Camellia is a large shrub or tree, if it grows in open ground, endowed with a porous crown, reaching more than 2 meters. Far from all gardeners will be able to grow a flower at home, since the bush blooming in the winter period is not too eager to take root in indoor conditions.

Nevertheless, the wayward charmer is very popular, thanks to the exotic flowers and the availability of useful qualities that are applicable to both decorative elements of the interior and practical benefits.

blooming camellia

It belongs to evergreen, decorative-flowering shrubs from the family Theaceae - Tea. In the wild, most of the varieties are found in regions where the tropical and subtropical climate prevails. So you can meet the blooming camellia in Southeast and Central Asia, Indochina, Japan, the Philippine Islands and the island of Java.

Today there are about 250 species of amazing trees. One of the most well-known varieties is Chinese camellia or a tea plant, due to which the original variety of tea is produced. Some of the varieties are grown only indoors or for decorating some areas.
  It is very popular because it blooms for a long time in winter.

Characterization and description of Camellia

Camellia flower, which can be both a shrub and a tree. The height comes from 2 and up to 20 meters. Endowed with simple elliptical or broadly ovoid and oblong-ovoid leathery leaflets.

camellia bonsai

The glossy leaves arranged in several pieces on short petioles can be both pointed and blunt. Depending on the variety, their length varies from 3 to 17 cm.

Along its circumference, single flowers range from 1 to 10 cm. The petals accrete at the base are painted in pink, red, white or variegated shade, and are also decorated with many stamens. Flowering tree begins with the onset of cold weather, if the air temperature does not exceed 12 degrees.

You can enjoy bright colors from 1 to 3 months. After they wither, the fruits are formed representing a dry box with five compartments, in which no more than 8 seedlings are formed.

Some of the varieties are valued by gardeners because of their evergreen crown and blooming flowers. They decorate the premises and parks, giving them rich green shades.

With the help of foliage of hybrid Japanese-Chinese eugenolic camellia, they create an essential oil, which contains 97% of eugenol.

What types of flower are found

Camels in the home grown only a few species. Among them:

  • Mountain Camellia Sazanka - Camellia sasanqua

sazanka variety

The Japanese call this species very beautifully and poeticly - the flower of the winter sun, as it grows on the mountain slopes of the islands of Kushu and Okinawa, which are perfectly illuminated by the sun's rays.

The height of the bush varies from 3 to 5 meters. Saturated, ovate or elliptical leaves, the upper part of which is shiny and the lower one pubescent, grow from 3 to 7 cm.

The circumference of red, pink and pure white simple flowers can reach up to 7 cm. On the bush can bloom both single and collected on several flowers. Abundant blooms on the backyard plots begin in November and last until February.

Most mega popular decorative varieties:

  • Bicolor
  • Bonanza
  • Cleopatra
  • White double
  • Enishi

  • Chinese Camellia - Camellia sinensis

tea tree

This variety is also called the tea bush or bohea camellia "Camellia bohea". But the most popular "name" is the tea tree, since black and green tea is made from its leaves. Young greens buy-ho serves for making long leaf tea.

On the bush are charming fragrant inflorescences, which are excellent aromatic additives with an exotic taste for teas. They originate in the tropical and subtropical forests of Indochina. In Russia, this species can be found in the Krasnodar Territory. Indoors grown quite rare.

On a small evergreen tree, the height of which is not more than 10 meters, fragrant single buds bloom, which can also unite into inflorescences of 2-4 pieces. White flowers consist of petals, sometimes with a yellow-pink shade, the number of which can vary from 5 to 9. Flowering begins in August and lasts until late autumn. Fruits are formed from October to December.

  • Japanese - Camellia japonica

In traditional medicine in China, camellia varieties of Japanese are used as an anticancer drug. Flowers tone up the body and possess astringent properties.

The flower Japanese camellia at home is grown quite often and is incredibly popular among professional florists.

camellia room

After all, it was on its basis that many hybrids of the indoor flower were bred. In Japan, the variety is no less famous than the gorgeous sakura.

There are simple, terry, semi-double, symmetrical and uneven terry inflorescences, white, pink and bright red shades. In addition, there are hybrid varieties whose petals are decorated with specks, dashes or divorces.

Flowers of spherical shape have a lot of similarities with a rose, peony or anemone, only in the aroma coming from them, of course, absent. They are formed in the leaf sinuses and are located throughout the crown of the bush. All the flowers do not fade for a whole month. You can enjoy flowering from the beginning of November until the end of spring.

As a rule, this species is planted in pots, pots and open ground. Feels great indoors, but at the same time the temperature where it grows should be no more than 12 degrees. Specimens grown in greenhouses form fruits.

Common room varieties:

  1. Hippolite Toby
  2. japanese Tsubaki
  3. camellia Japanese Nagasaki
  4. Lady campbell
  5. The Empress

Video of room camellia variety:

In addition to the already known species, you can also find:

  • Saulenska - Camellia saluenensis

Thanks to this type, frost-resistant varieties that can be grown in completely open ground or greenhouse are derived. Free branching shrub reaches 1.5 in height and the same in width. Flowering begins in the last months of winter and continues until the onset of spring.

