Great, the spring comes earlier at your place
than my back yard. My april dawn is still in
dormancy. I am at the northern border of Z6B,
so I think you are at least in Z7.

Is the Winter over? I doubt.

What a difference a couple of exits make!

Definitely get a picture if you can.

It's a beautiful camellia from the pictures I've seen. I hope you photograph it and make it available for all to see.

Our camellia "Springs Promise" is blooming now after a rough start with the cold weather in late December. With the cold weather coming back I hope it continues to bloom. There's a photo of it on my blogsite (blatant self promotion):

http://plantsnrocks.blogspot.com/

and
http://plantsnrocks.blogspot.com/2004_12_01_plantsnrocks_archive.html

It's tough trying to grow camellias in central NJ z6. We have the plant in the most protected area next to the house away from the wind and it gets a bit of added heat from the dryer vent but the plant barely makes it. We've lost a couple of others and I managed to save a Camellia sasanqua "Marti" but it was shocked because of the die back from the cold and hasn't even set buds yet after two years. Here's a photo of what is should look like: http://www.plantsbydodd.com/camellias/sas-marti.html

Must be nice living in zone 7!

I'm afraid to try camellias and the hardier fall bloomers don't really appeal to me - they look like they should bloom in spring!

But we do have the wintersweet blooming here in 6b, and my neighbor's witch hazel is doing nicely.

I do not know how to post pictures on photobucket. Normally the April series bloom in April. This year was at least 2 months earlier than the last two years.

Yes I am in Zone 7; because of large trees it is relatively less windy than in more exposed locations

pontesmanny

It's very simple but first you must open an account. It's free.

Then you can name your album - "Create".


Then hit the Browse button in the Add Pictures frame. Select and open your picture. Add a description if you like but you can do that later. Hit the Submit button and wait a moment for the pic to upload. The screen will refresh and you should see your pic appear on the page.

Under your picture will be three fields labeled 1) Url 2) tag and 3) Img. You are interested in the code in the URL field.


Copy the entire url field and paste inside your message. You will just see code at first but when you preview your message, you will see the image. If the image is too large, you can resize it afterward using the edit button above the image. But if you resize it too small, you can't go back. If you delete it, you break your link to the post so best to resize first.


If you want to show a thumbprint image only so someone with a dialup browser could decide whether or not they want to take the time for the pic to download, do the following:

1) check off the file, next to the file name under the picture.

2)Scroll down to the bottom of the page. Just above the blue bar you will see a field that says "Please Select Action" and a "Go" button next to it. Drop down the menu there and select the action "Generate Html and img code"

3) Click the "Go" button.

4)The page will refresh and you will have a selection of 5 different codes. I always select the first one labeled "HTML clickable thumbnails for Ebay, Livejournal, MySpace, etc. - recommended" Copy the code in this field and paste in your message. Again it will show up on the preview if correct. I always delete the center coding by retyping left inside the brackets or erasing it all together.

Give it a try or if not, I could post them for you.

Don't be afraid of spring blooming camellias. There are quite a few that can go into Z5, if protected. I am growing Kumasaka - the buds are pushing and getting fat. It will probably bloom next month...can't wait. April Blush, April Snow, Springs Promise and Luan Snow are all hardy.

Now I am looking at April Tryst because of this article.

Here is a link that might be useful: Camellia Cultivar Evaluation

Hi, Loretta.

I did similar search before I made my choice.
If you see the differece of flowers
between April Dawn and April Tryst, you will
see why I choose Aprile dawn. 8-)

This link provides pic. for rough comparison:
http://www.camforest.com/camellia.htm

I actually don't find one more beautiful than the other. I like the anemone form and the dark color. There is a good chance I will end up with both in the end. And I still haven't ruled out Winter Rose.
A family member has April Dawn in the next town and she hasn't gotten much off it yet. It's been in for two winters now. I am waiting to see what she gets this year. If she has a good year, this being her third spring with it, I will get it. So far it really hasn't filled in much but she might have too much sun.


