My Camellias are blooming.  What a glorious sight for late January/early February.  I planted these shrubs in partial sun next to our house this past summer and I have thoroughly enjoyed the color they have brought to our rather shabby and gloomy winter exterior.

I have two Camellia japonica ‘Elizabeth Ann’ (pictured above) that are presently in bloom and one Camellia sasanqua ‘Mine-No Yuki’ that bloomed over Christmas and early January- it has white blooms.

The Camellia japonica will not get very tall, probably about 3 ft.  but the sasanqua is supposed to get up to 6 feet tall and wide.  I hope it does.  What a lovely site that will be.

Camellias require a little bit of work.  They like some acidity in the soil, so we amended with peat moss, checked for good drainage (also important) and heavily mulched the plants.  We were also diligent to keep them watered during the hot summer months (we had a very dry summer).  Some pruning is also required after they have bloomed- I have a book called The Pruner’s Bible by Steve Bradley that I have been using to help me with some basic pruning tips. Once established, this shrub does very well with little attention. This pic below is not my shrub, but the flowers look similar to my Camellia sasanqua when it was blooming.