Camellia Collection
Sophie visits a nursery that specialises in growing camellias, providing some ideas for garden colour in the cooler months.
There are more than 300 species of camellias worldwide, although the two most commonly grown and the Camellia japonica and Camellia sasanqua .
From these, many thousands of hybrids and cultivars have been bred.
Third generation grower Dan Hall points out the key features of the two types:
Japonica
Varieties tend to have larger, rounder flowers and bigger leaves, and prefer part shade or protection from afternoon sun; they generally flower in winter or early spring. They can also be larger plants, although there are smaller cultivars now available.
Sasanquas
Have smaller flowers and leaves and are fast growing, making them better suited to hedging. They tend to flower in autumn or early winter, and are more tolerant of sunlight and warmer conditions.
Both prefer slightly acidic soil, regular watering, and good drainage.
A favourite of Dan's is 'Roger Hall', a red formally shaped double that was named after his late grandfather.
Modern hybrids offer a range of attributes, from the long-flowering 'Sweet Jane', which can flower from autumn to spring, to hardy floribunda hybrids such as 'Illumination' that produces masses of flowers from a young age. There are even some ground-covering prostrate forms, including 'Marge Miller', which can grow up to 3m wide.
If you have a few different camellias in your garden or nearby, and seed heads form on your plants, you could try growing the seeds. It might take five or six years for the new seedlings to start flowering, but you could end up with a completely new variety! To propagate an exact copy of your plant, take cuttings.
Dan also explains how to create a weeping standard – by training a weeping form upright, supported by a stake, and removing any growth along the trunk, leaving just the branches at the top. Alternatively, graft a weeping form onto the straight stem of a sturdier species.
Camellias can also be espaliered against an east-facing wall; most sasanqua species would be suitable for this, Dan says.
Problems
Yellowing of leaves can often be a sign of pH problems – it should be about 5-6. If your soil is too alkaline, you can reduce the pH by adding iron chelates.
Hot morning sun on wet buds or flowers can also cause browning and other problems.
Dan says a common mistake is to put a small plant into a large pot – this leaves too much wet soil around the small rootball, which can cause root rot.
COMMON CAMELLIA Camellia japonica cv. SASANQUA CAMELLIA Camellia sasanqua cv. CAMELLIA 'DESIRE' Camellia japonica cv. CAMELLIA 'TINSIE' Camellia japonica cv. CAMELLIA 'GREAT EASTERN' Camellia japonica cv. CAMELLIA 'ROGER HALL' Camellia japonica cv. CAMELLIA 'SLIM N TRIM' Camellia sasanqua cv. CAMELLIA 'EARLY PEARLY' Camellia sasanqua cv. CAMELLIA 'YULETIDE' Camellia sasanqua cv. CAMELLIA 'AVALANCHE' Camellia sasanqua cv. CAMELLIA 'SWEET JANE' Camellia sasanqua cv. CAMELLIA 'E.G. WATERHOUSE' Camellia × williamsii cv. CAMELLIA 'CHANSONETTE' Camellia sasanqua cv. CAMELLIA 'MARGE MILLER' Camellia sasanqua cv. CAMELLIA 'SNOW' Camellia sasanqua cv.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
ABC News
an hour ago
- ABC News
HESTA member couldn't access super for surgery due to fund outage, dozens report ongoing issues
Despite normal services resuming three weeks ago, dozens of HESTA superannuation members have contacted ABC News, distressed and frustrated they are still unable to access their own super funds. HESTA, one of Australia's largest super funds with more than 1 million members, went offline at the end of April for a seven-week planned outage, as the fund changed administration providers. Despite the outage ending at the start of June, members have reported that their applications to withdraw funds have still not been processed, while wait times on the phone can be up to three hours. Judy Flynn said she put in an application at the end of April to withdraw funds for a surgery. "I then sent an email saying, 'look, I have a medical appointment coming up, it's urgent, I've been waiting four months for this, can you please process this $2,000 for me?'" But she said she got no response from HESTA, and eventually needed to postpone her surgery, which was meant to be on the June 10. HESTA had told ABC News that members could "still receive urgent and critical payments" during the period of limited services. "I hadn't heard a thing, no response at all … and I tried to get through to them a couple of times on the phone and I couldn't get through without waiting for a long period. "It's very stressful … I'm really angry that they've done this to me," Ms Flynn said. Ms Flynn, who lives on the South Coast of New South Wales, said she recently separated from her husband and has had to borrow money from him to pay for things like utility bills and council rates. "He's been good about it, but he's in debt to loan me money. It's not like he has money stocked away, we're borrowing to get me out of this hot water." On Thursday last week, Ms Flynn was finally able to speak to someone at HESTA who processed her application, stating it should take three to five days to land in her account. On Sunday, she said HESTA notified her that the money had been transferred, about two months after her initial application was made. HESTA has apologised to Ms Flynn, stating its level of service was not acceptable. In a response to the ABC, a spokesperson for HESTA said: "While we resumed online services as scheduled and many members are transacting