The color of camellia is snow-white or saturated red, and sometimes you can meet a burgundy flower. The diameter in the circumference reaches 8 cm. It is one of the unpretentious garden varieties. It differs from other representatives in that it independently drops flowers from the bush. Thanks to this ability, the shrub always looks neat and tidy.

  • Oil Camellia - Camellia oleifera

Distributed in forests and on the coast of the rivers of China, at an altitude of 500 to 1,200 meters. Often diluted on an industrial scale because of the seeds, which are saturated with useful essential oil.

Camellia oil acts like:

  1. Antiseptic
  2. Tones up
  3. Local pain reliever

The height of this evergreen shrub reaches about 10 meters. Along its circumference, the trunk reaches 20 cm and is decorated with brown bark. Another simple leathery petiolate foliage has an ovoid shape with slightly pointed or blunt tips. White flowers can be both bisexual solitary and paired axillary. Formed in September, and their flowering lasts until the second half of October. Fruits large boxes, in which there is a set of round seeds, the length of which is about 3 cm.

  • Mesh - Camellia reticulata

The height of the tree reaches 20 m. In China, Buddhist monks decorate their gardens with rich red terry flowers. It is characterized by rather large sizes of inflorescences whose circumference exceeds 20 cm.

The shrub is covered with infinite number of pink, white and red blossoming buds, in which all the colors are mixed with each other by bizarre transitions and unusually iridescent under the sun's rays. Thanks to this feature gardeners call them chimeras.

  • Camellia Golden-flowered - Camellia chrysantha

It differs from other varieties in bright yellow drop-down buds, the number of which on one bush can reach up to 200 pieces. On the territory of China is protected by law and is listed in the local Red Book. You can meet in the wild in the remote forests of Vietnam or China.

Camellia flower care and cultivation at home

how to care

Growing a plant indoors is quite difficult. The fact is that camellia shrub prefers to grow at a temperature not lower than +5 degrees and not higher than +10, and also practically does not hibernate. Maintaining such a temperature in the room is not easy, and therefore cultivation in an apartment gives a lot of trouble.

Important to remember! If you do not have a glazed loggia, a balcony, a winter garden or a terrace, then you can hardly see flowering, since the shrub begins to open its buds with the onset of cold weather, and the foliage is formed only in spring.

In order to enjoy flowering in the apartment, you have to create some special conditions for its successful growth.

Temperature for room camellia

The first thing to take care of is to create a suitable temperature. For the buds to originate and actively develop, a camellia will be enough to stay in the sun for only 12 hours. But at this point you should pay special attention to the temperature:

  • Its limits should be about 8-15 degrees. If it falls a little lower, then the bloom most likely will not come.
  • In that case, if you provide the shrub with a light day less than 12 hours, then be sure to reduce the room temperature to 8-10 degrees.
  • Flowering begins in December and lasts until February and at this time you should keep the temperature in the room not higher than 10 degrees, but it should not lower below 8 ° C.

If the air in the room is too warm, the shrub will start to bud out or they will open much earlier, which will affect the quality of the flowers.

Camelia: what kind of lighting prefers

What should be the soil moisture and how to water

At the time of formation of buds, as well as when the camellia flowers dissolve it, it is necessary to water it with well-settled water.

how to water a camellia

As soon as you see that the upper earth globe has dried up, be sure to water the plant. But remember that in no case should water be allowed to stagnate. At the moment when the tree is at rest, it is necessary to water it moderately.

  • It prefers to get water acidified with citric acid, fresh lemon juice and vinegar.
  • In that case, if the tree will receive an insufficient amount of moisture, it will start dropping the foliage.
  • If you water the shrub too often, its foliage will turn brown and the buds will fall off.

To increase the humidity in the summer, 2 times a day spray, moisten the air, sprinkling the plant and adding water to the pan. You need to put a container with a shrub in the wet coarse river sand, gravel, pebbles or moss. In the period of flowering with extreme caution to spray, as the water should not affect the flowers. If you want the tree to develop perfectly, be sure to install a humidifier.

What fertilizer to use

At the time of the growing season, which comes in the spring, you need to start regular fertilization. No more than 2-3 times a month, feed the tree using mineral or organic fertilizers for this purpose. Completely feed him cease by the end of the summer, which allows you to tie buds and release buds.

What should be the composition of the soil

Camellia care at home requires a difficult, because it needs special lighting and temperature. In addition, special attention should be paid to the soil in which you will plant a tree. In order to feel well in a flat environment, it should be placed in a loose nutrient soil, easily permeable to water and oxygen. The level of acidity should be equal to pH 4.0-5.5 units.

juliet variety

There is an opportunity to independently prepare the soil using:

  1. 1 share leafy land
  2. 1 share of perlite
  3. 2 shares of coniferous land
  4. 2 shares of peat
  5. 0.3 parts of the bark of conifers
  6. 0.3 parts of sand, which will make the soil loose

In that case, if you can not prepare the soil, then in a specialized store you will get a suitable substrate suitable, for example, for room azalea.

First of all, the drainage layer is covered in a pot, which is covered with a non-thick layer of soil, on which the tree should be placed, straightening its root system. Fill the container with the rest of the substrate and lightly tamp it with your hand.

Do not bury the root neck in any way. This should also be monitored at the time of mulching with sawdust, shavings or crushed bark.

