
Volunteer Gardener 3413
Season 34 Episode 3413 | 27mVideo has Closed Captions
Tour of home garden of 2 plant enthusiasts with design skills; camellia varieties and growing tips.
A love of color, flowers and art are the keys to this home garden of 2 plant enthusiasts with a talent for design. Sheri Gramer finds out more about their plant choices, and cohesive combinations. Marty DeHart is in Chapel Hill North Carolina with the co-founder of Camellia Forest Nursery, David Parks. We'll learn about some great-performing varieties and get helpful growing tips.
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Volunteer Gardener is a local public television program presented by WNPT

Volunteer Gardener 3413
Season 34 Episode 3413 | 27mVideo has Closed Captions
A love of color, flowers and art are the keys to this home garden of 2 plant enthusiasts with a talent for design. Sheri Gramer finds out more about their plant choices, and cohesive combinations. Marty DeHart is in Chapel Hill North Carolina with the co-founder of Camellia Forest Nursery, David Parks. We'll learn about some great-performing varieties and get helpful growing tips.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
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Volunteer Gardener
Produced by Nashville Public Television, Volunteer Gardener features local experts who share gardening tips, upcoming garden events, recipes, visits to private gardens, and more.Providing Support for PBS.org
Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorship- [Narrator] A love of color, texture, flowers and art are the keys to this exceptional home garden of two plant enthusiasts with a talent for design.
Sheri Gramer learns more about the plant choices and combinations that certainly make these outdoor spaces a delight to experience.
Marty DeHart is in Chapel Hill, North Carolina with the co-founder and proprietor of Camellia Forest David Parks.
We'll learn about some great performing Camellias.
Plus get helpful growing tips.
Stay tuned.
(bright music) This delightful home landscape continues to evolve, growing more beautiful with each growing season.
- We have a treat for you today.
We're in Spring Hill, Tennessee, and you're gonna see what 18 years of passion does when you are gardeners.
We're at the home of John Flannery and Kelly Hilton.
And I wanna ask you about your gardening experience.
You've been a gardener, obviously, and you are a gardener as well now.
- Yes.
- By default.
- Most definitely.
- And you have a beautiful display behind us of layering and stuff.
Tell me a little bit about your background, John.
- Yeah, started doing landscaping when I quit college 40 years ago and loved it ever since.
- So you learned all the rules, all the ins and outs?
- Yep, yep.
We like a lot of color, texture, flowers, yard art, and we try to do it in a tasteful manner.
And our gardens are spread out so much that it's spaced around so it doesn't look tacky.
We like a lot of unusual stuff, anything with color or texture, we stop at every garden center we see.
I have a passion for it.
- I wanna talk about the plantings behind us.
- Okay.
- Can we talk about the French hollyhocks or the mallow?
- We try to use more perennials now than we did in the past.
We used to put a lot of annuals out, but now we've done more with the perennials just 'cause we're getting older and it's a lot of work.
So that was- - [Sheri] And that's a biennial, correct?
- [John] Yes.
- [Sheri] Okay.
Because it is a member of the hollyhock family.
- [John] Yeah.
- [Sheri] And then the white dwarf spider flower there, the cleome.
- [John] Yep, it's always does well here.
It gets so large and just blooms continuously all summer.
Loves our heat.
- I think it's a great alternative to the tall ones that get leggy and droop and stuff.
- Yep.
- And tell me about your other plantings here, how you went about layering and things.
- We started at the house and then we lost some hollies a couple years ago in that freeze, so we had to start over on that side.
But we just like color and texture, so we just continuously layer.
If we add something else out here, we just extend the beds out further.
- [Sheri] And your conifers and your shrubbery is gorgeous and you have some roses and lots of art.
Love it.
- [John] Yes.
Thank you.
Some of the material we've dug up, we used to do some landscaping on the side like the rose, the drift rose there.
Customer hated the color.
It was done by a previous landscaper and she said, get it out.
- [Sheri] Okay.
- [John] So we brought it home and rescued it.
