Azaleas and Camellias
If you want to inject a bit of colour into your shaded garden there are two families that are worth looking at, azaleas and camellias. Camellias come from Southeast Asia and apart from being famous for their production of tea they are a world ... [... more]
Garden Gurus |
Camellia Rescue
Burke's Backyard visited a garden where three years previously 87 healthy camellias had been moved and are now sick and dying because the plants never established a new root system. Burke's Backyard consulted with camellia experts Dr Brett ... [... more]
Burke's Backyard |
Camellia 'Gay Baby'
A miniature camellia with a vigorous, upright growth habit. Unpruned it grows from 3-5m (10-15') tall. The leaves are small and green, with bronze new growth. The semi-double flowers are deep lavender pink and are borne in profusion along the ... [... more]
Burke's Backyard |
Camellia Leaf Problems
Don looked at a camellia that appeared to have quite a few leaf problems. Rounded sections from some leaves were completely missing; some leaves had yellow blotches, while others were covered in dry, silvery brown patches. However, closer ... [... more]
Burke's Backyard |
Camellia 'Yuletide'
Don looks at one of his all time favourite camellias, 'Yuletide'. In Australia this plant produces stunning red flowers from March to July, but in the northern hemisphere its flower display coincides with the Christmas season. Sasanqua camellias ... [... more]
Burke's Backyard |
Camellia Balling
Don looked at a camellia suffering from a problem called 'balling'. It should have been a mass of flowers but instead, few flowers had opened. Most of the buds had browned and fallen unopened to the ground, and were scattered under the shrub. ... [... more]
Burke's Backyard |
Standardised Camellia
Camellias are wonderful flowering shrubs for the garden, but they also have many other uses. They can be shaped into topiaries, standards or espaliers, and they can even be grown as ground covers. At the moment standardised camellias are very ... [... more]
Burke's Backyard |
Camellia x williamsii
Peter Valder is particularly fond of the williamsii camellias. These are hybrids between Camellia japonica and a wild camellia from Western China, Camellia saluenensis. They are named after John Charles Williams, who planted seeds of C. ... [... more]
Burke's Backyard |
Espaliered Camellia
Don looked at a row of sasanqua camellias espaliered against a brick wall. Espaliering means training a tree or shrub to grow against a flat surface. It's a technique that's been used in France for centuries, particularly with pear and apple ... [... more]
Burke's Backyard |
Best Camellias
The only problem is that there are literally thousands of named varieties, and it's hard to choose between them. So to help you get started, Burke's Backyard has consulted with camellia growers and experts, and put together a list of the best ten ... [... more]
Burke's Backyard |
Camellia Arranging: The French Alternative
In the winter when the garden is looking drab, camellias come to the rescue with their beautiful flowers and glossy green foliage. It's natural to want to bring them inside and use them in flower arrangements, but the problem is they have very ... [... more]
Burke's Backyard |
Camellia Tea Mite
Camellias have been described as the queen of flowers. Although where does that leaves roses which are often also given that title, but there is no doubt that camellias are very much loved. And their ability to produce flowers in the shade makes ... [... more]
Garden Gurus |