How and when is pruning and pinching

One of the important procedures that you should definitely do is pruning a tree. Apart from the fact that damaged, dried and weak branches are removed from the shoot, it is imperative to form its crown. If you do not do this, the form will be lost, the bush will become too large, and you will no longer be able to grow it in the house.

This procedure is carried out when the flowers begin to wither alternately and at the same time no new buds are formed on the bush. Based on the selected varieties of camellia, its shoots are sometimes cut almost half. Large sections are processed using garden warriors.

Experienced flower growers manage to create small bonsai trees or standard stabs using pruning. Thanks to the pinching and pruning, branching becomes more active, which allows the bush to bloom much more and more beautiful.

It is not easy to follow such an unusual plant, because the camellia flower care at home photo, showing all its beauty, requires special attention.

Important! Be sure to pinch the buds, leaving no more than 2 pieces on each stalk. This procedure will allow you to provide a bush with large flowers that have been pleasing you for a long time.

How to make a transplant

When the shrub turns from 1 to 3 years old it is necessary to replant it annually. Adult specimens need to be transplanted once every 2 years. The procedure is carried out in spring and summer, when the flowering is over. At the same time, you need to pinch the top, which allows to form the shape of a tree. In pots and pots constantly need to fill the ground, which is mixed in advance with complex fertilizers.

Breeding methods

You already know that camellia is a garden planting and care, for which it is not easy, a rather capricious plant in the matter of exactingness. Now you should learn how to propagate this incredible tree.

There are several ways to propagate camellia:

  • Cuttings

It is the most common breeding method.

As a rule, this method is practiced in January, July or August. To form the root system, summer cuttings need only a month, which cannot be said of the January saplings, since they will need more than one month for this process.

  1. To get the cuttings you need to carefully cut the top young shoots, which were formed in the current season. Their length should be about 6-8 cm. Do not forget to leave them need about 5 leaves. Under the axillary kidney make an oblique cut.
  2. In special boxes, where a mixture of peat and sand is poured in the 1: 1 ratio in advance, it is necessary to plant seedlings.
  3. The box is placed in a lighted room in which the temperature is maintained for at least + 20 + 23 degrees.
  4. Be sure to water and spray the cutting.
  5. After the roots have fully formed on it, transplant the plant into a pot whose diameter is about 8 cm.

  • Seed

This method is also often used by growers. In small pots need to sow 1 seedling. As soon as two full leaves appear on a germinated sprout, transfer it to a larger container. Camellia Chinese tea growing from seeds is carried out as well as in other varieties.

  • Graft

There are varieties that take root with difficulty. In such situations, they are vaccinated on the apical bud. The stock in this case is the tea tree or other slightly demanding varieties of room camellia. After grafting, the room must be maintained at a temperature not lower than +20 degrees. The extra shoots that form on the seedling should be trimmed. It is necessary to spray a regularly grafted flower and not to allow the sun to once again burn the still fragile leaves. After 2.5 years, the seedling is separated from the stock and transplanted into a separate container.

Garden care

Camellia room is grown in the southern part of Russia and in the garden in the open field and it will already be a shrub.

To do this, you must follow some rules, including:

  1. tested soil composition
  2. maintaining a certain temperature
  3. careful lighting
  4. air humidity

As a rule, all these items must meet almost all the requirements for care, as for indoor plants in the room.

To decorate the gazebos, loggias and other facades, a special sort of climbing plant was developed.

What problems are faced by growing bush camellia

  1. Improper watering and excess moisture will cause rotting of the root system and the formation of a crust on the foliage of the tree.
  2. Dry air causes black blotches on the leaves. To cope with this problem, you need to get rid of the affected green. Those leaves that did not get infected, wipe with a soft, damp sponge. Put the container in a cool room or near the window, thereby taking it away from other plants.
  3. If you plant a root collar during planting, this will most likely lead to the death of the plant. The cervix does not deepen under any circumstances.
  4. It can easily fold all the buds and leaves if:
  • change his usual position of the pot
  • change the angle at which covered
  • soil acidity will be higher than normal

Red camellia, like other varieties, needs special care. If you do everything right, you will soon be able to enjoy the lush, bright flowering evergreen shrub that will delight you with its flowers throughout the winter.

Video secrets for the care of camellia at home:

The camellia genus includes 80 species of plants belonging to the tea family. Their main habitat is in the tropics and subtropics of East and Southeast Asia. The flower is named after its discoverer Camelius, who brought it to Europe.

The plants of the genus Camellia are trees or bushes with leathery, rounded foliage, located singly or in pairs. Flowers, studded with many stamens, have a red, white, scarlet color, there are also variegated species.

Some members of the genus are grown for decorative purposes, thanks to attractive foliage and flowers.

If you follow all the rules of care for camellia, then it may even bear fruit, but because of mistakes in care, the plant often does not grow as it could become.


Varieties and types

Camellia Mountain   or sansaqua (Miyagi , tagmentosis ) came to us from Japan. It is a shrub with thin branches, covered with red down, reaches five meters. Foliage oval-shaped. Inflorescences simple sprouting up to 7 cm in diameter. It blooms in winter.

Camellia Chinese   or sinensis (Bohea , tea house ) or tea bush . This is a forest view, reaching 15 meters in height. The foliage is long, oval, glossy, dark green. Inflorescences axillary, white in color.

