Camellias in Winter

Thirty years ago my friend gave me a
Camellia bush.  It was small and slow
growing.  I put it in the ground and
waited for the blooms.  None were
forthcoming.  Then I began to read up on where the Camellia liked to be planted and how to care for it.  I had some experience with this southern bush but had not actually grown one from start.  In fact the first time I saw one was when I was twenty years old and was in college in Richmond, Ky.  My boy friend came to see me around Easter and had a gift for me.  It was a beautiful corsage of two pink, symmetrical camellias.  I was overwhelmed by their delicate shape and color.  We pinned it on my dress and I had never felt so elegant as that day.

Living in Kentucky I was not likely to see this flower growing in someones yard, as it is a southern plant.  So, when I moved to Georgia and found one growing in my yard I was overjoyed.  I was able to enjoy the deep pink blooms in the winter and watch the Cardinal raise her young there in that bush.  I had a perfect view of it all from my window on the side of my house.  It was food for my soul.

Some years later when I moved to north Georgia, was when my friend presented me with this Camellia.  After reading up on the culture of this plant, I moved it to a new spot on the east side of my house where the soil was richer and the sun just right.  Then it rewarded me by growing into a ten foot bush with hundreds of blooms.  It did not happen overnight, but when it reached maturity I was rewarded over and over again.

The picture shows a lighter pink bloom surrounded by the deeper pink blooms.  The lighter pink comes from a bush I planted three years ago.  It only had two big buds this year.  I could not resist cutting one to bring indoors to cheer me on this cold rainy day.

The end result of successful gardening is how you feel when you finally harvest the fruit.  To get this buzz on a cold rainy day, it is all the sweeter for the waiting.  If you live in the north and cannot grow the beautiful Camellia, perhaps you can find Japonica, a cousin to the Camellia.  My sister Frances had one by her kitchen window and I loved seeing it there when I would visit.  The bloom is not as large as its cousin but it is a cheerful sight on any day.