- [Sheri] And tell me about the ginkgo.
I love it.
Although they're kind of a pain the way they drop their leaves a lot in the fall.
- [John] Right.
- [Sheri] But because they're deciduous.
- [John] Yes, that's- - [Sheri] And then what's below it here?
- [John] It's a Spring Grove ginkgo.
And it's supposed to top out at eight foot, but it likes that spot apparently.
And it's getting larger than an eight foot already.
- [Sheri] Do you trim it in the fall there?
- [John] We don't.
- [Sheri] You don't?
- [John] We haven't.
- [Sheri] Okay.
- [John] Yeah, we haven't touched it since we put it in about three years ago.
- [Kelly] Three years ago, yes.
- [Sheri] And I love the coleus, the colors on there really, almost like a firecracker.
- [John] Yep.
I think it's called apple brandy, I believe.
- [Sheri] Oh.
- [John] And that particular variety there doesn't flower.
Like some of 'em, you have to keep the flower, keep the stalk.
- [Sheri] Right, you have to keep it deadheaded.
- [John] Yeah, that one doesn't.
- [Sheri] And I like how it's compact, but it's bushy.
- [John] Yes.
- [Sheri] Tell me about this tree.
I love it.
- [John] It's called a Ruby Falls redbud.
Blooms just like the regular redbuds do in the early spring.
And then turns this beautiful burgundy color weeping effect.
- Because it has a weeping, branching nature, did the buds come on that as well or just on the main stalk?
- Yeah.
- That must be gorgeous- - It's gorgeous.
- in the spring.
- Yeah.
- Okay.
- This one's only two years old.
- Two years old.
- Got it in Greenville, Kentucky.
- [Sheri] Nice.
- [John] Yep.
- [Sheri] Love it.
- [Kelly] Thank you.
- [Sheri] I especially like the heart-shaped leaves and the weeping habit of this one, you know?
And it doesn't look too big for this spot.
It's perfect.
I noticed you have quite a few pots in your gardens.
- [John] Yes, ma'am.
- [Sheri] But I love these large ones.
And the combination here is quite unique.
Tell me about that.
- Thank you.
We do like a lot of containers in the beds and we put in annuals each year and try to get some unusual stuff in it.
This is a tropical can.
It blooms a light orange, so I paired it with the chocolate orange begonia.
- Gorgeous.
- Bring it out.
- [Sheri] Now, obviously that's an annual, but do you leave the cans right in here?
- [John] Well, it might come back, but I doubt it.
- [Sheri] So you dig 'em up?
- [John] Yeah, we try to dig 'em up and we save some things sometimes, but a lot of times we don't, we just start up.
- [Sheri] Do you use drip irrigation on your pots and containers or you hand water?
- [John] We hand water everything.
- [Sheri] Wow, you two are ambitious.
- [Kelly] Yeah.
- Yeah.
I wanna know about this little greenhouse or this little pretty shed as I call 'em.
- We've been wanting to do it for years.
Collected some windows off marketplace and antique stores and finally got it up this year.
And I wanted some colored stained glass in places, so bought that, cut it in the size.
And it's gonna be decorative spot in the garden.
- [Sheri] And your moss chandelier or candelabra, I guess you'd call it in there.
- [John] Yeah.
Saw that at a garden trade I went on a couple of years ago and a lady had done that, so copied it.
- [Sheri] And you've incorporated your family heirlooms into your garden as well?
- [Kelly] Yes.
- [Sheri] We've talked about your urns here that were your grandma's?
- [Kelly] It was my grandmother's, yes.
- [Sheri] And you've created, you've kind of mimicked the colors throughout your garden.
That's what I love.
- [John] Yeah.
- It's like a continuation, like in your home.
And then behind me you have all different kinds of little vignettes and quiet little spots, tranquil spots.
- Yes.
- Water features.
- Yes.
- [Sheri] And you have a fairy house.
- [John] Yes.
- [Sheri] Tell me how you came about this.
