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Although this could very well be a picture of me finding a new treasure at a favorite nursery, it's actually an illustration by David Catrow for a children's book called Plantzilla.

Thursday, January 10, 2013

Is your Camellia Sasanqua All Wet?

Camellia Sasanquas are the fabulous camellias that bloom in the fall and winter in my climate.  There have been a few blog posts by some of my favorite garden bloggers showing pictures of theirs looking gorgeous.  I love the way they look and am especially fond of C.s. 'Yuletide' which is a beautiful red color and blooms, as it's name suggests, from late November, through Yuletide and keeps going some years until the Camellia japonicas start their show. 
Here is a flower of Camellia sasanqua 'Yuletide'  looking lovely at a local nursery.  I've one in my garden but I planted it in the bright sun this spring only to have some other plants put on a big burst of growth and shade the poor thing out causing it to go on strike bloom wise.  It's on my list of things to move to a sunnier location this spring.

The same nursery also had quite a few plants (Monrovia) labeled "Pink Yuletide Camellia" which is a sport of 'Yuletide.' 
 These blooms appear on a couple of plants that were  in a covered area  where no icky rain would mar the lady's blushing countenance.  She's pretty, soft, simple, innocent, wild rose-like, but  to me the red one is more appealing.
Looking more closely at the tag, one might notice that the real name of the plant is C. sasanqua 'MonDel' and in searching the web, I learned from Monrovia's site that it's also called Pink-A-Boo(the wretching may now commence.)  Monrovia claims that it's wonderfully fragrant.  Maybe if it had been warmer it may have been but I didn't detect a fragrance. 
Having no idea what MonDel might mean, I decided to see if the plant might give me some sort of clue.  The following pictures were taken of plants that were not under cover and rain had been allowed to fall on them.
 One might think that MonDel might be short for  après moi le déluge which, as we all know, means wait until I'm finished blooming before utilizing the sprinkler.
 MonDel might be some fancy scientific word meaning to turn an interesting translucent fawny tan at the mere thought of moisture.

Although the effect of the flowers doing this is kind of interesting up close, from a distance, it looks a little like someone threw browinsh tissue paper on the plants.  Many camellias drop their spent petals to the ground creating a delightful sea of color beneath the shrub; others have a somewhat less charming habit of holding on to their dead brown blooms that get wet and remind me of wet crepe paper(not pretty.)

 Could it be that MonDel is the name of that disease suffered by many gardeners?  If the plant looks dead, is new or expensive,  the sufferer will do all within his or her power to possess the plant, hold on to it until it's out of vogue and then realize that it just looks dead or weird and toss it in the compost heap?

 Probably these plants were fairly new arrivals and the uncovered ones suffered some shock at being shipped to a cooler area.  The slight difference in the covered and uncovered area may have saved the dry pink ladies from fading.  They look like faded plastic flowers in a way.  (Do we all remember plastic flowers?) 

22 comments:

  1. The visions you present are so effective. Brown tissue paper tells us exactly. Camellias are pretty, they don't like our limestone rock soil.

    I remember plastic flowers predated the silk flower explosion. Silk flowers are fascinating additions to the garden, allowing tulips and mums to grace the summer garden with poinsettias blooming on the porch all year.



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    1. Lots of the soil here is rocky, sandy acid glacial till. I'm fortunate to have great soil. Most soil in western Washington is on the acid side of the scale which makes all of our evergreens happy!

      The silk flower garden is always so colorful and is perfect for those who like to practice zonal denial! A quick trip to Michaels can yeild all sorts of exotic foliage as well! Why deal with all those pesky plants that loose their leaves when a silk ficus can brighten even the darkest corner of the garden year round? The other day we drove past some huge plastic palm trees in a parking lot - gotta go back with the camera!

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  2. Thanks for the chuckle this morning! I have heard this criticism many times of Camellias in our area, that the flowers look like used Kleenex because of all the rain. Be careful moving your Yuletide, that's how I killed mine. I've heard since then they don't like to be moved, even if it's to a spot they should like better.

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    1. Always happy to make you laugh! I think that the used Kleenex thing has something to do with the variety of camellia. I have a huge one that I inherited with the yard and it drops petals before they turn brown. If it didn't it would have been gone by now. Thanks for the tip about moving Yuletide!

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  3. Remember plastic flowers? All I have to do is take right turn where I normall take a left (on my doggie walks) and I'm confronted with a garden full of them. It's a lovely sight....

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    1. Wow! You are so lucky. They don't make plastic flowers anymore so your neighbor is simply creating an authentic mid century modern landscape. Think of the quest to find these collectable plastic gems in a sea of silk flowers. I do hope that they are planted in the traditional red lava rock mulch!

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  4. Amaaaazing! I love the MonDel!! All my camellias are spring bloomers but I love the winter blooming varieties!!

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    1. Winter color is good! I'm now thinking of getting some silk flowers to wire onto my shrubs for color 365 days a year;)

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    2. Oh my! Dare I say there is a rather garish display down the street from me. They have year round tulips. Of course they have an ever dulling colour making them look quite like tulips from another dimension. It's certainly a sight to behold.

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    3. See how those tulips catch your eye each time you pass! It must be a good thing.

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  5. Unfair...Those camellias don't like our climate here in Finland... :O(

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    1. It is unfair! On the bright side, you have all that beautiful snow and your harbor is frozen. You can walk on water!

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  6. Funny enough I had a recent conversation with a plantsman about camellias, which apparently is becoming more fashionable again (whatever that means...), in here at least. Wet or not its cheerful to see their blooms so early in the year!

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    1. Because camellias, especially Camellia japonicas, were so widely planted in this area, many gardeners have pulled them out. They are gorgeous in bloom for a month or two (sasanquas bloom even longer) and then they're just a glossy dark green mass for the rest of the year. They take up lots of space or need to be trimmed frequently and snap in half if snow accumulates on their limbs.

      I love them as I'm still fascinated by any broad leaved evergreen and plants that bloom in the winter knock my socks off.

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  7. My 'Yuletide' died. Oddly, there is one growing on the south side of the Goodwill Store in Albany--right out in full, scorching sun. But there is also an automatic sprinkler system. You can learn things by going to Goodwill. For instance, their people are better gardeners than I am.

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    1. Sorry about your 'Yuletide!' Will you try again? Goodwill is full of interesting lessons.

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  8. Lovely images! Nice to see home flowers in January.

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    1. Thanks Linda. Flowers in January are indeed a treat!

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  9. I thought the name Pink Yuletide was bad enough, then you showed the other name. That camellia is in need of a marketing team.

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  10. My favorite camellia is the Yuletide growing on the north side of the Portland Nursery Building at their site on Stark street. I saw that last winter and wondered "what is this gorgeous plant". They informed me it was a Yultide Camellia. The main thing I don't like about Camellias is that they tend to be bushy rather than branching more austerely in a way that looks more natural. But that one at Portland Nursery is scrawny because it is on the shady side of the building. I like that look far better than the more "full bodied" Camellia. I am growing some in my yard but they will get a fair amount of sun so I will have to attempt to use pruning to get that "austere" look.

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  11. It's a beautiful plant and I like it both bushy and austere, depending on the context. Thanks for commenting!

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Thanks so much for taking the time to comment! I love to hear your thoughts.