Native Plant Wildlife Gardening

I have four large Camellia, Winter’s Star. Dang things are blooming like mad right now and it’s the first of October. These shrubs were already here when I moved in two years ago and both years they bloomed November -December. It kind of bums me out that they chose now as I had figured them for winter flowers. I want winter flowers for the odd flux of bees we get (it never freezes hard here, just a brief period of darn cold) and for the rufous hummingbird which winters in the area. But alas, nature does not listen to me. Winter’s Star is a hybrid of Sasanqua and Oleifera and I must say incredibly hardy. Their bloom time can start in September so mine aren’t out of whack, just not what I was hoping for.

I suppose it is blooming now because we have had a cool summer with an unusual amount of rain. The previous two summers were hot and drought years.

I am not a huge fan of Camilla, I know, blast me. I’m just not showy. They do have great benefits though. While not native they are not invasive, add evergreen wildlife coverage and the flowers are indeed pretty. No one can deny that fact! The four shrubs here are about 12′ tall (Winter’s Star is only supposed to reach a max of 8′, ha) and they were planted in full sun, hard packed barren clay. Poor things were gnarly. So I moved three of them. The fourth is on a woodland edge and gets some shade and organic material from leaf litter, it is in much better shape than the others so I left it there. I am the human tree spade. Amazingly enough it looks like at least two did fine in the move, the last isn’t dead but not great. However the spot they had been in was a bad location where they would only survive and never be healthy, plus they were right in your face when sitting on my deck. Totally blocked the view into the woods.

Now in another area along my property line I did plant four more camellias for winter flowers, as a living privacy fence from a neighbor and to provide needed evergreen bird shelter. The cultivars I selected are Yuletide alternating with Nuccio’s Perl (I wanted Nuccios Gem, no luck). The Yuletide cultivar is one that I do love particularly and wanted in my garden. For me it’s a “must have” plant. The Yuleide is red with a yellow center, single petal, not one of the peony looking flowers. The Nuccio’s Pearl is white with a pink tint. They just went in this year so in a decade I should have a nice camellia hedge. I would not expect blooms on the newly planted shrubs for at least two seasons.

In respect to wildlife camellias certainly have their place. They can provide blooms during off seasons for creatures that feed on nectar and do make great winter coverage, plus are very acceptable to HOAs. I firmly believe wildlife gardeners should set a good example and work with neighbors, not fight them.

I have been told camellia are fussy and difficult to grow but in 15 years of having camellia in my garden I not had a problem. They are rock solid and did great for me with little attention. They just need a bit of shade in the south, have mercy on the poor things! Sun here is brutal. Some early spring flowering cultivars will get their buds frozen if there is a later frost and as a result not flower but fortunately I haven’t had any of those. If you need evergreen in a hedgerow, consider camellia.