Karma camellia: Flower adds hardiness, beauty to landscapes

Azaleas and dogwoods get a lot of attention in southeast Alabama. But each fall welcomes a lovely array of camellias in bloom, brightening a colder landscape.

“That’s the beauty of camellias,” said Douglas Ruhren, a horticulturist with the American Camellia Society. “They’re gorgeous flowers, but the plant itself is a hardy shrub. ... It’s not a prima donna that has to be fawned over.”

Ruhren works from the Massee Lane Gardens in Fort Valley, Ga. — the home of the American Camellia Society and a collection of specialty gardens. It hosts “camellia days” from October through March when camellias are in bloom, and February brings a monthlong celebration during the peak of camellia season.

There are different species of camellias found around the Southeast — japonica and sasanqua the most common. Varieties come in names such as Sparkling Burgundy, Frank Houser and Debutante.

So what do you need to know now to ensure you have good camellia blooms this year?

Water is essential, according to Ruhren. If conditions turn dry, you may not want to leave the watering to Mother Nature.

“They can drop their flower buds if it’s too dry,” Ruhren said.

Don’t prune your camellias until after they bloom and before new growth begins, according to the American Camellia Society’s Web site. Pruning can be done throughout the year in moderation, but all pruning done after June will simply remove flower buds for the upcoming season. Make your cuts next to the trunk without leaving stumps, and remove weak twigs, such as those with only one weak terminal bud.

For more die-hard camellia fans, Ruhren suggested having the soil tested and applying a soil balancer in late winter. Camellia enthusiasts use gibberellic acid to enhance flower quality, size and timing of the blooms.

“Gibbing” involves removing the terminal bud, or vegetative bud (the smaller, pointed bud beside the larger flower bud), and placing a drop of acid in the “cup” left behind after the vegetative bud is removed, according to the American Camellia Society.

“People who exhibit camellias often do it,” Ruhren said. Bill Moon, a member of the local Southeast Alabama Camellia Society, said gibbing camellias can result in early blooms, make larger blooms and in some species darken the color of the bloom.

Once you’ve applied the gibberellic acid, a bloom could come out within six to eight weeks. Moon has judged camellia shows and regularly gets requests from people who want to propagate a camellia variety.

He has become an expert at knowing a good variety. “We look for the blossom,” Moon said. “We look for the color, the formation — does it look like it’s supposed to look?”