No, not the variety raised by Mark Jury, I refer to myself in my on-going role as a volunteer helping with the National collection at Mt Edgcumbe. Four months on and I have not missed a week. I'd like to think that I've done some good too. I started out checking the various sections of … Continue reading The Camellia Volunteer

Four weeks ago I signed up with Mt Edgcumbe as a volunteer. Volunteers are it seems, making an increasing contribution to keeping public parks going in these days of austerity. I suppose it would be difficult to make a case for public money to be spent on maintaining a national collection of camellias when, in … Continue reading Camellia Volunteer

I've just finished gallery page L. Nearly half way through the alphabet, probably well past halfway on varieties. One letter, so many issues. There's 'Lady Clare', correctly known as 'Akashigata'. She's followed by 'Lady de Saumerez', a solid deep pink derived from the bicolor, 'Tricolor'. Variation due to genetic instability is built in. There is … Continue reading An ending of an ‘L’

I am sometimes asked to identify a camellia that someone has in their garden but doesn't know the identity of. My usual response is along the lines of mmmmm, I'm not sure, it could be this, it could be that. "But you're an expert, I thought you'd know", they say, combining disappointment and accusation, to … Continue reading On identifying camellias.

Camellias are one of the three large tribes of trees and shrubs that dominate many Cornish gardens, the others being Rhododendrons and Magnolias. Both the soil and the climate suit them well so that they thrive in most situations. The association with Cornwall is such that four of the five Plant Heritage national collections are … Continue reading Introduction