Hi, guys! I went out to Boylston, MA today to the Tower Hill Botanic Garden where the MA Camellia Society was having their 184th show. Here's a few pics of some of the camellias on display. I took these just as the judging was finishing up. There were categories for just the flowers and for the whole plant. The last one in this first batch is a rare yellow camellia. The yellow is so pale it really looks white.
Martha
Here are some more pictures.
Martha
Some more. This show had a lot of exhibits. and they will be doing an exhibit at the Boston Flower Show also.
Martha
And some more.
Martha
Those are simply gorgeous!!!
I took about 80 pictures. I can't post them all here. These were the highlights.
Martha
wonderful!
Thank you.....so happy I bought one!
Hurray, Martha! I went in the afternoon when they had the tour. Some of the picked buds were already starting to fade but I learned a ton from grilling the Camellia Society members. One of them bought an old house that had several sticks in the ground and a broken glass lean-to. Lo and behold, they could revive them to reveal deep red French-style doubles. I can post some of my pics after my battery charges.
Don't you love chatting up the exhibitors? They are always looking for someone to talk to about their little addictions.
Martha
Yep I had a great time. Here I'm trying not to duplicate Martha's wonderful show, but here's some more to keep it going...first two shots of 'Black Magic' a recent hybrid much darker in person, shiny dark leaves, then the whole plant for 'Jury Yellow' the grand price winner--they are from Viet Naum, and take a long time to flower, a rare yellow
The "spooky Bowl" is a Halloween steamer which works great to mist blooms, keeps them lasting. There was a huge variety here including the very large reticulata blooms in a bowl too, but photos don't let you see the humongous proportions so well You can see the double form in the last pic, probably a japonica up close.
A few more views.
Last batch for here.
Love your pictures. I took a great whole bunch. You really have to look closely at that yellow camellia to see that it is even yellow it is so pale. I have pictures of the non-camellia plants, but I decided just to put the camellia ones up here.
Martha
We should meet at this show next year Rosemary and see it together!
I would love to meet up for the show! I can still remember the pretty blooms.
Martha and Rosemary, those are fantastic, beautiful shots! Thank you! My favorite is that melon and white bi-color that won a ribbon and the Best in Show rare yellow from Viet Nam. I would love to think I could keep one going in Conn.
Smith and Wellesley colleges have camellia collections in their greenhouses. We get several plants in at the Flower Show every year from people who have greenhouses. I think they need the light from a greenhouse to bloom this time of year but I will check the entries if any come in to this year's show and see how they were grown.
Martha
Thanks, Martha! I 'm wondering if one could sit next to the north (floor to ceiling) window in my Conn place. While we are in FLA. we keep the heat set at 53 degrees, and my son comes once a week to water the plants.
I've been asking about growing camellias indoors. My preliminary information is that they do not require a lot of light, but the Japonica which is what I've been mainly thinking about, requires a night time cold period between say 40 and 55 F to set its blooms, they need good air circulation, reasonable humidity, and getting water and nutrients just right. Mass Camellia society gave a care sheet with the ones they sold, and it is very specific about the growing medium. My local nurseryman confirmed that getting Ph and soil medium correct are essential to start the camellia off. Since I can't find all the elements for repotting, my next stop is an Agway store.
Great to know about other camellia gardens! Wellesley and Smith greenhouses have been on my must visit list for other reasons too. I have also read that Polly Hill on Martha's Vineyard is famous as a camellia site.
A variegated camellia that is somewhat outdoor hardy is called tricolor. For outdoors I concentrated instead on the recommendations Ackerman gives about the very most cold hardy camellias. I see the Fairweather Gardens catalog has pretty much "copied" all my selections, and Rarefind has a camellia talk planned also. Camellia Forest plants have been very healthy and reasonably priced.
Here are a couple they were growing outdoors at Roger Williams Botanic Garden in Providence back in early December. There were only the two bushes in the plantings around the conservatory that were in bloom but what a surprise!
Martha
Those are lovely!
So cool! I wonder what cultivar they are. Several Ackerman hybrids bloom then.
Thanks for sharing your very helpful information and suggestions, Rosemary! Since our Conn place is in zone 6, perhaps I should just consider one of the cold hardy varieties you mentioned and plant it outdoors instead of in a pot. If either you or Martha get to FL during camellia bloom time, you may want to go to Bok Tower to see their beauties all over the gardens. It is so tranquil there with the carillon bells playing.
Louise, you can come visit my camellia!
I would LOVE to visit Bok Tower, Louise. I wonder if their bloom period is late February.
What beautiful pictures and healthy looking plants. Oh how lucky some people are. I have had two camellias for several years and only the April Blush blooms. The April Tryst just sits there and is not really happy. They go outside in the Spring and stay out until late Fall. They love the sun and lots of water but in the winter when they come in after a few months they get a scale (that is why they do not go into the greenhouse). I work on the scale daily to try and find out where it comes from and what I can do to keep it under control. Daily spraying is almost the only thing that works and they still reappear. It is so frustrating. Yet, even with the scale the pink one (April Blush) blooms for months.
You can see the little brown scale on the leaves. That was last year. This year it has been better and less but still there. I have also treated the soil and re-potted them. I think it is a curse. ☺ Will welcome your comments and suggestions. Have a great day.
That one bloom is very pretty......I had scale on my indoor lemon....I sprayed, but it still died.
Sorry April Blush is so fuzzy but I took it with my phone. I will look for a better one. I found this one of April Tryst. That was taken last year but the buds all dropped off this year and it did not bloom. Looks great but no flowers.
I did read something that says scale is very hard to eradicate in tender plants. I can't find where I read it. I'd prefer that you check with an expect in camellias from any of the many societies, including the American Camellia society, or an extension service from any state in the camellia belt, if your local nursery or where you bought them doesn't have an expert. Please let us know what you learn.
Can't say I know much, but here's my best guess--- Perhaps it is because the lifecycle of the pest isn't adequately disrupted. The usual diseases do not include scale, rather they are: are petal blight--in California only, root rot fungus, honey fungus, and aphids, but rarely. Aphids respond to a pyrethrum-based insecticide, but I would wait until they're outside to try that. I'm guessing you've already tried to wash or scrape the scabs off. If they're deep in the leaf, then I would suspect a different problem. Good luck. I think it's worth figuring out.
Cross post. Very pretty bloom. If the plant isn't completely happy in its conditions, bud drop happens.
I'm new to growing camellias indoors, but I'm finding challenge in getting the planting medium correct, and finding enough cold moist air to give next year's blooms a chance to set. Now I've got bone meal, osmicote beads, spagham moss and vermiculite ready for repotting as soon as I can find sterilized top soil for the mix. Camellias need an exact, slightly acid ph so I have bought a meter at HD too.
The two of them are side by side, same soil, same light, same everything and still, the one dropped the buds this year. This is more difficult and challenging than raising four kids. LOL
Well, maybe they are kids. Each kid seems to need something different to thrive too.
I think if I could keep my house at 53 F in the winter like Louise, I'd try to grow a forest of indoor camellias. Then when they bloom there'd be reason to come north again. There must be some good misters or local humidifiers to help them, too. I am looking for one of those funky fountains they sell in the drugstores to set up in a plant corner.
If you find a funky fountain, take a picture so I know what it looks like. I may want one too.
