(Freedom Bell Camellia, Hybrid Camellia)

Camellias are tender evergreen shrubs much prized in warm climates for their abundant, showy flowers, but also their leaves, shapes, and longevity. This one, ‘Freedom Bell,’ is an upright plant with small, glossy, green leaves and open, semi-double (extra petals) red flowers that arise along the stems in early to late winter. Prune for shape and size right after the end of flowering. New buds for the next year will form afterward.

Like most camellias, ‘Freedom Bell’ prefers neutral to acidic,...

(Frost Prince Camellia, Hybrid Camellia)

The camellia 'Frost Prince' bears numerous purplish-pink, single to semi-double flowers in late autumn. The slightly ruffled petals surround a central starburst of yellow stamens. This hybrid of Camellia hiemalis 'Shishi-gashira' and C. oleifera 'Plain Jane' is one of many hardy camellias developed by William L. Ackerman of the United States National Arboretum in Washington, DC. Ackerman crossed the hardy Chinese species C. oleifera with tender camellias...

(Hybrid Camellia, Julia Camellia)

The camellia 'Julia' produces pale lavender-pink flowers in late winter and early spring. E.L. Atkins of Theodore, Alabama selected this hybrid circa 1980.

This medium-sized, upright shrub has lustrous, dark-green, oval leaves with sawtooth edges. The white, pink-suffused, semi-double blooms open in late winter from rose-shaped buds.

Camellias are broadleaved evergreens from warm temperate regions of eastern Asia. They are prized for their abundant showy flowers, their handsome leathery foliage,...

(Hybrid Camellia, Night Rider Camellia)

The waxy-textured flowers and young foliage of this slow-growing camellia are deep red. It originated in New Zealand from a cross between Camellia 'Ruby Bells' and C. japonica 'Kuro-tsubaki'.

This compact, upright, oval shrub has small, dark-green, elliptical leaves that are rich bronze-red upon emergence. The relatively small, maroon, semi-double blooms open in late winter and early spring from rose-shaped buds. Each blossom has approximately 20 petals and a central brush-like...

(Hybrid Camellia, Pink Icicle Camellia)

The pretty Camellia ‘Pink Icicle’ is a cold tolerant hybrid developed by Dr. William Ackerman of the United States National Arboretum. It is quite vigorous and has an upright, compact form. The small leaves are dark green, oval-shaped, evergreen and glossy. Very large, peony-form blooms of clear pink appear late in the season. Peony-form blooms have a mass of irregular petals interlaced with gold reproductive structures in the center of the flowers.

Treasured in eastern Asia for centuries,...

(Hybrid Camellia, Rosehill Red Camellia)

Winter's grip is dead when the scarlet to blood-red blooms of the Rosehill Red camellia appear. Camellias are tender evergreen shrubs prized in warm climates for their abundant, showy flowers, but also their leaves, shapes, and longevity. This hybrid broadleaf shrub is a rounded plant with small, glossy, medium to deep green leaves. In very late winter to mid-spring, the plump red flower buds swell on branch tips, looking like rose buds. Each bright red flower is semi-double (extra petals) in form,...

(Hybrid Camellia, Snow Flurry Camellia)

Camellias are tender evergreen shrubs much prized in warm climates for their abundant, showy flowers, but also their leaves, shapes, and longevity. This one, ‘Snow Flurry,’ is among the hardiest of all. It is a spreading plant with small, glossy, green leaves and white flowers in fall that have one or two ranks of petals and a prominent, dense, central yellow mound. Prune for shape and size right after the end of flowering. New buds for the next year will form afterward.

Like most camellias, ‘Snow...

(Hybrid Camellia, Terrell Weaver Camellia)

The camellia ‘Terrell Weaver’ produces vivid red, peony-like blooms in late winter. This hybrid of Camellia reticulata ‘Crimson Robe’ and C. japonica 'Ville de Nantes' was raised by W.F. Homeyer, Jr., Macon, Georgia. A vigorous grower, it forms a medium to large, spreading to upright shrub with leathery, dark-green leaves. Double to semi-double blooms with wavy, thick-textured, flame-red petals appear in midwinter and continue until late winter or early spring. The stamens...

(Hybrid Camellia, Two Marthas Camellia)

Camellia ‘Two Marthas’ is a hybrid developed by Dr. William Ackerman of the United States National Arboretum and is more heat and sun tolerant than most camellias. Two Marthas has an upright to spreading form, dark green, oval-shaped, evergreen leaves and a profusion of semi-double flowers in the later winter. The color of the flowers is pink, the individual petals are rose pink with dark pink around the edge and in the center is a mass of yellow-gold stamens.

Camellias grow best when planted...

(Hybrid Camellia, Winter's Beauty Camellia)

Surviving temperatures of minus 26 degrees C (minus 15 F), this exceptionally cold-hardy camellia bears relatively small, semi-double, shell-pink flowers from late fall to early winter. A hybrid of Camellia japonica 'Billie McCaskill' and C. oleifera 'Plain Jane', 'Winter's Beauty' is one of many hardy camellias developed by William L. Ackerman of the United States National Arboretum in Washington, DC. Ackerman crossed the hardy Chinese species C. oleifera...