Camellia season is almost upon us here in South East Queensland – so we have been busy tidying our young camellias and making them look as good as possible.
Some need staking upright – and this process means that we take a good look at each plant.
The ‘Elegans’ family, Elegans, Elegans Champagne, Elegans Splendour and Elegans Supreme, as young plants, are often untidy, with short upright growth with invariably a vigorous branch shooting off at right angles, low on the plant.
Elegans Splendour – young plants with a strong branch at right angles
Elegans Splendour – new branches
Tying up the branches can result in them snapping at the trunk.
Another aspect that applies to all camellias is that a young plant may decide to put on a flower bud at a early stage, on the leading growth. Once this happens, the plant puts all its energy into developing the flower and as a result, no new growth will happen – until the following season. Ultimately, both plants will grow away the following season.
Plant on the left has developed a flower bud. The other has put energy into vegetative growth and is much taller.
Hi,
we moved into a house September last year and it has a small tree of red camellia at the front of the house which get sun abit in the morning and more in the afternoon – would you know if it is like to be a sasanquas or japonica knowing that japonica tend not to do well in Brisbane?
Kind regards
Youra
Thanks for the enquiry. If your camellia is flowering now – and it must be for you to know that it is red – it is most likely a sasanqua. Only a few Japonicas are spot flowering at the moment. Japonicas can and do grow quite well in Brisbane when provided with the right conditions ( shade), position (well drained aid soil), and care ( water, mulch, fertiliser, etc).
Btw, sasanquas love the sun.
If you email us a pic of your camellia that will help ID.
Cheers