Like did you start with one section and go to a different one and say, "Hey, let's put something here this year", or did it gradually- - [John] It gradually- - [Sheri] Snowball as they say?
- [John] It gradually snowballs.
Yes, we had to have a black walnut taken down, so I asked 'em to cut the trunk to look like that.
And then we just continuously add the beds from there, find new plants, things from antique stores, like the bird house, and we plant in it.
- [Sheri] I like antiques and collectibles also.
And I absolutely love this bird cage.
The bright red flowers and the trailing chartreuse, which are two of my favorite colors.
You know, I might have to copy that.
Again, how you've combined your shade plants with some of your sun, so you know where the sun comes through your trees, obviously.
- [John] Yes.
- [Sheri] Which is important to note.
And then you have lots of ferns.
And again, you created, you must like pinks and peaches and yellows.
- [John] We like a lot of color.
And we'll try stuff, even some of these things that typically it's full sun plants, like the tree-form Limelight there, it blooms fine all summer long and does great.
- [Sheri] It's got a little hole of sunshine there.
- [John] Yep.
- [Kelly] Yeah.
- [John] Yep.
- [Sheri] Tell me about your little waterfall going on here.
- [John] Dug it a couple years ago and we've added a lot of shade perennials and we don't have any annuals around it this year.
It's all perennials.
- [Sheri] And it's a pondless water feature.
- [John] Yes.
- [Sheri] That's important to note.
And then I noticed quite a bit of shade plantings here.
We've got a fern there.
- [John] Japanese painted ferns.
Some Brunnera, some Heuchera, Solomon's seal.
- [Sheri] Solomon's seals right over here by the steps.
I love that.
I don't know why.
I guess it's appealing 'cause it's taller.
- [John] Yeah.
- [Sheri] And the variegation is good.
- [Kelly] I love the variegation on it.
- [Sheri] Yeah, yeah.
- [John] And it does so well here.
I've dug up, I started some on the property line over there and now I've dug up and moved it in several places.
- [Sheri] The Heuchera just kind of sparkles in that setting.
What I like about it, it does great in full shade, and, you know, it even does good in partial shade.
And you can't beat the foliage.
I love your color combinations, not only with the ferns and your shade-loving plants.
Again, you've repeated your annuals with a color in here for pops of color.
Tell me about that.
- [John] We like to use a lot of color.
And on the perennials, especially the texture of the ferns, the lighter green, darker greens, the hostas as well, throw in some liriope here and there.
The Secretia, the purple there, it comes back.
- [Sheri] Explain what you mean about texture for our viewers.
- [John] Just the delicate- - [Sheri] Some are spiky, some are leafy, some are tall, some are short?
- [John] Yep, yep.
Exactly.
- [Sheri] Draws your eye through the garden.
- [John] Exactly, yep.
- I love your hardscape.
Who does all the grunt work of you two?
Both of you?
- We have.
When we initially put this patio in in the wall, I did have some help with that, but the rest of the stuff we've done ourselves.
- And I love how you've tiered it up.
You've have actually almost four tiers, really, if you count the very bottom.
It pulls your eye up and looks at your beautiful plantings up there.
That wall up there was just this year or last year?
- [John] Last year.
- [Sheri] Last year.
- [John] Yeah.
We have- - [Sheri] So this wasn't enough, you just had to do one more?
- [John] Yeah.
- [Sheri] Okay.
- [John] We, of course, there's no level piece of area on this property so we used it to our advantage, the slope.
- [Sheri] What's kind of Echinacea is that in back?
I just noticed that beautiful red color.
- [John] I think it's called raspberry rush.
- [Sheri] That is gorgeous.
- [John] Yeah, I think it's fair.
- [Sheri] Does that come back okay from you?
- [John] Well, it's just planted this year.
- [Sheri] Okay, 'cause I know some of them hybrids are kind of finicky.
- [John] We'll see.
- [Sheri] Oh my goodness.
That pot is massive.
And you said it's plastic?
- [John] It's plastic.
- [Sheri] Well, that makes it easier, doesn't it?
