June 21 will be New Zealand's shortest day, followed by the longest night of the year. Brrr!
Timeliness
A small group of camellia in the botanic garden are triggered by these short days into full flower.
This group is not confused about the seasons, but perfectly on time, flowering every year in the autumn and continuing well into winter.
Sazanka
"Sazanka" is the Japanese name of these beautiful evergreen shrubs.
They are cultivated from Camellia sasanqua and two related hybrid camellia species - C. x hiemalis and C. x vernalis.
In the West they are more commonly referred to as "sasanquas".
I call them brilliant, as they herald in the beginning of the camellia flowering season!
Winter colour
The lack of flowering plants at this time of year makes "sasanquas" especially good for providing a refreshing splash of colour.
They have elegant flowers, usually single, sometimes semi-double and often with a central boss of showy lemon-yellow stamens.
They range from pure white or delicate blush pinks through to hot pink and cherry-red.
Many of them have a delicate musty fragrance, reminiscent of tea.
The flowers eventually shatter, losing their petals individually and creating a pretty carpet of colour.
A good habit is hard to break
The pliable stems and smaller foliage of "sasanquas' " give them quite a different personality to their chunkier sisters, the japonicas.
The supple growth allows them to be easily woven and trained against walls or fences (espaliering), encouraged into groundcovers or clipped into tidy hedges.
When grown naturally in full sun, they develop into small trees with a graceful, weeping habit.
History
Cultivars of Camellia sasanqua began appearing at the beginning of the early 17th century.
A large number of varieties have been handed down and added to up to the present day.
View an excellent selection of these stunning plants in the lower garden camellia collection and trained around the tea kiosk and information centre. - Marianne Groothuis
Marianne Groothuis is the camellia and theme collection curator at the Dunedin Botanic Garden
