially suited to foundation plantings, background planting along a fence or wall, or to adorn the background of a sitting area in your garden.
Varieties & Cultivars: Camellia japonica typically blooms in the spring. Camellia sasanqua tends to flower in the fall with fragrant autumn blooms. Camellia reticulate and C. oleifera tend to flower late winter. Many cultivars and hybrids have been created and some of the best for gardeners are mentioned here.
Camellia japonica ‘Pink Perfection’: A commonly grown camellia, this long time favorite of gardeners produces a long winter season of perfectly double, pink flowers. An heirloom camellia it has been a southern garden feature for over 150 years.
C. japonica ‘Adolphe Audusson’: A deep red camellia whose blooms appear earlier in the spring than other cultivars. 15’x12’ shrub.
C japonica ‘April Dawn’: One of the nicest, semi-double camellia blooms is the pale white and pink variegated flower that appears on this 6’x4’ shrub February through April. An upright, vigorous and cold hardy camellia.
C. japonica ‘Brilliant’: An amazing upright camellia that grows slowly to 10’ but only a couple feet wide and produces amazing, formal double, blood red flowers that are impressive. Can be hard to find now but is worth tracking down for a small garden space since the spread is so narrow compared to most camellias.
C. japonica ‘Yuletide’: A popular red, single flower camellia that is often blooming for Christmas, giving it the name. ‘Yuletide’ is a medium sized camellia shrub.
Camellia hybrida ‘Polar Ice’: A white flowering camellia with 3” flowers that grows 6-8’ tall and is a cold hardy cultivar that can survive to zone 6.
Camellia oleifera ‘Showa-no-Sakae’: This ruffled blossom camellia can be allowed to grow prostrate on the ground or trained up a wall or fence. This camellia is not as cold hardy and should be well protected south of zone 8 or 7b but the flowers are lovely rose-pink and worth the effort if you can grow them.
Camellia sasanqua ‘Chansonette Spreading’: This camellia is a low-growing, cascading form camellia that can be easily grown in a container if your soil is not acidic enough. The bright pink camellia blooms look amazing if planted in mass. Only 3’ tall by 6’ wide!
With over 1,000 known varieties and cultivars anyone who has ever grown these lovely shrubs has a favorite. Join us in the discussion board to share your favorite camellias with us!