- [John] Yes.
- [Sheri] That's gorgeous.
And tell me about the trees here and your shortgrass.
I see a Japanese maple or two, several.
- [John] We have several Japanese maples, full moon Japanese maple behind the pot.
The chokecherry, it's a pot sitting on, we had to have taken down, it get struck by lightning, so we used it to our advantage with that large pot.
- [Sheri] That was a big tree.
- [John] Yes.
- And then the weeping?
- That's a Golden Falls redbud.
- Okay.
- That's just put in this year.
- [Sheri] It flowers the same way as the other one we saw?
- [John] I assume it does.
We just planted it a month ago I think.
- [Sheri] Those are gorgeous.
- [John] Yes.
- [Sheri] Gorgeous, gorgeous.
And you have some annuals in here as well as perennials.
- [John] Yep.
- [Sheri] And do you mulch this twice a year or once a year?
- [John] Just once.
- [Sheri] Once a year?
- [John] Yeah.
- [Sheri] Okay.
- [John] We do have to have somebody hire, help us mulch this time.
- [Sheri] Yeah.
- [John] We've been so busy with both our works.
- [Sheri] You call this your Hosta Garden?
- We did.
This was our, one of the first beds we did several years back.
And then we've added to it.
We had a mold problem one year, lost quite a few hostas, and then we started adding some other shade plants.
- [Sheri] And what else do you have in here besides hostas?
- [John] We've got the Mahonia, some Heuchera, Brunnera, some Aucuba, and stuff that will take the shade, like the arborvitaes over there and the green.
And then we've added the metal work, metal art throughout the bed.
- Yeah, I love the balls hanging from the trees because it draws our eye up as well.
This is definitely a garden spot to linger in.
There's plenty to see, plenty to enjoy, but you know nothing is overdone.
Everything here, the plants, you know, the path, the garden art, they're all working in harmony.
And these plants are performing great for you too.
Well done, guys.
I can't believe the overall feel I'm getting, its warm vibe, its serenity, it's everything wrapped up in one.
You guys have did such a wonderful job.
It's very apparent to everybody that you love this.
- Thank you.
- It's a passion for sure.
- Thank you.
- Thank you.
- And I wanna tell you both, thank you, John and Kelly.
Thank you so much for letting our viewers share your wonderful gardens.
- You're welcome.
- Thank you for coming.
- Yeah, we've enjoyed- - Thank you.
- We love sharing it with people.
- Thank you.
(bright music) - One of the all-time iconic shrubs in the south is the camellia.
And boy, have I got a treat for you today.
We're at Camellia Forest Nursery in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
And this is David Parks, Mr.
Camellia himself.
And we are gonna be talking about how to grow camellias successfully in your garden.
And, David, I'm so happy to be here today.
This is just spectacularly beautiful.
- Oh, I'm glad you're here.
It's a good time.
- [Marty] Yes, it is, because all the japonicas are in bloom, right?
- [David] Yes.
- [Marty] Yeah, now in Tennessee we grow, tend to grow two basic flavors of camellias.
They're the japonicas which bloom, when would they start, maybe January?
- They can start in January.
- Yeah.
- It just depends on the weather.
- But it goes into the spring season?
- Yeah, can go into April.
- Yeah, and then we also grow sasanquas, which start in late summer, early fall for us maybe?
- [David] Yeah, probably early October.
- [Marty] Yeah, yeah, that would be right.
And they go on into December in a lot of cases.
- [David] Yeah.
- How about this one right here, right by me?
- Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, so this is April Tryst.
This is one of the plants that survived that minus nine winter.
So it's one of the most cold hardy ones.
Tends to be a little bit later blooming, so like March into April blooming.
- [Marty] So that helps with bud, they don't get frozen too early or something?
- [David] Right, right, yeah.
You know, the early blooms, we can get some freezes, freeze the flowers, so this is real dependable, real heavy blooming.
I mean, you can see the heavy bud set.
- [Marty] Look at this.
Look at that.
- [David] Too many buds.
