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Some February Camellias


Page Turner

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7 hours ago, Old No. 7 said:

Lovely. I’d like to plant some in our yard. Must look into that. 

...there used to be a ginormous Camellia collection over at the National Arboretum, on Kenilworth Ave in one of the D.C. ghetto neighborhoods I frequented.  It got decimated in a cold snap about 30 years ago, but some of these are more resistant to cold than others. So there are probably survivors.  I imagine someone has been working on breeding more cold resistant varieties in the time since. But cold is not an issue for me here, so I haven't followed those.  I have been more interested in some of the more exotic imports from Japan, like the yellows and such.

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5 hours ago, Dirtyhip said:

So pretty.  Not a good flower for me area.  Reminds me of a gardenia a bit.  

....for years up in the foothills here, I focused on David Austin roses and older rose varieties. 

Probably much more suited to your locale, and some of those old rose plants get pretty huge, so they make good landscape accents.  I had a plant of David Austin'syellow rose, "Graham Nash" that was 8 or 9 feet tall.  And some of the oldest climbers can easily eat your house, if you're not careful.

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6 hours ago, Square Wheels said:

My wife spends a lot of time on flowers.  Currently dahlias.  She'd love to visit your gardens.

...I was just thinking back on the history of my landscape garden in this house, and I remembered that part of the reason it came to be this way is that the guy next door was such a jackass, I wanted something between me and him (and his incessantly barking dog.)  He's dead now, as is the fucking dog, which preceded him to it's reward.  The Camellia's remain, and will outlive me, until someone who wants a backyard swimming pool cuts them all down and digs out the stumps with a backhoe. They are pretty big now.

 

 

 

 

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3 minutes ago, Page Turner said:

....for years up in the foothills here, I focused on David Austin roses and older rose varieties. 

Probably much more suited to your locale, and some of those old rose plants get pretty huge, so they make good landscape accents.  I had a plant of David Austin'syellow rose, "Graham Nash" that was 8 or 9 feet tall.  And some of the oldest climbers can easily eat your house, if you're not careful.

You inspire me. Right now my focus is group cover, bulbs and my veg garden. The deer would probably like the rose idea though. 

As I walked home last night, I have to walk up along side of our property fencing. I could see massive amounts of little quail running around. My feet were following the footsteps of a skunk or raccoon, and I felt so lucky.  I love this place we built here and the property it sits on. We have really great soil. 

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Just now, Page Turner said:

...I was just thinking back on the history of my landscape garden in this house, and I remembered that part of the reason it came to be this way is that the guy next door was such a jackass, I wanted something between me and him (and his incessantly barking dog.)  He's dead now, as is the fucking dog, which preceded him to it's reward.  The Camellia's remain, and will outlive me, until someone who wants a backyard swimming pool cuts them all down and digs out the stumps with a backhoe. They are pretty big now.

 

 

 

 

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Dude!  WOW

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5 hours ago, Kzoo said:

Ummmmm...... do you have a scratch and sniff version you could post?

...scent is pretty rare in the world of Camellia's, but this one is heavily and sweetly scented. The guy who bred it lived down in Fremont somewhere, and spent most of his retirement working on the project.  He named it at the registry "Scentsation".  Which is unfortunate, but it is a wonderful flower except for the name. Somewhat variable in flower form, it can open loosely or more compactly, depending on what I have no idea.

 

 

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11 minutes ago, Dirtyhip said:

You inspire me. Right now my focus is group cover, bulbs and my veg garden. The deer would probably like the rose idea though. 

As I walked home last night, I have to walk up along side of our property fencing. I could see massive amounts of little quail running around. My feet were following the footsteps of a skunk or raccoon, and I felt so lucky.  I love this place we built here and the property it sits on. We have really great soil. 

...yeah, you definitely have to fence roses if you have deer.  For daffodils, try buying something called "Golden Dawn" in bulk.  It was a product of the breeding program at the old "Oregon Bulb Farm".  It's pretty bombproof, and the deer generally don't like them because of the oxalic acid in the leaves.

 

 

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12 hours ago, Old No. 7 said:

Lovely. I’d like to plant some in our yard. Must look into that. 

 

5 hours ago, Page Turner said:

...there used to be a ginormous Camellia collection over at the National Arboretum, on Kenilworth Ave in one of the D.C. ghetto neighborhoods I frequented.  It got decimated in a cold snap about 30 years ago, but some of these are more resistant to cold than others. So there are probably survivors.  I imagine someone has been working on breeding more cold resistant varieties in the time since. But cold is not an issue for me here, so I haven't followed those.  I have been more interested in some of the more exotic imports from Japan, like the yellows and such.

 

...more on this topic of what's hardy in Virginia. Dr. Ackerman took great interest in this topic, and devoted considerable research to it. He devotes some space early in the book to the National Arboretum program, and the varieties that survived there. Presumably they would work for you where you live. "Berenice Boddy", "Chandleri elegans" "C.M. Wilson", and "Dr. Tinsley" were some he mentioned. There are probably others. IIRC his book contains a wealth of information on what exactly is going on with dormancy in the genetics of certain varieties that promotes cold hardiness.  And there are probably newer varieties that sprung from his research of which I'm unaware.  The book itself was an interesting read, just from a plants and gardening aspect.

