During the holidays I had some red Camellia's blooming and was able to mix some Christmas greenery with a few blooms for a few wee arrangements scattered around my house.
Of course, I had to change the blooms every couple of days since they are not a long lasting bloom but I feel that the wee arrangements added so much to my Christmas decorations.
Now into January I have even a wider selection from which to choose. I wish I could remember the names of all of them but some of them have been planted for 30 years. I planted many when we first built our home and that was 31 years ago.
With Camellia's you often cannot get a long enough stem for a larger flower arrangement and the stems are not very sturdy so I enjoy floating them in glass containers as I have done here. Just a few blooms floating for a small side table.
My favorite Camellia is one which was my mother's favorite, Pink Perfection. Of course, that was one of the first to be planted in my garden. I have two little silver vases sitting in my kitchen window and when they are in bloom I always cut them to go in these little vases. Since I spend most of my day in the kitchen I can always look at them and remember my mother with fondness. She too had a fondness for gardening as I do.
If you live in an area that can grow Camellia's I would highly recommend that you plant some if you don't have them already. They require very little care and bloom when nothing else will during the winter months. When the temperatures do go below freezing as it will in our area the low temperatures will sometimes burn the edges of the bloom but will not kill the plant. They do tolerate some very low temperatures. The one below has been in my garden for about 15 years so you can see that they can grow quite tall but always share their lovely blooms on lower limbs.
I hope you have enjoyed me sharing one of my favorite plants, The Queen of the Southern Garden, the Camellia.Thank you for visiting my blog and please do come again.
It sure was nice seeing some beautiful blooms on a cold day in January. Sure miss my garden during the winter months! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteHow beautiful your camellias are, Carolyn. I enjoyed going into the Camellia House at the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis during the winter months when we lived there. Thank you for sharing these lovely pictures and your memories of your Mother.
ReplyDeleteFrancie
I envy you your camellias! They are so pretty! And I especiallly like the pink one!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful Carolyn. Thanks for sharing your memories too ~
ReplyDeleteI would love to be able to grow camellias. They are so beautiful!
ReplyDeleteI adore Camellias, esp. as we never had any up North! What a treat to have such color all winter long (here in N.C.)!
ReplyDeleteI agree that your camellias add something very special to the Christmas scene at your house. We will have camellias blooming here in March - possibly as early as late February. They are truly gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteI dont have any in the new house but that will be remedied this year. They are in bloom all over Atlanta and they are to die for. Although I prefer the red ones, that light pink one is so dainty and so fragile looking...just like the Lady of the Camellias! Beautiful, you are so lucky to have 30 year old plants, I have to start from scratch!
ReplyDeleteCamellias..probably the reason I moved to Georgia! I just love them and the fact that they appear in winter is astounding; then again it is never really winter in the south.
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