Sasanqua Camellias
Need a little excitement in your winter garden?
Plant a row of sasanqua camellias and you'll get a succession of delicate flowers blooming from late fall through winter.
These camellias brighten up our landscapes at a time when most other flowering plants are still sleeping. Able to tolerate more sun that the more common Camellia japonica, a sasanqua can be used in a wide number of garden spots.
Sasanquas can be planted as a hedge, as a screen, as an espalier, as ground cover, in containers, and can be shaped into bonsai. In my own garden I have a beautiful, semi-bonsai sasanqua on the path to my front door. It's lovely when it blooms, but I like it almost as much the rest of the year. Because my unnamed cultivar has a graceful shape and dark green,shiny leaves, the plant is attractive with or without flowers.
There are innumerable cultivars of C. sasanqua available today. You can find Setsugkka,' an up right grower with white blossoms, Show a Supreme,' a sprawling type with pink flowers, and Dwarf Shishi,' a compact, bushy plant with rosy red blooms that is suitable for containers or patios. Many shades of flowers within each group can be found, from white top ink to red.
Last year I added four low- growing sprawling sasanquasto my hillside garden. One of the new camellias is tucked in a spot where marauding animals love to dig.They have disturbed the plant several times trying to find hidden treasures in the soil. Each time it happens, I push the roots back down and say a few comforting words. I've placed chicken wire around the spot to deter the critters. The plant is still alive but I don't see flower buds forming this fall.
The sasanquas on the hill blend harmoniously with other evergreen foliage and then make their bright floral statement in early December. Just as they finish blooming, the larger japonica bushes behind begin their flowering cycle.
An even more dramatic use of sasanquas is as a ground cover. A large front garden in Altadena has the most beautiful spread of C. sasanqua I've ever seen under a spreading oak tree. The owners must have purchased several dozen plants at the beginning, but over the years they've saved plenty. Camellias need considerably less water than grass and certainly require less time from a gardener. The added benefit is the dramatic coating of pink bloom every winter.
Pasadena gardener Eugenie Schuleter treasures a hedge of sasanqua camellias along her driveway. Apple Blossom' is an early bloomer and begins sending out flowers early in September. The soft pink blooms with creamy centers continue arriving until November.
“I love seeing the flowers open just as the weather cools down, Schuleter said. “The planting is much more rewarding than an ordinary box hedge. Even though it's taken 10 years for the hedge to fill in to six feet,it's worth it because in the fall, it's so gorgeous.”
Altadena camellia grower Julius Nuccio recommends Kanjiro,' an upright hot-pink or Dwarf Shishi' for gardeners who are new to sasanquas. These are fail-safe plants that can put up with plenty of sun and don't need much pruning.
“But all sasanquas are reliable given the right culture,” Nuccio added. “We sell hundreds of Show a Supreme' because it's so easy to grow.” For more experienced gardeners, Nuccio also likes Double Rainbow,' with a white center androsy pink border.
Camellia sasanqua is a native of Japan where it has been cultivated for centuries. It can be found growing as a shrub or small tree on the islands of southern Japan near the
coast in relatively dry, well-drained soil. Unlike the larger C. japonica we're used to cultivating, sasanqua foliage is dense and twiggy. The leaves are small and leathery with finely toothed leaf margins.
In Japan C. sasanqua was as popular as the larger C. japonica, but it took an extra 150 years for western gardeners to learn to appreciate the beauty of this species.
Almost all varieties of C. sasanqua are scented, according to camellia books, but I can't honestly say that I've noticed. I just pulled off the second blossom of the season from my potted bonsai camellia and although I sniffed hard trying to find a fragrance, I couldn't get any more than a generic flower scent.
When the petals of C. sasanqua fall after their few days of glory, they form a colorful carpet at the foot of the bush. In Japan, a carpet of camellia blooms on the ground is thought to be as beautiful as the flowers on the plant. If you want to encourage this floral effect, make certain the ground below the plants is relatively bare, otherwise the blooms will fall into ground cover and be lost to view.
If you're adding sasanquas, decide on a spot when the plants will get plenty of light. Most sasanquas will take full sun. They will thrive in a half-sun situation as well. But, Tom Nuccio cautions, “if you have a very shady spot, pick a japonica rather than a sasanqua.”
As if C. sasanqua didn't have enough to recommend it,Nuccio also reminds gardeners that they are perhaps the most versatile of the camellia family. They aremore relaxed in style that the larger species, and they grow faster as well.
Sasanquas don't need pruning but will accept it. I've never bothered to fuss with my plants except to remove an occasional branch. The beautiful sasanqua near my doorway shaped itself over the years, as if it knew that it was becoming so beautiful that I would have to show it off.
If you want to learn more about camellias, the Southern California Camellia Society welcomes visitors to their meetings at the Los Angeles County Arboretum in Arcadia. They meet on the fourth Thursday of each month, October through April. Meetings begin at7:15 p.m.
No plant in your garden will deliver more benefits than C. sasanqua. Decide on colors and shapes now,while nurseries have blooming plants in stock. Or head up to Altadena to find a really big selection.Nuccio's Nursery grows more than 40 cultivars of C.sasanqua. This camellia, like other species, is dormant while in bloom so right now is a perfect time to add it to your landscape.
