Forrest you are 'da bomb' on these camellias! These just knock my socks off!!

I am sending a Pink Perfection to my kids grandma (ex-MIL) for her birthday. Along with the little handbook on Camellias and a small bottle of gibberelic acid. It should make an addict of her, doncha think?

When you wax these blossoms, do they last for weeks or is it just a few more days than ordinary?

The average for me is about 1-2 weeks. I have found the longevity depends on (1) how fresh the bloom, (2) if you get the wax the right temperature and do it quick, (3) plenty of time for cool down, rolling the bloom all around in the ice water to remove air bubbles, and (4) where you keep or store it. Some varieties last longer depending on the thickness of the petals. A white 'Imura' lasted a whole month, its petals thick and fleshy. If you refrigerate the bloom after waxing, it lasts much longer. Its just fun to experiment. Its a great way to beat the freeze or stretch the season. Even after the bloom starts to turn brown, you can spray it gold or silver for another month or two. People can't believe it is a real flower. If clumsy me can do this, anybody can do it, it is so simple.

Oh by the way, in the bottom picture you can barely see some yellow and blue waxed camellias. They were done by one of our members whose dad gave her an idea, she threw a color crayon into the wax and dipped a white bloom. Neat, huh!

Forrest, do you know the name of the cultivar in the top photo? That's an incredible flower - I really like the white with the red/pink edge. I haven't seen one like that.

MUST HAVE. MUST HAVE!

Hi Dave, that top photo is 'Betty Sheffield Supreme' of which, if you ever see one, buy it. It is hard to find them available retail, but occasionally some of the camellia specialty nurseries have it. Mine is airlayered from someone who had a nice one.

After the waxed blooms turn brown in a few weeks, they can be spray painted gold. Shown below is the same bloom you see in the first post above ('Betty Sheffield Supreme') now over a month old and painted gold. It will last several more weeks like this. The second photo shows two 'Pink Perfections' -- one recently waxed, the other over 5 weeks old and now spray painted gold.

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This is VERY cool! One day I'll give it a try...but for now all I have is my anemone form and I see that it's not recommended