By Val Whitmyre, U. C. Master Gardener
If you?re looking for dependable evergreen landscape shrubs, I recommend sasanqua camellias. With glossy, dark green foliage and continual blooms from early autumn through early winter, these decorative shrubs brighten our Napa Valley winter days.
For centuries, the sasanqua camellia was used for practical as well as decorative reasons. Its shoots and leaves made teas and the seeds or nuts produced cooking and heating oil and cosmetics. It was an arduous process but whale oil and fossil fuel were not yet in use.
The original species camellias found thousands of years ago in Japan had small leaves with small, single white flowers, some sweetly scented. The species C. lutchuensis is now important in hybridizing more fragrant camellias.
Almost all camellias are white and variations of pink and red with yellow stamens.
C. sasanqua closely resembles many of the early species. The different characteristics may only be a matter of bloom times.
In my yard, the succession of sasanqua bloom time is as follows: "Chansonette," a bright pink, formal, double-flowering plant blooms in late October and is followed by "Setsugekka," a sturdy upright with lightly scented, three-inch white flowers. Then "White Doves" blooms with its two- to three-inch informal double blossoms, whose petals resemble ruffled feathers. Its best display is just before the rain starts in November.
"Jean May" follows, a double shell-pink upright that has been in full bloom since early December and has withstood the heavy rains, flooding and high winds that ushered in the new year.
After consulting with camellia enthusiast Peggy Aaron about plant identification, I now know that two of my "sasanquas" are other species that resemble sasanquas. She also encouraged me to learn more about camellias at the 16th Annual Camellia Show on Saturday, February 4, at the Napa Senior Center, from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
The most popular camellias are C. japonica, C. reticulata and C. sasanqua. Japonica, the most familiar species, grows to be a tall, neat shrub or small tree, displaying one of six different flower forms. The whole flower of the japonica falls off at once, an event that unnerved Samurai warriors in Japan. It reminded them of human heads falling off.
Reticulatas are rangier shrubs that produce breathtaking, prize-winning blooms. Because of their size, sasanqua flowers aren't show quality, even though the various colors and shapes are quite beautiful. In general, sasanqua shrubs, flowers and leaves are smaller than the japonicas. They bloom earlier and drop their flowers one petal at a time.
Valued for their many landscape uses, sasanquas are used for container planting, bonsai, espalier, informal hedges, screens and graceful focal points beside natural pools or waterfalls. Their natural growth is either upright or a graceful willow-like form. Some may be used as ground cover by cutting back upright growth.
Pruning camellias is almost unnecessary because they grow fairly slowly to their own unique shape. If you use them as a hedge, never use electric shears. These expose old wood, displace birds? nests, cut out many of the flowers and destroy their natural mature form. Clip only to lightly shape about every five years.
Keep the soil below the plant raked clean of fallen petals to help prevent petal blight, a common fungal disease caused by overhead splashing water.
Sasanquas tolerate sun better than other species but prefer sheltered dappled light. They make excellent under-story shrubs (planted under trees). They also need moist, mildly acidic soil and excellent drainage. Feed them acid-type fertilizer three times a year, once in the spring after they finish blooming, once in July and just before November. I tend to dilute the fertilizer and use it more often.
When planting, dig the hole wide as well as deep to let the shallow roots to spread out. Mix approximately half organic matter with half of the original soil. Plant the root ball three inches higher than the soil level to insure good drainage, which is essential. If you have mostly clay soil, build a mound of enriched soil and plant the root ball several inches above ground level, or plant it in a raised bed.
Once the camellia is planted, don't disturb the tiny feeder roots by digging around the plant. Instead, protect the shallow roots with a three-inch mulch of compost once or twice a year. Tiny living, beneficial organisms within the compost and soil will add nutrients and help aerate the soil around the plant.
Ideal planting time is during dormancy, either early autumn or early spring. Happily, camellias are dormant when they are in bloom, which makes it easier for you to choose exactly what you want.