Meet the most popular camellia species
Camellia is a unique plant, decorative and flowering at the same time. Dense leaves with a rigid structure, painted in a rich green color, are quite beautiful in themselves. And when many inflorescences of the most different shapes and colors are revealed against their background, camellia becomes the main decoration of the flower collection.
It is noteworthy that it blooms only in winter, and in the summer it begins to lay new flower buds.
To date, breeders have bred many varieties camellias... Among them there are both simple and double varieties, and even flowers with variegated inflorescences.
Most often at home you can find the following types of plants:
- Japanese camellia;
- mountain camellia.
Japanese camellia
In nature, such a camellia grows in the form of a bush or a small tree (10 m in height). Its cultivated varieties are rarely higher than one meter and are widely used for growing as a tub plant, which is taken out into the garden in the summer. In greenhouse conditions, the variety can even bear fruit.
The leaves of the Japanese camellia are no more than 10 cm in length, painted in a dark green color. The edges of the leaf plate have small serrations, and it itself is in the form of an oval. Flowering begins in late November and lasts until early May.
The inflorescences of most representatives of this species are small, up to 4 cm in diameter, but there are also garden varieties with flowers up to 12 cm in diameter. They are located both in small groups and singly. Depending on the specific variety, the color of the inflorescences can be either monochromatic or variegated. There are also simple and terry types.
Such varieties of Japanese camellia look very beautiful:
- "Adolphe audusson" with semi-double red flowers, in the center of which yellow stamens are visible;
- "Buttermint" with white petals;
- "Lavinia maggi" with variegated inflorescences with light red stripes on a white background.
Mountain camellia
Most often, the variety can be found in gardens, but there are also indoor types of mountain camellia that grow successfully indoors, provided they are provided with a cool temperature. The plant is a shrub, reaching 5 m in height in the garden, but in the room, the size of camellia is usually more compact and can be easily adjusted by pruning.
Mountain camellia differs from other species in that its leaves and inflorescences are an order of magnitude smaller. In addition, the middle vein on the leaf is slightly pubescent on the underside.
The bush blooms in late autumn and blooms for an average of 3 months. Inflorescences are most often solitary, but they can be located in several pieces together. The color is dominated by white and different shades of pink.
Some of the most beautiful types of mountain camellia can be considered:
- «White double "with double white flowers;
- "Enishi" with semi-double soft pink inflorescences.