Autumn Carnival / George Adams

   I got this one this fall from Camforest.   Variegated Fall bloomers are rare.  It is also hardy to zone 6 which is an added bonus, since it can be planted in more exposed locations here on LI, and remain completely hardy.

        The plant is very small now, but I look forward to it becoming a big beautiful plant in the future

Bridget`s Fall Camellias / Bridget DeCandido

               Bridget sent me some photos of the Camellias that she has blooming in her yard right now.  
                                                           looks like a nice selection

           

 

Showa-No-Sakae November25th / George Adams

This plant is really nice this year

Autumn Sunrise / George Adams

Showa-No-Sakae/ George Adams

Double Rainbow / George Adams

This has been a really great plant for me so far.  I have had it about 3 years

Fall Season Starts / George Adams

   The Fall Camellia blooming season has begun.   Here`s what I have starting to bloom.

                           

Vase full of Sunburst / George Adams

I needed to prune my Carter`s Sunburst Camellia. Didn`t want to sacrifice the flowers . But think that sooner is probably better, in order to get the plant back on track. So I ended up with a vase full of flowers. Few things are as beautiful as a vase full of big camellia blooms

Dixie Knight / George Adams

Love this one......Amazing rich red with pure white markings

 Think it may not technically be know to be hardy here. But I have had it for two years in a perfect sheltered spot, and it is doing well

Still Going-Korean Fire / George Adams

My Korean Fire plant has put on an impressive show this year. Although it is down to its last flowers. It has been blooming since January ! ............That`s four months !

It didn`t put on the huge show I was hoping for. As it would have ,if all the flowers bloomed at the same time. But 4 months of flowers is pretty cool

Mathotiana / George Adams

October Affair/ George Adams

I am hoping that someday it will bloom like this in the fall

Nuccio`s Pearl / George Adams

Sunnyside / George Adams

I got this one from Nuccio`s . Not sure if it will actually prove hardy here. It did great this year. But this winter was hardly a test.
It is fun to experiment.........unless the experiment fails :( .....we will see

Anita / George Adams

I found this camellia on a mailorder site online. It looks promising, I love red and white variegated flowers, and have been trying to get this striped kind for a while. The plant is too small to plant out yet. But it is supposed to be hardy to zone 7

It`s coming ! / George Adams

Camellia Season is upon us! and it`s EARLY........Yea !

Here is a picture of my Mathotiana . Starting to bloom in mid March.

April In February / Bridget DeCandido

Bridget sent me this photo of her April Blush Camellia. She says that she has been having occasional blooms on her camellias this winter

Korean Fire Tries it again in February / George Adams

My Korean Fire Camellia is blooming once more this winter. I think it will be ok this time. As the temperatures are not supposed to go down to flower killing levels this week

Korean Fire in mid January / George Adams

My Korean Fire plants have decided that they think this is a nice time to bloom. Only problem is , that it is supposed to go into the teens tonight. So I think this is going to be the last of these flowers

Winter Protection Demo

Ok, so this isn`t something that has to be done every year. But for at least the first two years, and maybe three. Until the plant becomes established. Once established camellias are quite hardy.

If nothing else, you should apply a layer of mulch around the base of the plant, to a thickness of 4-6 inches. Be careful not to put it right up against the trunk, and make sure you remove the extra mulch in the spring. The best material is long pine needles, but dry leaves work as well.
Then to take it one step further, you can wrap the plant to help keep the wind off of it. I use black weed block fabric. the fabric type, not the plastic kind. I feel that it blocks the wind better than other alternatives , such as burlap.
First insert a circle of bamboo stakes around the base of the plant. Just outside of the branch spread. Wrap the fabric around and secure it with clothes pins or some other type of clips. metal paper binding clips work very well, but they get rusty

I am experimenting with something to take it even further. On plants that I am particularly worried about. I am putting frost fabric over the top . This will let light is, while completely blocking the wind. But it will also allow for air exchange It will have to be removed in the case of a heavy snow, however.

The photos show each of the three stages of winter protection.