Camelias are flowering

[Alice]

My Camelias are flowering and thought I would share the piccy with you. If anybody would like to post their spring flowers - or anything else - I would love to see them. Just love a good nosey in other peoples gardens.

[eskymo]

They're lovely Alice! I got a Camelia free with a recent order and didn't know what to do with it as I didn't know what they looked like or how big they grew. I've stupidly planted it in the ground in a very open spot...I think I should now move it into a pot.

Do they 'climb' - can you train them up a support?

I'd be keen to know as then I could build something to support it. Also are they evergreen? I hope so.

Also - do they need any special treatment - pruning? feeding?

[Alice]

Hello Eskymo, congtrats on getting a free gift of a Camelia. You can grow in a pot while they're young but they do get big. Can get very big but you can prune to any size you want. They are evergreen and like the same conditions as rhododendrons - acid soil, so add peat. Basically
plant in acid soil - with peat
they flower early so give a bit of shelter from frost - against a south wall or fence
they don't need support
you can prune to any size you like after flowering
helps flowering if you water in dry spells in summer as this is when the buds are formed
otherwise self caring and quite spectacular at this time
Good luck.

[eskymo]

what if i don't use peat?

[Jaxom]

Eskymo, as I understand it there are environmentally sound ways to recover peat for gardeners to use. I seem to remember Andrewo or Nick posting about it. I'll have to go and look on google for information.
Jax

Found this information if it is any help?
environmentally sound peat. The peat is a by-product of the water industry. Streams that run across moor land can be filtered and peat extracted from the run off .
Some streams feed water to the population via a water treatment works. This water supply needs filtering at a first level in settlment tanks before they can process it. Vast amounts of peat and other debris that would clog up the system is removed each year. Previously it was sent to land fill sites but now it is recycled and sold on.

[eskymo]

I didn't know that...is there any other way of making the soil acidic?

[Lesley Jay]

Watering with rain water gives the correct soil for blueberries and rhododendrons so that should work for camelias as well.

[SueA]

Our camellia is flowering beautifully now as well. It was languishing in the 'reduced for quick sale' section at a B&Q store years ago when we rescued it, just labelled 'red camellia' & it has flowered every year since.

[eskymo]

What lovely flowers! I feel so lucky that I got one for free. I've decided to dig it up and plant it against the back wall of the garden, when I was going to grow my tomatoes this year. It's a south facing wall so is an ideal place. I guess I cam still grow some tomatoes in that bed as the camelia is only tiny at the moment.

How fast do they grow!

My OH set me the challenge this year to get some evergreen and colour into the garden so that we have foliage and colour throughout the season as most of winter our garden just look bare and brown as the allotment bit has been empty.

I'm determined to win this challenge and now you've given me all this info on Camellia's, I've found the perfect spot for it and I know he's going to love it!

Thanks

[SueA]

I think how fast they grow depends on the variety. Ours grew fairly steadily & I have never pruned it, just deadheaded, it's now about 5ft x 5ft & has been in probably about 10 or more years.It's in our south facing garden but is actually against the fence at the end of the garden so is sort of north facing & gets some shade from nearby trees. You have to be careful about early morning sun hitting the flower buds in spring when they may be a bit frosty as this can spoil the flowers.The dark green leaves do add a lot of structure to the garden in winter & I'm sure you & your O.H. will love it.

[eskymo]

I think ours is a red flowering variety, but you never know with freebies!

[nick the grief]

If you Mulch with Cocoa shells that will help with the acidity.

Moorland Gold is an enviromental peat product as found by Jax, apart from that I don't think you can get a true Peat free alternative ericaceous compost. If your going to grow it in a pot I would use JI no2 or 3 as this is usually arounf 6.5 - 7 ph & and is Neutral, they won't mind that too much & it will make it a bit more stable as the pot will be heavier.

Rain water will help by not raising the PH like tap water will but unless you've got acid rain, it won't lower it much

[Alice]

Thanks for the piccy SueA. Gorgeous Camelias. Eskymo, don't wory too much about the camelia. Give it reasonable conditions and TIME (probably the most important factor) and it will do it all by itself. The ones in my piccy were about 10 years old (like SueA) and hadn't been molecoddled in any way.

[STEVE PARTRIDGE]

Hi Alice I thought I would share this photo with you of one of my Camelias, like yours they are about 10 years old, Steve.

[SueA]

If you Mulch with Cocoa shells that will help with the acidity.

Moorland Gold is an enviromental peat product as found by Jax, apart from that I don't think you can get a true Peat free alternative ericaceous compost. If your going to grow it in a pot I would use JI no2 or 3 as this is usually arounf 6.5 - 7 ph & and is Neutral, they won't mind that too much & it will make it a bit more stable as the pot will be heavier.

Rain water will help by not raising the PH like tap water will but unless you've got acid rain, it won't lower it much

Beware of cocoa mulch if you have a dog who likes to dig/chew things as it can make them very ill.Would bark mulch be fairly acidic as it's often made from conifers? I tried a peat free compost called New Horizon last year & it was pretty good & probably a bit on the acidic side as I think it had by-products from forestry in it.