Cold weather

360 Sod (Donna Dixson)
by 360 Sod (Donna Dixson)
Last week we received to our nursery in Georgia our first west coast order for spring as well as our first shipment of Encore Azaleas for the year.. So Saturday we spend the day taking it most of it into the greenhouses due to the weather forecasting of below 25 degrees. The red Maples had already begin to bust open the leaf bud.But I did take some time to take a couple of pictures of the venerable Cherry tree that is our harbinger of spring and a crazy Rosemary who decided to bloom now.(The wind was blowing pretty hard so it was difficult to get really good pictures but I was afraid they would be gone by Monday!)And of course a stroll through the camellia house always entices a few pictures as well. I sure hope they all hang onto their blooms!
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  • Connie K Connie K on Feb 23, 2013
    Vickie, okay, I'll admit to some advantage with the espaliered camellias. We bought them already espaliered though only about 2 1/2 to 3 ft. tall. However that does make it much, much easier. Just keep some ties and your pruning shears handy. We did do some research how how to maintain and continue it as the plant grows. The rest was just luck and it loved the location. We had an awkward bed beside the driveway and next to the wall beside the steps that was only about less than 2 feet wide. The builder had planted Nellie R. Stevens hollies in it (they grow to about 25 ft.) The bed really needed something there and it needed to be tall enough to keep the wall from looking so severe. An espaliered plant works great in such a situation. Most info I've seen gives Zone 7 - 9 for Camellias. There may be certain cultivars that will do better in your area than others. Check with a local nursery or Extension Service. There is a lot of good info on the internet, too. I think I'd stick with either japonica or sasanqua though. I figure if FSNL has trouble with the sinensis, it may not be a good choice for a first try. Good luck!
  • 360 Sod (Donna Dixson) 360 Sod (Donna Dixson) on Feb 23, 2013
    @Vicki Melton japonica is sort of like your middle name in the botanical world. It actually means 'of or coming from Japan'. So you can have Camellia japonica or Chaenomeles japonica, (Quince), or Iris japonica.(Japanese Iris).And a bunch of others, which makes it really a challenge when someone comes into the nursery and asks for a japonica.A lot of times they do actually want a quince or a camellia, and we find out through deduction ! Camellia and Quince are not related in the family order of things as far as I know.
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