On the hellebore forum, I found out Pine Knot Farms is having a special hellebore day the last Saturday in February and the first Saturday in March. Plants Delight is also having one in conjunction. They also mention Camillia Forest is nearby. It is so tempting! It might be worth the hotel bill. It's in Virginia.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pine Knot Farms

Kumasaka is one of the latest to bloom in my garden and has shown almost no browning of the buds. The foliage has also proven to be quite hardy.

pontesmanny

That's the one I passed up at Home Depot two years ago for $8. I keep going back, hoping to see it again.

Ooooh, I'd love to try camellias - I think we have the perfect location: well-drained acidic soil, dappled shade in summer, a few good spots protected from winds, slightly moderated temperatures winter & summer due to proximity to the water (but no salt spray).

Can anyone suggest any good sources?

Diane

I have bought 9 camellias from Fairweather Gardens - they are about 40 minutes from my home.

Camellia 'Marti' is tender here as well. Camellia forest has varieties for zone 6. C. sasanqua 'Sparkling Burgundy' (7-a) is loaded with deep pink flowers in early fall. One of my favorites.

Diane,
I think you will find camillia at most of the nurseries now.

As on the title, my April Down start blooming today,
about 2 months later than pontesmanny's. The last winter is
not bad, all my newly planted camellias are fine. The
April down got some brown tone on leaves, but not serious.
From last fall, about 30% buds are lost, others are fine
and the first one is open today. The flower is beautiful.

OK well now we are in business. Went to Fairfield Gardens today and they got in some very nice camellias. After some hard looking, I ended up with April Snow and April Remembered. They did have April Dawn, April Tryst, April Rose and several others in the April series as well as Betty Sette (might go back for that one) and Meredith. They are all $40 ($39.99).

I went with April Snow and April Remembered because they looked really well side by side. They both have an upright growth and beautiful glossy foliage.
April Tryst was in bloom and I have to concede that I leaned toward April Dawn but I wouldn't kick April Tryst out of the garden bed. ; )

Only one of my buds opened on February 1 and after a week or so the flower froze when temps dipped below 25 degrees. The next bud opened about 10 days ago and another opened yesterday. Not yet peak bloom.

None of the other Spring bloomers have yet flowered. Bud production was very limited because of the dry weather in early Fall. Camellias are quite drought tolerant wrt foliage but lack of water during the bud formation period can seriously diminish bloom!

pontesmanny

April Blush is the one I picked up, not April Remembered. Can't believe that some critter already bit to pieces the open flower on April Snow.
Have any of you used Wilt Pruf to winterize your camellias? I am thinking of doing this.

I don't use Wiltpruf on many things; mulch usually works well for me. However if I were in an exposed area I would. Squirrels will bite off many Camellia buds. Squirrel overpopulation can be remedied.

some people say squirrels are good eatin.

i used to enjoy the little critters (in my yard not in my pot) and then i began to garden. now the little critters are on my bad side. my neighbor caught 8 already.

he doesn't eat them. he drives them miles away and releases them.

Loretta, do you mean Fairweather Gardens? Did you need an appt? What size plants did you get for $40? I like 'April Dawn' 'April Rose' 'April Snow' of the zone 6 "April" series. How much shade do they like?

No, they are at Fairfield Gardens in Fairfield right on 46 West. No appt nec. Good pickings right now as they just came in. Look under the pavillion on the left side away from the building. The plants I bought are about 30" and well branched out, each with 3 main stems and a few flowers. April Dawn was a little smaller and thinner than the plants I got but still bigger than the ones I saw at the Fairweather Gardens open house. The April Dawn I almost bought at Fairweather was a total of two stem, no branches but it was cheaper too.
Obviously I haven't successfully grown camellias yet but I understand they require much the same as azaleas and rhodies. Winter shade and protection is always stressed to protect from winterburn and desiccation.

Hmmm, maybe time for a road trip to northern NJ. Thanks for the tip!