Ring in the New Year by adding a new winter-blooming camellia to your garden

The last week of December is a time of fresh beginnings. Time to try a new camellia shrub.

Camellias are evergreen shrubs that flower at different times of the year depending on the variety. Camellias love our Pacific Northwest climate and bloom in the shade.

Coronavirus has not stopped the camellia growers, so here are four varieties for cool weather from the Sunset Plant Collection. These camellias were bred for fall color but in our mild winter climate you may see flowers of these shrubs as late as December, providing a showy display of flowers to welcome the new year.

All camellias love our naturally acid soil so be sure to add extra organic matter and a mulch of 2-3 inches for a couple of years to shade the soil. Once your camellia matures and spreads out its branches to shade the soil around the roots, a mulch may not be needed, but summer watering will be essential for the first couple of years as the root system develops.

In Western Washington, the perfect place to site a camellia is where it will receive morning sun and afternoon shade and can be protected from strong winds. The east side of a building is the perfect staging spot for the magical show of the fall- and winter-blooming camellias.

Camellia Magic Bride

This elegant fall-to-winter flowering camellia has pure white blooms that contrast nicely against the dark green foliage. The very profuse blooms create a magical setting in your garden. The name of this camellia makes it the perfect living gift for a newlywed couple, and if you are lucky enough to find this camellia potted up at the nursery, you can display it outdoors for the holidays with twinkling lights.

Camellia Magic Ruby

This camellia might just be in bloom for the holidays with a naturally more rounded form and a longer bloom time than the typical camellia sasanqua. The flowers are a brilliant red with a double form that resembles a peony. Float just one of these winter jewels in a glass bowl for a stunning, floating centerpiece.

Camellia Magic Orchid

The flowers on this camellia may be small but they are very profuse with an unusual color. They start out white to blush pink but then develop orchid edges for pure magic in the late fall to winter garden. Perhaps the best part of this little shrub is its compact size. If kept well watered in the summer, you can grow the smaller camellias in large containers for several years. The Magic Orchid camellia has a naturally conical shape so it is perfect for the neat and tidy gardener with little time for pruning.

Camellia Crimson ’n’ Clover

This camellia is a strong grower perfect for screening or as a focal point plant. The foliage is dark green and a lovely backdrop for the crimson-red flowers that appear in fall through winter. Add the color gray with a pewter pot or silver bow and you have the cougar color of crimson and gray for Washington State University alumni. This is the fastest grower of the Sunset Plant Collection Camellias, so give it plenty of room.

Reach Marianne Binetti through her website at binettigarden.com or write to her at P.O. Box 872, Enumclaw WA 98022.

This story was originally published December 26, 2020 at 5:45 AM.