Plant Profile: Camellias - Pretty In Pink

Add a touch of elegance to your garden with these perfectly exquisite blooms

- Tammy Huynh

Few flowering shrubs can evoke the feelings of awe and wonder in us quite like camellias. The highly ornamental blooms, with perfectly arranged petals, flower prodigiously from autumn, breathing life into what can sometimes be a gloomy garden. And when the plant is not in flower, the handsome, evergreen foliage lends itself beautifully to landscape. Allow yourself to fall under the spell and discover their colourful splendour.

CAMELLIA DREAMING

If you were to choose one flowering shrub in your garden, make it a camellia. Their exquisite blooms are available in an extraordinary range of forms, including single, semi-double, semi-formal, formal, formal-double, peony, and anemone forms, which can vary in size from miniature to large. You’ll find them in shades of red, pink and white, or often a combination of colours, and despite their showy nature, they’re fairly low maintenance once established. Collectively known as camellias, there are many different species, with Camellia sasanqua and Camellia japonica (‘Margherita Coleoni’ opposite), being the most common. They mostly thrive in shady areas, and the shiny green foliage brings dark corners to life. According to landscape director Paula Benneian of POD gardens, there’s one to suit every garden situation, too. “Camellias range from groundcovers through to large shrubs, so whether you’re after something low or a feature piece, they have you covered,” she says.