In the wild, this plant also reaches an impressive size of 15 m. The foliage is toothed, oblong, leathery, dark green, but varieties with a variegated color are bred. Flowers are not particularly large, simple, terry or semi-double. It blooms in winter and early spring.

As for the varieties, the most popular are:

  • Camellia variety Japanese Easter Morn ,

  • Camelia Callifornia ,

  • Camellia Dream Girl .

Camellia home care

When caring for camellia at home, be sure to follow the rules of caring for it.

Camellia loves bright diffused light, so it is better to place it on the western or eastern windows. On the south side, the flower will suffer from an excess of light and it will require protection from direct rays, while on the north side of camellia it will be trivially lacking light.

To improve growth, the capacity with the plant should be rotated from time to time, but do not do this when buds appear on the stem - because of this, they fall off.

In the summer, it is a good idea to transfer a camellia room to the garden or to the balcony, but to place it so that the sun does not shine directly on it.

In spring and summer, the air temperature for good flower development should be around 20-25 degrees. To begin to appear buds, it will need to be reduced to 18 degrees, and during the flowering period in winter, the thermometer column should not exceed the mark of +12. If it is too warm, the flower is likely to lose the buds.

Also, the flower does not like stagnation of air, so you need to room with him aired.

Watering camellias

These flowers do not like excess moisture - they need a lot of water, but watering should be uniform and carried out when the top of the soil dries. Water should be defended with water, preferably rainwater, so that it is soft.

In winter, watering should be limited, otherwise acidification of the soil may occur. This can be recognized if the leaves turn brown and the buds fall. If the leaves begin to fall, then the watering was probably insufficient.

The room camellia likes high air humidity, therefore it is advisable to put the plant containers in a pallet with wet tracing paper, and also to spray the foliage. Spraying during flowering, do not allow water to inflorescence.

Fertilizer and pruning Camellia

It is necessary to fertilize home camellia every 20 days all year round. Use for this mineral dressing.

To improve the growth of the kidneys, the plant must be pruned. This operation is carried out at the end of the leaf fall.

Camellia Transplant

Young flowers are transplanted annually. For older plants, this procedure is carried out once a couple of years.

The operation must be done in the spring, with it performing pinching shoots in order for the branches to grow better. The soil is chosen acidic - about 5 pH, but it can grow in soil with acidity below 4.

You can buy the soil, but you can make it yourself by mixing peat, leaf and sod land with sand in a ratio of 2: 2: 1: 1. Do not forget to make a good drainage pot.

Camellia Seed

Seeds are sown in small 5 cm pots, one per container. With the formation of a pair of true leaves, the seedlings dive into large pots. When they grow up, they are transplanted into large containers again.

Remember that when breeding in the seed way, the varietal characteristics of the plant are usually lost, and in order to save them, you need to resort to grafting.

Camellia propagation by cuttings

For propagation by cuttings use 7 cm material that has not yet woody. The procedure is carried out in the middle of summer or winter. Cuttings with 3-5 leaves are planted in containers with sand mixed with peat. Growing temperature should be about 22 degrees. In the summer rooting takes place in 2 months, in winter a little longer.

Do not forget to water the cuttings from time to time and spray them. To speed up the formation of roots, you can use the appropriate tools. With the formation of roots, young plants are transplanted into large pots and looked after as adult plants.

Reproduction camellia vaccination

With a weak possibility of rooting for rooting, it can be propagated by grafting. This is done in the middle of winter. Vaccination is carried out by the apical kidney.

It germinates in about 2 months. For a young flower you need to watch hard, as it is very gentle.

Diseases and pests

If you violate the rules of care for camellia, various problems can occur with it.

  • If the flower buds fall, then this indicates an excess of moisture, which led to the acidification of the soil, or you moved the plant during their formation.
  • The appearance of stains on the foliage is likely to indicate burns. To prevent this from happening, the flower must be protected from sunlight.
  • When there is a shortage of moisture, the camellia leaves fall off.
  • With too low humidity, inappropriate ground or lack of light, and also, if the flower is hot, the plant may simply die.

The main pest of camellia is the spider mite, which makes itself known to be a spiderweb on the leaves. Fighting him, usually acaricides.

Camellia blooms in winter, its flowers are striking variety, but it is considered difficult to care for a houseplant. Knowing the secrets of its cultivation can achieve good development and annual long flowering.

Camellia is an amazingly beautiful plant. It has very beautiful flowers, glossy shiny leaves, there are many different varieties, and, most importantly, it blooms in winter. Why is such a wonderful houseplant not grown in every home? As a rule, they buy a blooming camellia for themselves or as a gift to someone, admire its beautiful flowers for a while, and then simply throw away dried remains. In the apartment she does not want to grow.

As well as, camellias cannot be grown in the traditional way. If for orchids the substrate is the most important factor, then for camellias - temperature conditions. Camellia needs a cold in winter. They do not tolerate the heat of heated apartments. It is ignorance of this peculiarity that leads to failures in growing camellias.

Camellia (Camellia) belongs to the Tea (Theaceae) family. These are evergreen shrubs or small trees common in Japan, China, on the islands of Java, the Philippines. Europeans met with camellia in the XVII century. It was brought by a Jesuit monk pharmacist Georg Josef Camellus from the Philippines. More than two hundred species of camellias are already known and described.

