Sunday took me to the other side of Devon, to the garden of a camellia enthusiast with a particular liking for scented blooms. Outside of the National Collection it was certainly the biggest range of autumn/winter flowering camellias I have seen in one place.

Some were varieties I was familiar with, some varieties I knew of but hadn’t seen and some completely new to me. The “sasanquas”, as they are often collectively known, get overlooked by gardeners because they flower in winter and people don’t go garden visiting much in winter. Often the gardens where they are growing are closed. People don’t go to garden centres so much in the run-up to Christmas either.

This is unfortunate because they start to flower just as the very latest herbaceous perennials, asters, nerines and the like, finish. They typically produce a few flowers at a time over six to eight weeks though some will put on a more ostentatious but shorter lived display.

Let me add a little more about a few of the varieties I thought stood out.

‘Christmas Rose’ was the first variety I saw and was remarkable for the size and number of blooms on a still small plant as well as for the vivid pink colouring. The register has it as (C. x williamsii x c. hiemalis) and says it was raised in America.

‘Yume’ originated in Japan from the cross C. yuhsienensis x C. hiemalis ‘Shishigashira’. The petals are a mix of pink and white with very gradual shading between the two colours. The inner petals are generally closer to solid pink. It has a pleasant fragrance.

‘Souvenir de Claude Brivet’ was raised by Pépinières Thoby in France as a seedling of C. oleifera ‘Jaune’ x C. sasanqua ‘Crimson King’. The flowers are medium sized and may be solid pink or pink and white striped, with varying amounts of pink. I have not seen a totally white flower.

‘Narcissiflora’ is not a variety listed in the Camellia Register. The plant is being sold in garden centres, the stock originating from Holland. There are several varieties in cultivation with large single white blooms and it remains to be seen whether this new addition distinguishes itself in some way.

I should perhaps mention C. sasanqua ‘Hugh Evans’ and C. sasanqua ‘Gay Sue’. They were there too and I didn’t photograph them because I already have numerous pictures of both. Both are excellent varieties.