Tagged With: Hokkaido Red

Camellia japonica ‘Hokkaido Red’

Camellia japonica 'Hokkaido Red'

Camellia japonica ‘Hokkaido Red’

This spring I planted three camellias. One was a fall blooming hybrid between C. oleifera and C. hiemalis ‘Showa-no-sakae’ called ‘Winter’s Star’ (see Thursday, October 15, 2020). The other two are spring blooming Camellia japonica varieties. One of them, however, has a bloom that’s opened a bit early. It’s called ‘Hokkaido Red’. My understanding is that it was selected from plants grown from seed collected on the northernmost parts Hokkaido, Japan and grown at the National Arboretum. It’s supposed to be one of the most cold tolerant C. japonica and also blooms prolifically over a long period in the early spring. It’s a relatively slow growing shrub and of course mine was only planted this year, so it will be a while before it’s of any stature. But it looks very promising.

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Camellia japonica ‘Hokkaido Red’

Camellia japonica ‘Hokkaido Red’

Camellia japonica ‘Hokkaido Red’

Of the camellias in our yard, this one is among the most successful. It’s a fairly slow growing shrub, so it will be a while before it’s really visible in it’s location behind the azaleas in front of our house. Nevertheless, from our front porch it’s quite visible and has a lot of flowers on it. Another called ‘April Rose’ that I planted at the same time, however, is barely holding on to life. I haven’t given up on it yet, but it isn’t encouraging. The oldest camellia I have, called ‘Pink Perfection’, is finally to the point where I’m not worried about it surviving. It’s almost five feet tall and doing well.

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