Everlasting beauty and versatility of camellias

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The columnist regards this Japanese camellia, which he stumbled upon recently at a nursery in the city, as ‘a wonderful addition’ to the one he already has at home.

OUT of the blue, I recently came across the gorgeous Japanese Camellia (Camellia japonica) at a nursery in Kuching City — a rare two-foot tall live plant bearing red flowers, in a polybag!

To me, this would be a wonderful addition to what I already have – a flowering Camellia azalea that was bought from a nursery in Matang some five years ago. It blooms every now and then, and the flowers can last about one month. It has become a treasure in my home garden.

Camellia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Theaceae, comprising over 20 species.

They originated in eastern and southern Asia, covering from Japan and Indonesia.

The name took after that of a Jesuit and botanist, Georg Kamel.

In particular, Camellia japonica (the name was coined by Carl Linnaeus in 1753) is known as the common camellia.

Today, there are thousands of cultivars with many sizes and colours. The original wild plants can be found in China (Shandong), Taiwan, Korea and southern Japan.

There are thousands of camellia cultivars with many sizes and colours.

Camellias are famous throughout East Asia as a ‘tea flower’. The specific species from which the renowned beverage is made from, is the Camellia sinensis – the leaves and buds can be processed into the soothing, aromatic camellia tea.

The Camellia oleifera is also known as the ‘tea-oil camellia’, owing to the edible oil obtained from its seeds, used in cooking and also in cosmetics.

Various species of camellias can adapt well to acid soils rich in humus, but not so much to chalky, calcium-rich soils. The plant cannot tolerate drought. Apart from getting water from the rain, it also needs good irrigation.

Talking about my newly-acquired Japanese camellia, its alternately-arranged leathery leaves are dark green on the dorsal side, with a paler shade on the underside. The flower bud appears along the ends of the branches, with short stems. There seems to be nine greenish bracteoles and sepals.

The Camellia japonica is highly valued for its flowers, which can be in single blooms, semi-doubles or doubles, with the shades varying from red, pink, white and multi-coloured stripes or specks.

There is a globe-shaped capsule with three compartments holding one or two large brown seeds. When buying a live plant, it is best to check the type of flowers and the colour that one likes.

The Camellia japonica is the most common among all varieties of the flower.

Cultivation and propagation 

A camellia plant is a flowering evergreen shrub with dark glossy leaves, and it has special growing conditions, especially in the tropics.

Propagation can be done by seeds, but this takes a long time for it to grow into maturity. Layering would be the more common method.

In terms of fertilisers, camellias are best fed with nitrogen-rich, slow-release fertilisers such as the ‘12-4-8’ or the ‘16-4-8’ applied periodically. There is a fertiliser designed explicitly for the acidity-favouring camellias or azaleas.

Just like many other plants, camellias also have planting problems. Some physiological diseases include ‘salt injury’ or ‘salt damage’ caused by high levels of salt in the soil.

Chlorosis is also a threat, due to lack of certain elements in the soil – in the case of camellia, insufficient acidity. The ‘bud drop’ or decay can be caused by overwatering, severely high temperature or the plant being ‘pot-bound’ due to it being in a very small container.

Happy Gardening!