- [Marty] That's insane.
That's crazy.
- [David] Yeah, it will set a lot of buds.
- [Marty] I've had good luck with the April series in general.
April Remembered is just one of those delicate, gorgeous things.
And I just love the pastel tones of this.
What flower form is this?
I know camellias come in different sort of arrangements of flowers.
- [David] Yeah, this is a semi-double flower form.
- [Marty] Okay.
- [David] Which means, there's kind of two layers of petals surrounding a boss of stamens in the center.
- [Marty] That's this golden part.
- [David] Yeah, so usually, I mean, it could be sometimes it's three layers, but, you know, 10 to 20 petals, just depending on who you talk to.
But they are, this is one of my dad's favorites.
- [Marty] Oh, it's beautiful.
- [David] And he named it April Remembered because it was, or it is like Berenice Boddy.
- [Marty] Yeah.
- [David] One of the- - [Marty] That's one of the parents, right?
- [David] One of the parents that he used that turned out to give a lot of cold hardness to all many of his seedlings.
- [Marty] Oh, that's fantastic.
It's just so beautiful.
I just love this one.
This kind of very formal arrangement of petals.
What is this form called?
- [David] This is called the formal double form.
- [Marty] Oh, okay.
- [David] So formal double, the definition is, it's all petals arranged in layers and you don't see any stamens.
- [Marty] I see, yeah, like that golden boss we saw in that other one isn't there.
- [David] Right.
- [Marty] Okay.
- [David] So that would formal double.
- [Marty] This is April Rose, correct?
- [David] Right, yes.
And it's a late bloomer.
And this was the only one that even tried to open the flower after the minus nine.
- [Marty] Really?
So it's super hardy.
- [David] Yeah, super hardy.
- [Marty] You can have something this gorgeous and it's that hardy?
- [David] Yeah, yeah.
- [Marty] That is just spectacular.
This is another one I've had really good luck with.
- [David] Yeah?
- [Marty] Yeah.
- [David] Yeah.
- [Marty] The Pink Icicle.
- [David] They bloom heavily for you too?
- [Marty] It is a very enthusiastic bloomer, which is a wonderful thing.
And I also like its habit which tends to be upright.
- [David] Yeah, yeah.
I really like it 'cause it's so prolific.
- [Marty] Yeah.
- [David] It's just, has a lot more blooms than many varieties.
- [Marty] And they're big.
They're a nice size.
- [David] Yeah.
- [Marty] Yeah.
- [David] And that's probably, partly, one of its parents is a Camellia x williamsii, which is a hybrid that's very floriferous.
- [Marty] Okay, it's really a really good-looking plant.
- [David] Yeah.
- [Marty] I've seen these planted in a row, almost like a hedge.
And it was quite successful that way and it got morning sun.
- [David] Yeah, yeah.
Camellias will make a good hedge.
You know, a little pruning to shape it so they fill in.
- [Marty] Right, I just- - [David] When they're young.
- [Marty] I just whack it off when it's doing something wanky out to the side or something.
- [David] Yeah, yeah.
- [Marty] Yeah.
- [David] Yeah.
But you have to be patient.
- Yes, indeed.
I just love these dark-toned flowers.
But this one in particular is amazing.
- Yeah.
- Tell me the name?
- This is one called Kuro Delight.
- [Marty] Okay.
- [David] And Kuro in Japanese is black.
So it got, one of the parents was Kuro Tsubaki, which just means black camellia- - [Marty] Okay.
- [David] in Japanese.
And this was a seedling of that.
And it turned out to be a very cold, hardy.
- [Marty] Oh, yay.
- [David] Oh, this one from Dr.
Ackerman.
- [Marty] Oh yeah, New Jersey, yeah.
- [David] And it tends to be fairly late blooming and has a real dark red flower.
- [Marty] This has almost a blue cast to the petals.
- [David] Yeah.
The blue color often appears as the flower ages and also when the soil is more acidic.
- [Marty] Oh.
- [David] It's kind of like the blue in hydrangeas.
