On Sat, 06 Dec 2003 18:36:04 +0000, Sacha
wrote:

How annoying of you! I thought I had it pegged but ...... but
back to the drawing board. Could you tell me where you live (by email, if
you prefer)
Where Camellias are concerned, I am certain about *nothing*. I had an ex
father in law who was big fan of Camellias and grew them extensively and a
friend of his was Vi Lort-Phillips, an ex Pres of the Camellia Society (?)
Anything I wanted to know, I just asked them - made me very lazy. ;-(
Sorry!

Sorry to be a pain, but I just wanted to make the point (which you
took) that it's not only sasanquas that may be in flower now,
especially in milder areas and this year. We live in the far west of
Cornwall, on the coast between Marazion and Helston, so very mild, and
certainly not typical of the UK in general. But the Channel Isles
would also be mild, I presume. Admittedly, our Lavinia Maggi has only
two flowers ATM, but the High Hat I was referring to is in my mother's
garden, only a few miles from us. It must be just about going over by
now. High Hat is an early flowerer, but I think this year things are
unusually advanced. I wouldn't be surprised if some of the NT
properties around here open early, otherwise the camellias will be
over.

Sasanqua camellias have quite small leaves, three to four centimeters
long, (say one to two inches). The leaf tips may be pointed or may be
blunt, and the leaf margins are finely serrated. They do flower early,
as you say, in autumn even. The flowers are five to seven centimeters
(say two to three inches) in diameter, carried on the tips of the
shoots, usually with six to eight petals. They have a distinctive
scent, but tend only to last three or four days before falling.

C. hiemalis and c. vernalis are versions of c. sasanqua that may be
hybrids with c. japonica or may be species in their own right. As the
names imply, the former is winter flowering, and the latter spring
flowering. C. hiemalis Dazzler is described in an old Trehane's
catalogue that I have as brilliant rose-red with fan-shaped branches.
There's an image of the flower at
http://www.bestgardening.com/bgc/gar...engarden01.htm

C. vernalis Hiryu (aka Kanjiro), is upright, bushy with double flowers
variously described as deep crimson rose or deep rose red. Another c.
vernalis is Yuletide, upright and dense with very dark green leaves.
The flowers are described as brilliant red, but I'm not sure if
they're single or double.

Incidentally, most of the above was cribbed from Jennifer Trehane's
book! I'm no expert in my own right, although I do have a number of
camellias. If you do get a flower from your mother, I would suggest
Trehane's at Wimborne or Burncoose nurseries at Redruth might be good
places to get it identified.


--
Chris

E-mail: christopher[dot]hogg[at]virgin[dot]net