Plant a row of sasanqua camellias and you'll get a succession of delicate flowers blooming from late fall through winter.
These camellias brighten up our landscapes at a time when most other flowering plants are still sleeping. Able to tolerate more sun that the more common Camellia japonica, a sasanqua can be used in a wide number of garden spots.
Sasanquas can be planted as a hedge, as a screen, as an espalier, as ground cover, in containers, and can be shaped into bonsai. In my own garden I have a beautiful, semi-bonsai sasanqua on the path to my front door. It's lovely when it blooms, but I like it almost as much the rest of the year. Because my unnamed cultivar has a graceful shape and dark green,shiny leaves, the plant is attractive with or without flowers.
There are innumerable cultivars of C. sasanqua available today. You can find Setsugkka,' an up right grower with white blossoms, Show a Supreme,' a sprawling type with pink flowers, and Dwarf Shishi,' a compact, bushy plant with rosy red blooms that is suitable for containers or patios. Many shades of flowers within each group can be found, from white top ink to red.
Last year I added four low- growing sprawling sasanquasto my hillside garden. One of the new camellias is tucked in a spot where marauding animals love to dig.They have disturbed the plant several times trying to find hidden treasures in the soil. Each time it happens, I push the roots back down and say a few comforting words. I've placed chicken wire around the spot to deter the critters. The plant is still alive but I don't see flower buds forming this fall.
The sasanquas on the hill blend harmoniously with other evergreen foliage and then make their bright floral statement in early December. Just as they finish blooming, the larger japonica bushes behind begin their flowering cycle.
An even more dramatic use of sasanquas is as a ground cover. A large front garden in Altadena has the most beautiful spread of C. sasanqua I've ever seen under a spreading oak tree. The owners must have purchased several dozen plants at the beginning, but over the years they've saved plenty. Camellias need considerably less water than grass and certainly require less time from a gardener. The added benefit is the dramatic coating of pink bloom every winter.
Pasadena gardener Eugenie Schuleter treasures a hedge of sasanqua camellias along her driveway. Apple Blossom' is an early bloomer and begins sending out flowers early in September. The soft pink blooms with creamy centers continue arriving until November.
“I love seeing the flowers open just as the weather cools down, Schuleter said. “The planting is much more rewarding than an ordinary box hedge. Even though it's taken 10 years for the hedge to fill in to six feet,it's worth it because in the fall, it's so gorgeous.”
Altadena camellia grower Julius Nuccio recommends Kanjiro,' an upright hot-pink or Dwarf Shishi' for gardeners who are new to sasanquas. These are fail-safe plants that can put up with plenty of sun and don't need much pruning.
“But all sasanquas are reliable given the right culture,” Nuccio added. “We sell hundreds of Show a Supreme' because it's so easy to grow.” For more experienced gardeners, Nuccio also likes Double Rainbow,' with a white center androsy pink border.
Camellia sasanqua is a native of Japan where it has been cultivated for centuries. It can be found growing as a shrub or small tree on the islands of southern Japan near the
coast in relatively dry, well-drained soil. Unlike the larger C. japonica we're used to cultivating, sasanqua foliage is dense and twiggy. The leaves are small and leathery with finely toothed leaf margins.
In Japan C. sasanqua was as popular as the larger C. japonica, but it took an extra 150 years for western gardeners to learn to appreciate the beauty of this species.
Almost all varieties of C. sasanqua are scented, according to camellia books, but I can't honestly say that I've noticed. I just pulled off the second blossom of the season from my potted bonsai camellia and although I sniffed hard trying to find a fragrance, I couldn't get any more than a generic flower scent.
When the petals of C. sasanqua fall after their few days of glory, they form a colorful carpet at the foot of the bush. In Japan, a carpet of camellia blooms on the ground is thought to be as beautiful as the flowers on the plant. If you want to encourage this floral effect, make certain the ground below the plants is relatively bare, otherwise the blooms will fall into ground cover and be lost to view.
If you're adding sasanquas, decide on a spot when the plants will get plenty of light. Most sasanquas will take full sun. They will thrive in a half-sun situation as well. But, Tom Nuccio cautions, “if you have a very shady spot, pick a japonica rather than a sasanqua.”
As if C. sasanqua didn't have enough to recommend it,Nuccio also reminds gardeners that they are perhaps the most versatile of the camellia family. They aremore relaxed in style that the larger species, and they grow faster as well.
Sasanquas don't need pruning but will accept it. I've never bothered to fuss with my plants except to remove an occasional branch. The beautiful sasanqua near my doorway shaped itself over the years, as if it knew that it was becoming so beautiful that I would have to show it off.
If you want to learn more about camellias, the Southern California Camellia Society welcomes visitors to their meetings at the Los Angeles County Arboretum in Arcadia. They meet on the fourth Thursday of each month, October through April. Meetings begin at7:15 p.m.
No plant in your garden will deliver more benefits than C. sasanqua. Decide on colors and shapes now,while nurseries have blooming plants in stock. Or head up to Altadena to find a really big selection.Nuccio's Nursery grows more than 40 cultivars of C.sasanqua. This camellia, like other species, is dormant while in bloom so right now is a perfect time to add it to your landscape.
Technorati TAGS:
posted by Davor Novakovic @ Saturday, November 19, 2005
0 comments
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home