- [Marty] Oh yeah.
That makes sense.
Tell me about this one.
- [David] This is one called Korean Fire.
And this- - [Marty] This one is incredibly hardy, right?
- [David] It is.
Supposedly, it survived minus 23 Fahrenheit.
- [Marty] My goodness.
- [David] In Pennsylvania.
This is one collected by Barry Yinger.
- [Marty] Oh yeah.
- [David] He went to... - [Marty] Famous collector.
- [David] Korea right near the North-South border in Korea.
- [Marty] Oh, right.
- [David] There's some islands off the coast, off the west coast.
- [Marty] Okay.
- [David] Where some camellias were supposed to exist.
- [Marty] Okay.
- [David] So he, he- - [Marty] He found 'em?
- [David] He used some bottles of alcohol to bribe some army officials and got there and collected.
- [Marty] Wow.
- [David] He collected seeds, collected cuttings, and brought back quite a bit of plant material that was grown in by various people.
- [Marty] Yeah, 'cause they have harsh winters there.
I mean, it's ameliorated a little bit by the ocean, but still.
- [David] They must be pretty harsh.
- [Marty] Yeah, yeah, that's beautiful.
- But I saw pictures, you know, it's probably a whole place that's like deforested and there's these few little camellia shrubs out in the open, completely full of sun.
- Oh wow.
- So they're tough plants.
- This is a rugged one.
- Yeah, yeah.
- So Korean Fire, folks, if you really want, and it's just a straight ahead true crimson red.
- Yeah.
- Really beautiful.
- Tends to bloom quite early.
- Okay.
- As soon as we get some mild weather in January- - [Marty] It starts.
- we'll get some flowers.
- [Marty] Okay.
- And it blooms for quite a, you know, it'll bloom for three months so.
- This is a camellia that I use all the time.
We're looking at sasanquas now, the fall bloomers.
And this is one of my favorites.
And you've got a nice number of them.
They're really beautiful.
- Yeah, this is a popular one.
This is called Shishi Gashira.
It's lion's head.
- [Marty] There's a Japanese maple with the same name.
- [David] That's right.
And this one starts blooming in November and just keeps blooming.
It just finished blooming probably the end of February.
- [Marty] Yeah, they just had this really, really long, long season of bloom.
And another thing I really like is in a smaller yard where you don't have room for a big camellia, they have this low-spreading habit as a shrub, so they really are very complementary to a courtyard or a smaller garden bed.
And the color is this, for me, is this really warm coral pink, deep coral pink I would call it.
- Yeah, yeah.
- Yeah.
And would you say semi-double flower?
- Yeah, I would call it a semi-double.
And when it's blooming, the whole plant is covered with flowers.
- Right, it is.
It is a very, very heavy blooming plant.
Just a really great one.
And does great in Nashville, but all through Tennessee, just a really great plant.
And I wanted to talk really quickly while we're here about when to prune camellias, whether it's japonicas or sasanquas, when do they make buds?
So you don't wanna be cutting the flowers off.
- [David] Right.
So both types will make buds in May.
- [Marty] Okay.
- [David] Because I'll start seeing the flower buds in June.
So they've been, they're starting- - [Marty] They've been working on 'em for a little while.
- [David] That's right.
- [Marty] Yeah.
- [David] So you need to do your pruning before they start making the buds.
- [Marty] Okay.
- [David] With the sasanquas it's easy.
You can do it in February when they're dormant and nothing's happening.
- [Marty] Right, and they finished blooming obviously.
- [David] With japonicas, you kind of need to do it right after they finish blooming.
- [Marty] Okay.
- [David] So April.
- [Marty] Okay, right in the middle of the spring?
- [David] Yes.
Yeah, yeah.
- [Marty] Okay.
- [David] Kind of it's, I think it's good to prune 'em before they even start growing.
- [Marty] Okay.
Good tip.
So, folks, don't whack on any of your camellias like in August or July, 'cause you're cutting off next year's flowers.