Camellia japonica "Ave Marie"

Camelia "Roi De Belgas"


The leaves of camellia are simple, glossy, oval, leathery. The flowers are large, very beautiful, solitary, simple or terry. Their color is white, pink, red, there are wild species with a yellow color. On the petals there are stains, spots, stripes, specks, transitions of one color to another. The shape of the flowers are like roses, peonies, anemones, carnations.

Camellia blooms in winter at 10 ° C. Flowers are odorless, but varieties with a weak tea aroma are described. Duration of flowering in different varieties is different, but usually from one to three months. Surprisingly, this plant flowering time is a period of rest. Growth begins at camellia after flowering in spring.

Camellia japonica "Donkelaarii"

Camelia sasanqua "Pink Pearl"


The most common florists are Camellia japonica (Camellia japonica), Camellia mountain (Camellia sasanqua) and Camellia net (Camellia reticulata). On the basis of these species created thousands of different varieties.

Camellias are a popular and non-whimsical garden plant in areas with a humid maritime climate. They can easily withstand temperatures down to minus five degrees. Given the nature of the development of camellia in nature, you can successfully grow it as a houseplant

Camellia japonica "Lady McKinnon"

Camellia japonica "Hagoromo"


Lighting. Camellia light-loving plant. But the light must be diffused. Mountain Camellia tolerates sunlight well, and Japanese camellia is better to shade.

Temperature. Heated apartment quite unsuitable room for growing camellias. Glazed insulated loggia, where in winter the temperature is not higher than 12 degrees, the most suitable place for camellia in a city apartment. It is important that here the temperature does not drop below minus 10 degrees. In the summer, camellia lays flower buds, for this it needs a temperature of 20-25 degrees, during the ripening of buds - 15 degrees.
   In your own house with a camellia garden is easier to grow. They can grow in pots in the garden or patio. Only during the coldest winter months, they should be transferred to a cold winter garden, a greenhouse, or simply to a glazed veranda.

Air humidity. Camellias love humid air. Humidity can be increased with any type of humidifier. Camellia is useful to spray, but not during flowering - water damages the flowers.

Watering. In the summer to water plentifully, in the winter it is much less. Care must be taken to avoid either drying out or waterlogging of the substrate. With properly selected loose substrate water in the pot will not linger and it is very important. When watering can not use lime water, pour only soft water. Suitable rain, snow water or water, settled for 3 days.

Fertilizer. In the spring, from the beginning of the formation of new shoots and until the end of July, camellias need mineral and organic supplements. In August, feeding is stopped, which contributes to the establishment of flower buds.

Transfer. Unlike most indoor plants, camellia is not transplanted in the spring (she has a growth period at this time). The best time to transfer to a larger pot is winter. And transplant flowering plant. Camellias are transplanted rarely, once every 2-3 years. The root neck should be flush with the ground.

The soil. The soil should be loose, acidic (pH 4.5-5.5 acidity), as for azaleas. You can buy a mixture for or make up of leafy land, coniferous land, peat, perlite and sand (2: 2: 2: 2: 1). It is useful to add bark of coniferous trees.

Bloom. If camellia forms many buds, then it is recommended to leave 1-2 strongest buds at the end of each shoot, and remove the rest. Flowers will be much larger. If the plant does not have enough strength to develop all the buds that have started, they will fall off. During the development of buds, you need to carefully monitor watering, avoiding either overmoistening or drying out of the soil.

Breeding. Camellia is propagated by young apical cuttings. It is better to take shoots with olive color, but green ones are also suitable. The best time for grafting is July. Rooting takes 2 months. It is important that it is warm (20-25 degrees). The cuttings are rooted in a mixture of equal parts of peat land and sand or in clean pearlite.

Diseases and pests. Spider mite, mealybug, are dangerous for camellia,. It is important to notice the pests on time and treat the plant with insecticide.

Care at home for which it seems to many beginners something extremely difficult - incredibly beautiful. Its magnificence is worth a little torture with rooting cuttings. If you want to go on an easier path - Camellia Podroshchennaya room, care for which is much simpler, is sold in almost every flower shop. Let's find out more about this beautiful and

Camellia: home care, prejudice

An ideal place for a flower would be a warmed balcony. With the help of camellias it is possible to turn it into a real greenhouse. You need only a little experience, patience and good knowledge of the annual cycle of this plant. In no case should not be watered, transplanted and fed him the same way as the rest of your green pets. The existing opinion about the "capriciousness" of this plant and its unsuitability for growing in a room is based precisely on the peculiarities of the annual cycle of camellia. What are the differences? Let's start in order, with the fact that you purchased a flower. Camellia, the care of which requires thoughtfulness, is not always sold in an optimal form. In stores, not all sellers are able to give adequate advice on its cultivation. You can often hear from them that the camellia can not be rotated, in order to avoid shedding buds. And that flowering will occur exclusively in a cold room, so the plant allegedly does not need to be kept warm.

Both of these judgments are prejudices and can lead you to frustration. If you have camellia blooms on your windowsill, taking care of her at home does not exclude the possibility of turning it and raising the air temperature in the room to twenty. A prerequisite for proper cultivation is maintaining humidity. Camellia several times a week should be put under the shower or sprayed. Ordinary tap water is suitable for this, if it is not overly chlorinated. It is necessary to water only boiled water, adding a few drops of citric acid to soften.

