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Enjoy Fragrant Flower in Winter?
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Posted by longriver SF Bay Area (My Page) on Fri, Dec 29, 06 at 1:25
| It is all possible for most gardeners to enjoy the frangrant flowers even in moderate snow country. My camellia starts to bloom now. Some of mine are fragrant ones.
If you follow my general recommendation to make a reasonable accomodation, you should have a good chance to enjoy the fragrant flower in the winter.
There are only a few fragrant camellia cultivars such as High Fragrance, Fragrant Pink, Scentuous, Sweet Emily Kate, Spring Mist etc. You can prune them small and bushy. Camellia is not a strong fragrance producer. You need get close to flower to smell it. Camellia does not stand too cold ice and snow.
You can grow a couple pots in 5 gal container outdoor during warm season. When the weather is getting to freezing. You can move them indoor, to garage or utility area with some light, reasonale humidity and not windy area. If temperature is about 40 to 50 degree F., the plant should feel very comfortable there. If you observe the flower buds are growing larger, You can place one pot first in a room about 65 to 70 degree F. The flower will open and the fragrance will be emerging. I often bring in the fragrant camellia in warmer living room at 68 degrees F yet outdoor can be 45 degrees F. We know the fragrance is actually very weak at outdoor cold temperature.
All other plants and flower are in dormant or survival mode in the winter. Yet Camellias, arranged as I mentioned above, will reward you with shining green leaves, smooth elegant truck and fragrance flower.
I am working continuously to develop new fragrant camellias. My goal is to have nice flower and, good yet different fragrant profile. Here is an ordinary fragrant seedling flower of mine in anemone form.
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Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Enjoy Fragrant Flower in Winter?
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RE: Enjoy Fragrant Flower in Winter?
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- Posted by jview Z7a NY (My Page) on
Fri, Dec 29, 06 at 10:52
| Longriver, Thank you very much for sharing this information and the beautiful picture with us. You make the world more beautiful. Happy New Year. Jerry |
RE: Enjoy Fragrant Flower in Winter?
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Oooh, that is a very pretty camellia. My mother and I went camellia shopping on the 26th and I smelled every camellia he sold. None were fragrant.
Unfortunately, most camellias do not do well with the winter weather we have here. The freezes make their buds drop. This shopping trip we only bought ones whose buds did not drop off with the last freeze we had.
Longriver, do you hybridize them with the intent of selling the seedlings? Or is it just a hobby?
What other winter flowers are there? I am feeling blue from the lack of flowers to check out every day after work. It is a very short trip around the yard when the only plants blooming are winter honeysuckle, winter sweet, and camellias. Maybe I need more camellias like you have! |
RE: Enjoy Fragrant Flower in Winter?
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| cweathersby: I need to know whether you are able to graft the camellia. It is possible you can grow camellia at a sheltered area close to your house. The camellia hates windy location. Most of all, you need to check with your local nursery how to grow camellia in your area. Please let us know. |
RE: Enjoy Fragrant Flower in Winter?
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Longriver,
I have not grafted any camellias yet. But my mother and I learned how to graft them when we visited the camellia nursery the other day. She can graft other plants so I feel sure that she will have sucess grafting camellias. I have a few camellias that are still small enough to graft on, and my mother and I are going to experiment with grafting in March.
The nurseryman went into detail on how to grow camellias in our area. He told me how to grow camellias in a pot, I am planning on growing 2 Shi-Shi Gashiras in pots beside my pond.
Camellias are really easy to grow in our area, there are big huge ones in the old neighborhoods which have not been taken care of in over 20 years. Camellias are one of the few plants that can live through the really hot summers we have without any water ... once they are established. We do not experience winters that will damage the plant, only the buds. The nurseryman convinced me that I should buy some heat retaining cloth to cover the camellias with during the nights that are below freezing so that I can protect the buds. We do not have very many freezing nights so wrapping the plants should be worth it. It hasn't gotten below freezing in weeks.
I have gardened at my house for less than 5 years so my camellias are still really small. I think that there are around 20 that I have planted. There is room for more, especially since there is so much shade. I wish they grew faster because most of the planting I have done in the shady areas of my yard has been to block the views of neighboring houses. Camellias would be great for that job, but it would take many many years. |
RE: Enjoy Fragrant Flower in Winter?
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| I am glad to learn your situation. Then the best way to grow the camellia in your area is to plant it at a proper location in the ground. Please remind me in early March about scions. Then the best way to bring out the fragrance is to cut an open fragrant camellia flower and place it in a vase. After 24 hours in room temperature, the flower will send you the fragrance. Remember camellia flower, unlike rose, will not grow and open the flower bud in the vase. |
RE: Enjoy Fragrant Flower in Winter?
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| what an interesting flower form (somewhat like a chrysanthemum) and beautiful peach color. |
RE: Enjoy Fragrant Flower in Winter?
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| The possibility of new camellias is almost endless. This 9 years old plant, #30 of my fragrant seedling, is blooming now in my living room. The cute flower is measured only 1&1/2 inch in diameter with only a touch of nice fragrance. |
Here is a link that might be useful: [IMG]http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a182/wangjohn666/WF30.jpg[/IMG
RE: Enjoy Fragrant Flower in Winter?
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| It is a shame that the gorgeous camellia has so few fragrant family members. Glad to see you working to change all that. I originally became acquainted with Fragrant Pink when I lived in NY - there is a magnificent collection of camellias at Planting Fields Arboretum in Oyster Bay. In that greenhouse (which is for frost exclusion only) the scent was quite evident in the air. Now that I live in Georgia I have them in my yard, but none are fragrant - I'll have to correct that. Another tree that has fragrant winter blooms is Witch Hazel. The fragrance is not evident until a flowering branch is brought indoors and warms up. Keep up the good work Bruce |
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![IMG]http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a182/wangjohn666/WF14forposting.jpg[/IMG]](http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a182/wangjohn666/WF14forposting.jpg){kind=link}
![[IMG]http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a182/wangjohn666/WF30.jpg[/IMG](http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a182/wangjohn666/WF30.jpg){kind=link}