Camellia, Hybrid Camellia 'High Fragrance'

These are beautiful bushes or small trees. They bloom in late winter / early spring, and their fragrance is lovely on the evening breeze...Read More. Mine are currently 12 feet tall and wide at about 10 years old.

I was given a small plant (less than 12 inches) last year. It immediately began to send out new leaves. I was rewarded with 3 flower ...Read Morebuds this December. The first flower is strongly scented, about 3 inches in diameter pale pink and appears to be a full double peony type bloom. I can't wait for it to get bigger and have a bigger display. I grow it in a south east facing heated greenhouse in Massachusetts. It is potted in clay. Daytime temperatures are about 70 degrees, night time goes to about 45.

Personal notes:

I have tried to research this cultivar as thoroughly as possible, but all details were not found, such as ...Read Moreheight, hardiness, and growing conditions . I have obtained 2 specimans, one from the ACS at Massey Lane Gardens in Ft. Valley, GA, the other a gift from a friend, from GreenNurseries.com. I had read that the fragrance is not detectible until 24 hours of bloom and have found this to be correct. The scent is soft and beautiful reminiscent to me as jasmine-like from my first bloom. This first bloom occurred on January 17, 2009.

________________________________________
Exert of article from the American Camellia Society under 'Education':

Fragrant Camellias
by William L. Ackerman

..." However, work on floral fragrance continued with J. Finley of Whangerei, New Zealand, who began breeding scented camellias in 1970 and has continued through to the present. Crossing C.lutchuensis with C. japonica ‘Tiffany’, he had his first bloom six years later, which was named ‘Scentuous’. A good example of persistence was Finlay’s breeding through three generations of scented cultivars and hybrids to produce ‘Sweet Emma’. It took twenty-two years, but Finlay declared it well worth the time and effort. Overall, Finlay has made many thousands of controlled crosses and registered more than fifty-five fragrant cultivar introductions. Two examples are ‘High Fragrance’, and ‘Nice Fragrance.’ In this regard, he has more fragrant-flowered camellia introductions to his credit than anyone."
______________________________________________
Notes from ACS as follows:

Species: hybrid non reticulata
Variety: High Fragrance
Bloom type: Peony form
Bloom color: ivory pink with deeper pink to edges
Bloom size: medium
Bloom season: middle
Growth habit: open growth
Growth rate: vigorous
Hardiness Zone: 8
Originator: James Findlay
Year originated: 1986
Place of Origination: Whangarei, NZ
Pollen Parent: hybrid "Scentuous"
Seed Parent: jap. "Mrs. Beth A. Hamas"
______________________________________________
Other notes found upon internet research:

(Old Camellia Forrest review)
‘High Fragrance’ (zone 7B) - The genetic material contains only one eighth C. lutchuenesis but the flowers do have a strong pleasant fragrance. Nice peony form flowers are pale pink and bloom in March and April. The plant is a rapid grower with an open habit and light green leaves. (C. japonica ‘Mrs. Bertha Harms’ × [‘Salab’ × ‘Scentuous’])
______________________________________________
(unidentified author comments)

..."Regarding it's fragrance, let me just say WOW. The fragrance is reminscent of sweet peas - sweet and strong - and it is the most fragrant camellia that I personally have had the pleasure...of sniffing..."