Camellia home care: transplanting, feeding

The root system of this plant has a number of unique features. One of which is that the flower is dormant for most of the year. During the period of active growth transplanting is contraindicated.

But during flowering, you can do it. After all, then it does not grow, but only mechanically functions, delivering moisture from the roots to the buds and leaves. But to feed the camellia during the formation of the flowers in any case impossible. This period covers the period from the beginning of summer to spring. To prepare the soil, you need to take the soil with an acidic environment, quite loose and nutritious, add humus. You can use the finished mixture or make it yourself. In the latter case, you will need a ground from under the spruce in combination with humus, sod and sifted brick chips. Replace during the year can be up to three times. Feed in the period of active growth. Approximately once every six weeks. The first feeding is a complex composition with a high nitrogen content. You can use the mixture for azaleas and rhododendrons.

A beautiful, but soulless, camellia flower, by chance, has earned the reputation of being impatient with a cold heart. During flowering, it is perfect, but has no flavor, and its petals are as if made of wax. As a real sleeping beauty, she dismisses the buds, only falling into a state of rest, often demonstrates her character and not everyone lets herself be tamed.

But, as in life, an unapproachable appearance can be deceptive. Understanding the physiological characteristics of the plant, creating the right conditions, camellia is very easy to grow. And we will prove it, revealing the secrets of a capricious flower at first glance.

A flower praised in poetry as the ideal of exquisite and languid beauty

Subtropical plant that does not like the tropics

Warm ocean currents and wet monsoons determine the climate of Japan. On most islands, it is warm and humid, turning south toward subtropics and tropics. In winter, the temperature rarely drops below zero, the snow here is unusual.

The flora of Japan is represented by a large variety of evergreen trees and shrubs. Extensive forests consist of cypresses and magnolias, tree ferns and jagged oaks, and under their shade are thickets of rhododendrons and beautiful camellias that the Japanese adore and grow in special natural gardens, as can be seen in the photo below.

In addition to Japan, the plant is distributed in the subtropical zone of China, Korea, and Vietnam. There are mountain types of shrubs, characterized by greater endurance and feeling great in the open sun.

Camellia came to Europe about 200 years ago. She was brought by a Czech botanist Georg Kamel, engaged in missionary and medical activities in the Philippines. In his honor, and was named "Japanese rose." He, unfortunately, did not find out about this, since the said event occurred 30 years after his death.

What does it look like?

Camellia is a member of the Tea family. Yes, yes, one of the species of this plant is called a tea plant, and its leaves are used as raw materials for making one of the most popular drinks.

In nature, it is an evergreen shrub or a small tree 10–15 m high. The leaves are on short petioles, alternate, elliptical in shape, serrate on the edge, like those of a rose. They are quite dense and so glossy that they reflect the sun's rays, blowing "bunnies". Due to the leathery dark green foliage bush looks very elegant, even without flowers.

Flowers are single, large, 12–15 cm in diameter. In nature, they are simple or semi-double, mostly red or white. The cultural assortment is represented by a large variety of terry shapes and shades. Among them are surprisingly elegant specimens, for example, Middlebury pink camellia, the petals of which resemble neatly laid tiles.


  On the photo - Middlebury camellia pink

Under natural conditions, camellia blooms from January to March, but for some modern hybrids this period extends to six months - from November to May.

Another unusual feature of the Japanese rose is the gradual withering of the flower, which falls off entirely, while maintaining bright colors. The bush always looks neat - no faded, withered flowers with showered petals.

Loves, dislikes - natural preferences of camellia

Camellia is a plant in its natural environment intended for open ground, and it is grown in indoor conditions due to our cold climate. And once the plant is subtropical, then the conditions are trying to create a greenhouse. This is the main mistake. To better understand the preferences of the flower, consider what environment he was used to, and how it affected his physiology.

  1. The plant loves the weather warm, but not hot, wet, without sharp seasonal fluctuations. In their natural habitat, evergreen shrubs overwinter in the temperature range of 7–10⁰ plus, if there is a cold snap, it is short-lived and not very strong.

    In our latitudes, camellia tolerates summer painlessly, but problems with winter. It is unacceptable on the street (the minimum temperature that she is able to withstand is 10⁰ of frost), in a room at + 20–25⁰ C she is too hot.

  2. In nature, the shrub grows under a forest canopy, in a lacy shade of taller neighbors. Prefers diffused light, long daylight hours. In the room, the windowsills of the eastern and northern windows will suit the flower.
  3. The monsoon climate of the homeland of the plant provides high humidity. Like orchids, camellia garden likes spraying, as well as sources of moisture evaporation nearby.
  4. Growth in the undergrowth with a large number of coniferous trees determines the composition of the soil. It is light, airy, with an acid reaction (pH 4.5-5.5). The cushion of coniferous leaf litter gets wet well, but does not retain water.

To summarize, the main preferences of a houseplant are a lot of diffused light, low positive temperatures during flowering, sour loose soil and good air humidity.

Accordingly, the culture is oppressed by the open sun, the content in the winter in a warm room, inadequate planting substrate, lack of moisture.