as normal, we recognise some members have experienced long call wait times and processing delays. Personal finance researcher at Griffith University Whitley Bejah said the extended period of time offline means HESTA has failed in its duty of care to customers. "Let's say someone's been waiting since the first week of the HESTA shutdown to be able to make this claim… now [it's] 10 weeks with no income. "I think that would be very, very stressful from a consumer's perspective." She doesn't think the super fund prepared properly for the influx of applications it would experience from members after the outage. "I understand that the process is really cumbersome and they want to make sure that they get everything right because there are obviously reporting issues … but given everything that people have been through, you think that they would be a little bit more prepared. Ms Bejah said the "additional delay" is causing unnecessary stress for many people right now. "Australians [are] dealing with a lot at the moment, especially with the cost of living, and I think when there's a barrier between people and accessing their own funds that they might need for medical considerations … or they might be dealing with severe financial hardship. "It's a compounding effect that's going to affect a whole range of things, not just finances." The spokesperson for HESTA said: "We have substantially increased the size of our contact centre team and operating hours have been extended to include temporary operation on Saturdays. Amanda Lewis recently went into a dementia ward at a nursing home in Victoria and has been relying on her superannuation to pay for it. Her husband Glynn has been acting as her carer because her short-term memory and some of her long-term memory have been affected by the disease. He said on May 22, he and his financial adviser put in an application to withdraw all of Ms Lewis's superannuation. But almost a month later, none of it has been processed into her account. "I'm sort of still in limbo … it is a little bit up in the air, hopefully HESTA come good with the finances," he told ABC News. "Hopefully we can get back to a better financial situation." While his financial advisor has lodged a complaint with HESTA, he has concerns that if he doesn't get access to the funds soon, he will have to use his own super to pay the deposit, or risk his wife losing her spot at the facility. The spokesperson for HESTA said: "We apologise to the member and her husband who have not received the service they should expect from us. HESTA isn't the first superannuation fund to have complaints raised against it this year. The spotlight was thrown on the sector in April, when AustralianSuper, Rest, Hostplus, Insignia and Australian Retirement Trust were impacted by a slew of cyber incidents. AustralianSuper was questioned by its own clients about a security weakness in its accounts, before cybercriminals stole hundreds of thousands of dollars of members' retirement savings. Customers told ABC News they had asked for multi-factor authentication (MFA) on their accounts but were rebuffed — one of them just weeks before the cyber attacks. Subsequently, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) wrote to all registrable superannuation entities earlier this month, reinforcing expectations around information security and the implementation of robust authentication controls. "This action follows recent credential stuffing attacks that exposed persistent weaknesses in authentication practices across the superannuation industry," the APRA statement read. The regulator has advised all super funds to ensure MFA or equivalent protections are in place for high-risk activities no later than August 31 this year. Separately, the corporate watchdog has called on super funds to overhaul the way they deal with death benefit claims, noting excessive delays, poor customer service and ineffective claims handling are leaving Australians worse off at some of the most vulnerable times of their lives, in a scathing report issued in March.
News.com.au
2 hours ago
- News.com.au
Winter appeal responds to cold reality of empty plates and shrinking portions
EXCLUSIVE: One in five Australians are skipping meals, new research shows, in a damning indictment of the cost-of-living crisis. While inflation has eased to 2.4 per cent from a multi-decade high of 7.8 per cent in 2022, many households are still feeling the pinch, with one in four reducing portion sizes in an attempt to stretch their budgets. The concerning data comes from a Coles survey released ahead of the supermarket's annual winter appeal with food relief charity SecondBite, launching on Wednesday. Celebrity chef and Coles ambassador Curtis Stone said the campaign would make 'a huge difference' by donating excess food stock to those in need. 'Winter can be a particularly difficult time for Australians who are struggling to make ends meet,' he said. 'That's why the Coles SecondBite Winter Appeal is such an important cause.' SecondBite delivers more than 50 million meals each year to charities including soup kitchens, community centres, youth groups and women's shelters. The charity's chief executive, Daniel Moorfield, said demand for food relief was rising – particularly in winter, when people are forced to choose 'between heating and eating'.
SBS Australia
2 hours ago
- SBS Australia
Newsflash: 23 June 2025
Independent news and stories connecting you to life in Australia and Assyrian-speaking Australians. SBS World News Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service Watch now
