Plant profile: Camellia amplexicaulis. A fabulous native of Vietnam.

This week on The Horti-Culturalists we've waited a YEAR for this plant to flower! So thank you Camellia amplexicaulis for finally coming through with a bloom, despite the rain! This interesting plant is cool growing Vietnamese native with very large leaves and somewhat unusual flowers. But despite Stephen being less than keen on growing camellias he does have a few others so we'll look at two other species Camellias he has - and why! The plants we mention in this video are:
Camellia amplexicaulis
Camellia piquetiana
Camellia tsaii
Camellia japonica 'Unryu'
Camellia euryoides
And if you want to see our video on contorted stemmed plants which includes a Camellia, you can here: • Six great plants with ...

[@dewdan11dnd46]

💞✨Thank you, The Horti-culturists. Here’s another species journey, I have enjoyed and absorbed the education from🌿

[@thehorti-culturalists]

Thanks for watching!

[@annapala529]

Thank you for all the info

[@thehorti-culturalists]

Thank you for watching!

[@MyFocusVaries]

That new foliage colour on the aplexicaulis is amazing. It is the literal "delicate flower!"

[@thehorti-culturalists]

Thanks for watching!

[@angelaobrien7698]

Love species camellias. Great video so informative. Would love more videos on camellias.

[@thehorti-culturalists]

You never know, we could easily do more on this Genus. Regards Stephen

[@julieburness8719]

So informative, as usual, Camelia's are such useful plants in a shady garden, I had no idea about the weeping and sub-tropical ones, Oh no, more plants to lust after!

[@thehorti-culturalists]

Thanks for watching - yes! Stephen certainly has some unusual ones.

[@annebeck2208]

Lovely leaves and flowers! I have a couple of new hybrids from Bobby Green in the Southern USA. They are amazing!

[@thehorti-culturalists]

Thanks for watching!

[@Salmagundiii]

Strange comment about the hardiness of C. sinensis...perhaps the ones in AU were mostly collected in India and Ceylon. (Now Sri Lanka of course) Korean and Japanese forms are prefectly hardly in Zone 7, North Carolina of the US. They have colder winters than any inhabited parts of AU...especially now that they shut down Cabramurra!

[@thehorti-culturalists]

I did loose the one and only sinensis I planted years ago without a pang of loss, and it was probably the heat of summer as much as any cold we get. I guess I was so disinterested that I didn’t analyse the symptoms fully. Regards Stephen

[@Salmagundiii]

@@thehorti-culturalists Yeah, it is rather boring compared to a lot of things you can grow! It always surprised me it never took off as a crop in the SE US, but I suppose it's a bit labor intensive to harvest. Also they are more prone to late freezes than Asia and I suppose that could affect the quality of the product.

[@docwild2867]

I'm curious, are they sensitive to the acidity of the soil?

[@thehorti-culturalists]

Not wildly so but do seem to prefer a neutral to slightly acid soil. Regards Stephen

[@kathlynblack3517]

I am located in central east Texas. I have been growing a camellia japonica now for 11 years. It has made very little growth in that time and has NEVER bloomed. Is it possible that a camellia could get too much shade? I have it planted on the bank of a seasonal creek, shaded by canopied oaks and elms and sweet gums trees. Could you please give me some advice. Thank You!

[@thehorti-culturalists]

We filmed an answer as a short today which will come up in due course, however the answer is yes that it is probably to shady and that the trees could also be sapping nutrients via their roots. So lift in the coldest months and perhaps pot it and place in a spot with morning sun. Regards Stephen

[@kathlynblack3517]

@@thehorti-culturalists Thank you for answering my question. I almost moved it this past winter, but now I will wait until the next one. I do have an area to move it to, that is in mixed sunshine and dappled shade. I will be relocating it near my purple Magnolia, pink Lilac, and two Hydrangeas. Thanks again!

[@thehorti-culturalists]

@@kathlynblack3517 Very welcome!