Features of the annual development cycle

We love flowers after school hours. Bulbs we "cheat", forcing to bloom in winter, but there is a whole group of plants for which this is a natural stage of the annual cycle. These include our heroine.

  • The period of growth in camellia garden begins with the general awakening of nature - in April-May. At this time, it increases the vegetative mass, strengthens the root system. Shoot growth continues until mid-summer.
  • Around August, the budding of flower buds begins.
  • In the middle of autumn, buds appear that will unfold only with the onset of a suitable temperature regime.
  • At the beginning of winter, the plant blooms, but all the other organs (shoots, leaves, roots) stop growing.

In fact, camellia is a flower that dissolves during sleep, which makes it difficult to care for it at home.


  In Abkhazia, Sochi, on the South Coast of Ukraine, a garden camellia can become a bright decoration of the winter garden

Camellia family

In European countries with mild winters, flowering shrubs and trees can be found right on the street. Moreover, American breeders have developed many frost-resistant varieties of crops that can withstand a significant decrease in temperature in minus. In the gardens and greenhouses the most common are its following types.

Japanese camellia

It is a strong-growing spreading shrub with strong branches and brilliant dark green leaves. In Japan, it is often grown in the form of a tree, and in room culture, bonsai trees are formed. In nature, buds, planted in autumn, dissolve in January-February. Flowers are large (ø 5–13 cm), with dense, like wax petals, without smell.

It is this type of camellia that served as the genetic basis for a variety of plant varieties and hybrids:

  • varieties with simple red flowers - Ashya, Christmas;
  • red terry camellias - Adolph Aduson, Clifford Parks, Royal Velveteen, Fred Sander, Coquetti;
  • hybrids with white terry flowers - Nobilissima, Duchess de Bari, Alba Simplex;
  • pink varieties - Dr. Tinsley, Pink Perfeshion, Otom Tsubaki.

The last “peep of fashion” in camellia breeding is breeding varieties with variegated petals.


  In the photo - Alba Simplex grade
  Japanese camellia with variegated flowers

We have this species better known as the tea plant. An evergreen shrub with a thick spreading crown grows to a height of 10 m. The leaves are slightly elongated, leathery, dark green on the front side and slightly lighter on the back side. In mid-autumn, the bush is covered with simple white flowers with a yellow core, consisting of many anthers. In contrast to the odorless Japanese Camellia presented in the photo above, this is a view with a light tea aroma.


  In the photo - blooming tea bush

Sasankva (mountain view)

Sasankva, growing on the mountain wooded slopes of the Japanese islands, is a woody shrub with thin hanging branches, rarely exceeds 2.5–3 m in height. Its leaves are much smaller in comparison with other species, but the shape is glossy and leathery. Flowers are large, simple, on a short stem - it seems that they are literally stuck to the escape.

Sasankva is distinguished by its endurance to sub-zero temperatures and light-loving, therefore, with her participation, the varieties of camellia are found to be cold-resistant (in the photo below). Popular hybrids are Empress, Cleopatra, Chansonier. Although bush camellia is intended for open ground, it also feels good in room culture.


  Bush white and red camellia in the garden

Camellia reticulum (reticulated)

This type of camellia is often called tree, due to the fact that it grows a tree and is able to climb up to 20 m. In addition, it has the largest flowers - up to 20 cm in diameter. Reticulum is very loved by breeders, creating unique large-flowered hybrids with her participation. So when crossing the K. Japanese and netted, they got wonderful new varieties, selected as a separate group of Williams hybrids.
  Tree camellia in the garden of Shin-Edogawa (Tokyo)

Williams Hybrid Group

Williams' varieties and hybrids are in many ways superior to the starting material taken for crossing. Their flowering period lasts longer than that of K. Japanese, they are more hardy, they do not shed their petals, the flower completely fades on a bush. The assortment includes semi-double and terry hybrids, red, pink, white, variegated camellias. Plants are tall, in our climate they are best grown in tubs or greenhouses, greenhouses, winter gardens.


  Williams Hybrids - Spectacular and Viable Camellia Group

Subtleties of growing and care in room conditions

Camellia in temperate latitudes is cultivated in protected ground, so consider the characteristics of planting and caring for a plant in an urban apartment or a private house.

Way back home

Autumn is the beginning of winter - the peak of camellia sales. If you were given a flower, first look at it carefully.

  • In a healthy plant, the foliage is clean, dark green, the buds do not dry out, the flowers have dense elastic petals.
  • The root neck is flush with the soil.
  • The substrate should be wet, but crumble in the hands.

Even if something is wrong with the plant, do not rush to transplant, let it adapt to the new place, get used to the microclimate of the room.

But you need to create the right conditions from day one.

For the Japanese camellia, namely, its hybrids are sold more often than others, the light is needed diffused. In the cold season, fit the window sill, glazed balcony on the north or east side. With the onset of spring close to the glass plant will be uncomfortable, possible sunburn, so it is better to keep it at some distance from the window.

A common version of the summer content of the flower - in the garden. Pots with a plant are added in the lacy penumbra of trees, where there is a lot of ambient light. They are accustomed to open air gradually, first carrying them out for several hours. Return to the room with the onset of low, but positive! temperatures.