- [David] Yes, that's right.
- [Marty] Don't do it.
- [David] That's right.
- So in the Nashville area, for example, we really need help with how to plant them and have success.
- Right.
Yeah so, you know, camellias do prefer acidic soil.
- Right.
- They prefer a pH of five.
- Wow, that's pretty low.
- Five, five and a half is probably, you know, ideal.
But they're tolerant of wider range.
- Right.
Yeah.
- But you can acidify your soil using sulfur, which takes a while.
- Right.
- Or ammonium sulfate.
- Right, which is fast-acting, but a little harsher.
- Right.
- Yeah.
- Right.
- Yeah.
- Adding organic matter is gonna also help.
- Right.
- So mixed compost with your existing soil you're at, it's not necessarily lowering the pH, but it's gonna help.
- [Marty] Okay, it helps buffer the soil.
- [David] Yeah.
- [Marty] So it doesn't get too alkaline, I know that.
Do they have a wide shallow root system?
- [David] Yeah, do have a wide shallow root system.
- [Marty] Okay, so a wide hole amended well.
- [David] Ancient camellias will form a tap root.
- [Marty] Okay.
- [David] But it takes many decades for 'em to start making a tap root.
- Okay.
- You know, I've moved some old camellias, like 30-year-old camellias.
- Right.
- And most of their roots are in the top six inches of the soil.
- Really?
- But they have a few roots that are going down.
- Amazing.
So that tells us where we really need to fix the soil up for them.
- Yeah.
- And it also points next to their water needs.
That would be a plant that's not drought-tolerant.
Am I correct?
- Well, in our experience they are pretty drought-tolerant.
- [Marty] Once they're established.
- [David] Once they're established.
- [Marty] Yeah.
What about location in lighting?
- Lighting?
They need some shade.
- Yeah.
- They're, I would say, you know, like three or four hours of sun is enough sun for the japonicas.
- Morning or afternoon?
Does it matter?
- I don't think it matters that much.
- Okay, okay.
- But what they really need is the winter shade.
- Okay.
So they don't get scalded and sunburned into, I see.
- That combination of sun and cold on the evergreen foliage that just gets, that just damages the foliage.
- [Marty] Okay.
- [David] So often, the north side of the house is much better.
- [Marty] Okay.
- [David] It may sound colder, but it's better for the camellias.
- [Marty] Yeah.
So it's a more rugged plant than people think.
- [David] Yeah, yeah.
- [Marty] That's good to know.
- [David] Yeah.
- [Marty] And it's wonderful, I mean, we're always looking for really good-looking evergreen plants for shade.
And, you know, what a great thing.
The last one that I really wanted to get your opinion on was the winters series of sasanquas.
- Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Those are, there's a whole bunch of 'em out there, but they are some of the Dr.
Ackerman ones, that are very cold hardy, kind of right now, you see a few that have been real dependable.
- [Marty] Right, like this one, Winter's Snowman.
Of course, none of these are blooming because we're shooting in the spring and these are fall bloomers.
But Winter's Snowman is a snowy white, it's kind of what, informal semi-double?
- [David] Yeah, it varies, semi-double to anemone form.
- [Marty] Okay, okay.
- [David] Where, you know, sometimes it'll have like a whole little ball of white petaloids in the center.
- [Marty] Oh, in the middle, yeah.
- [David] But not every flower.
- [Marty] Right.
- [David] But very vigorous.
- [Marty] And super reliable.
- [David] Yeah.
- Yeah, yeah.
Most of the winters are, and the good news is, folks, is that they're widely available.
I mean, it's rare to find a nursery that does carry camellias that doesn't have one or more of the winters series.
So it's great advice.
Listen, I wanna thank you so much for sharing your wisdom.
- [David] I'm glad you came.
- [Marty] Oh, it's just been a treat.
And I just, camellias are one of my personal favorites and it's lovely to hear about 'em and share your, have you share your knowledge with about with us.
- [David] Sure, sure.
I hope more people grow them.
- [Marty] I hope so too.
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