Beyond the Camellia Belt: Breeding, Propagating, and Growing Cold-Hardy Camellias

 

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5 hours ago, Page Turner said:

...scent is pretty rare in the world of Camellia's, but this one is heavily and sweetly scented. The guy who bred it lived down in Fremont somewhere, and spent most of his retirement working on the project.  He named it at the registry "Scentsation".  Which is unfortunate, but it is a wonderful flower except for the name. Somewhat variable in flower form, it can open loosely or more compactly, depending on what I have no idea.

 

 

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For all the posted flower photos here in this thread Page, are all these camelias in your garden or acreage? Or just 50% of them.  I'm trying to envision the size of  your garden. Clearly you don't want people/strangers tromping around as part of the garden tour..thieves, etc.

They are so  lovely.  Some of these remind me of extreme frills/ruffles on a dress.

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27 minutes ago, shootingstar said:

For all the posted flower photos here in this thread Page, are all these camelias in your garden or acreage? Or just 50% of them.  I'm trying to envision the size of  your garden. Clearly you don't want people/strangers tromping around as part of the garden tour..thieves, etc.

They are so  lovely.  Some of these remind me of extreme frills/ruffles on a dress.

 

...these are all on a standard California 1950's suburban lot, so maybe a quarter of an acre.  It's excellent river bottom dirt, and the water supply is (so far) not an issue. So it's heavily landscaped, with very little lawn remaining from the original design.  Camellia plants can be closely planted, as they need a certain amount of shade in this climate to survive. A lot of them want to be small trees, so grow vigorously if slowly, once established.

When I first moved here, Sacramento marketed itself as "Camellia City", and the annual festival and flower show was a big deal.  That has more or less disappeared as gardening, and flower shows, and stuff like that have been replaced in the popular consciousness.  There used to be very active organizations devoted to Irises, Daylilies, Roses, Camellia's, orchids, Cactus and Succulents. They all had regular meetings and shows, open to the public over at the city owned Shephard Garden and Arts Center.

Most of those older folks are dead or gone now, and they have not been replaced by younger and more vigorous energy, for the most part. When I think about it, I start to think of myself as one of the Four Yorkshiremen.   But I've watched it happen here over the years.  Now we're selling Sacramento as "California's Farm to Fork Capital".  You tell these kids nowadays that people used to grow stuff, just because it was beautiful, and they don't believe you.

There was a wonderful collection of Camellia plants, that had been planted out by the society, over at McKinley Park, that is mostly dead or dying now, because someone who works for the city thought they could just shut off the irrigation one summer, to save on water.  There's a whole Camellia Garden in Capitol Park, and nobody there in the maintenance crew has any idea what the varietal names are.  Apparently there was a map once, but it's been lost since the 1950's. And nobody really cares enough to find it.

A lot of the big, older and well established plants in my neighborhood's front yards, (and there were many,) have been lost to home remodeling for more square footage, or changes in landscaping fashion.  Just how it is.  Flower guys are dinosaurs now. But we were 'appy in those days, although we were poor. :)

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47 minutes ago, Page Turner said:

Most of those older folks are dead or gone now, and they have not been replaced by younger and more vigorous energy, for the most part. When I think about it, I start to think of myself as one of the Four Yorkshiremen.   But I've watched it happen here over the years.  Now we're selling Sacramento as "California's Farm to Fork Capital".  You tell these kids nowadays that people used to grow stuff, just because it was beautiful, and they don't believe you.

There was a wonderful collection of Camellia plants, that had been planted out by the society, over at McKinley Park, that is mostly dead or dying now, because someone who works for the city thought they could just shut off the irrigation one summer, to save on water.  There's a whole Camellia Garden in Capitol Park, and nobody there in the maintenance crew has any idea what the varietal names are.  Apparently there was a map once, but it's been lost since the 1950's. And nobody really cares enough to find it.

A lot of the big, older and well established plants in my neighborhood's front yards, (and there were many,) have been lost to home remodeling for more square footage, or changes in landscaping fashion.  Just how it is.  Flower guys are dinosaurs now. But we were 'appy in those days, although we were poor. :)

Though I appreciate some folks prioritizing use of land for food, it is  your lot and it's not as if you are growing weeds or something dangerous/ugly, etc. Somehow out there in your local area there is a young person or 2 dreaming of learning more and working with beautiful flowers /camelias.  In every generation, there  is always a tiny bunch of people like that. And you're not going to the show because it's not worthwhile anymore/covid, etc.?  Some of it is educating those in an interesting way which unfortunately those public gardens are disappearing because also the knowledge is not being carried forward.

In VAncouver BC the cherry blossom festival has become big with  local events. there is a non-profit organization coordinates this..hence, local appreciation Vancouver's cherry blossoms has expanded over the past 15 yrs. or more.  Cherry Blossom Bouquets, Sharing Obsession – Cycle Write Blog (wordpress.com) I highlighted a book about a British guy who helped perserve some the dying breeds of cherry trees. Rather interesting reading..  City of Vancouver  tries to incorporate planting of some new cherry trees annually.  

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