The second vital condition is temperature. The main enemy of the blooming camellia is urban heating; so that she does not hurt, she needs a temperature in the range of 10–12 10 C in winter. Therefore, feel free to purchase a delightful flower if you have a glazed loggia, a cool veranda or a winter garden.

In the summer, the plant feels comfortable at a temperature of 20–25 ,С, and with hot air will withstand more hot days. Gradually lower the temperature should be around mid-autumn - this has a beneficial effect on the tab of flower buds.

The third condition is high humidity. The ideal mode (90%) can be created in the greenhouse, in the room this figure is somewhat lower. Achieve it with a special humidifier. If there is none, carry out spraying, put a vessel with water next to the pot so that evaporation takes place.


  Balcony - one of the most suitable places for winter-flowering room culture.

Watering

Camellia is fastidious to watering - this is the element of care, the subtleties of which you need to know both in the indoor environment, and when growing crops in the garden. Here are the basic rules.

  1. For irrigation, it is recommended to use warm and soft water (rain, thawed, purified).
  2. Watering is always moderate, avoiding excessive drying and over-wetting of the coma. Marker - wet substrate crumbles.
  3. The plant requires more frequent watering during the growing season (spring-summer), less - during the rest (flowering) period - the end of autumn, winter.
  4. After watering, excess water from the pan is removed.

Top dressing

Flowering depletes the plant. With its end begin feeding. It is best to use professional fertilizers for camellias, azaleas, rhododendrons, in which the complex of nutritional components is already balanced for needs. The frequency of fertilizing - 1 time in two weeks, all the time while there is a growth of shoots. Since August, feeding is stopped - this is a signal for laying generative buds and forcing the buds.

Transplant, choice of soil mixture

The camellia flower is usually transplanted once every 2–3 years. The approach to the choice of planting container is the same as for other indoor plants - 1 cm more in diameter than the previous one. Good hold moisture plastic pots.

Soil mixture is better to buy ready-made, intended for camellias, azaleas. Its main property is acid reaction. Composition:

  • riding (sour) peat;
  • coniferous garbage;
  • leaf earth;
  • perlite;
  • large river sand.

Before transplanting, the flower is freed from the old substrate, the roots are slightly “combed”, removing the rotted parts. A shard is placed on the drainage hole, drainage is poured (clay, stones), spilled with a layer of coarse sand, and then it directly lands. Substrate pre-moisturize, after planting watered, so that it better enveloped the roots.

The most suitable time for transplantation - the end of flowering.


  In the photo - Camellia transplant

Do I need pruning?

If you do not form a bonsai, pruning plants need a minimum. What and when cut?

  • Shoots that spoil the look of the crown.
  • Sprigs growing inwards and disturbing others.
  • The top of the shoot if necessary to stimulate its branching.

Pruning is desirable to carry out before the start of vegetative growth, ie, in the spring. You can not combine transplanting and pruning a flower, it will complicate its recovery.

Camellia Reproduction

Camellia is propagated by cuttings and grown from seeds.

Cutting allows you to save the grade of culture. Cut cuttings from green (lumbering) apical shoots. This can be done at any time of the year, but better in the summer. The stalk length is 6–8 cm with 3-5 leaves, which are cut in half to reduce the evaporation area.

For rooting, a wet mixture is prepared from coarse sand and peat (in half), the cutting is processed with a root or other stimulator, planted at an angle of 45⁰. Cookware with cuttings on top is covered with a transparent cap under which they will stay until the roots appear - and this is 3-4 months. The mini-greenhouse regularly airs, moisturizes, maintains a temperature of 20–25⁰ C.

The second option is to grow camellia from seeds at home. But we must remember that with this method is saved from 80% of the signs of the mother plant.

Seeds are sown in the same mixture as for grafting. Seeds are placed at a distance of 5–7 cm, sprinkled with a substrate, moistened and sent under a transparent cap for germination. Shoots with two true leaves dive into small pots already with a full primer.

Camellia seeds contain many oils, therefore they germinate while fresh. It is better to sow them immediately after aging, in the spring and summer months. If there is a need to save the seeds, they are placed in peat, perlite, put in a fridge or lowered in a basement - the temperature is not higher than 10 C.


  In the photo - rooted cuttings of camellia

Japanese rose in the garden

With the advent of frost-resistant varieties of camellia bush there is a temptation to grow it in the garden, in this case, planting and care have their own nuances.

It is encouraging that individual hybrids can withstand up to 20⁰ of frost. But do not forget that this is a winter-flowering plant. Yes, the roots will withstand a minus temperature, perhaps even a part of the shoots will remain, but the shrub will not bloom in the cold. First of all, we are talking about a short-term decrease in temperature, and second, in order for the bush to blossom, positive temperatures should be established by the end of January. So, anyway, and we can grow camellia in our garden only in the south

Requirements for planting similar room - penumbra, acidic soil, abundant watering. But since the plant remains to winter in the ground, it is recommended to warm the root zone with mulching materials - foliage, sawdust, crushed bark. If during flowering there is a threat of frost, the camel crown is recommended to wrap with lutrasil for the night.

We tried to present all the nuances of growing a flower culture. If they are remembered and observed, the camellia will subdue you with refined grace and will not be capricious at all.

Tips for growing camellia japanese: