This Low-Maintenance Shrub Will Fill Your Fall And Winter Garden With Beautiful Blooms

Brighten the fall and winter landscape with a profusion of blooms from this charming Southern classic.

Early Wonder® Camellia from the Southern Living Plant Collection combines the best qualities of Japanese camellias with the fall bloom cycle of sasanqua camellias. This gorgeous low-maintenance shrub begins blooming in autumn, a time when only sasanqua camellias traditionally flower! The stunning rose-pink, double blossoms continue to open through the winter months, providing long-lasting color in the winter garden and lovely cut flowers to bring indoors.

In addition to beautiful blooms, Early Wonder® Camellia produces handsome dark green foliage for year-round appeal. This vigorous, upright grower reaches a mature size of six to eight feet tall and four to six feet wide, making a lovely accent for shade gardens. Take advantage of the height for massing in borders and privacy plantings, or tuck individual plants in large containers to dress up the porch or patio.

Plant Attributes

Early Wonder® Camellia Care

Early Wonder® Camellia can be planted in the fall through early spring in Southern gardens. Select a planting site protected from the drying effects of winter winds. Camellias plants are susceptible to root diseases and require soil with good drainage. Give these slow-growing and shallow-rooted plants plenty of room to establish a healthy root system free of competition from neighboring plants. Once established, they are quite long-lived in the landscape.

Light

Camellias tolerate full sun but grow and bloom best in filtered light or partial shade. Young plants are more sensitive to the sun and benefit from planting in a sheltered location. Provide camellias protection from hot afternoon sun. Camellias grown in the northern extent of its range need shelter from winter sun to reduce cold damage.

Soil

Good drainage is essential to growing healthy camellias. Plant in loose, well-drained, slightly acidic soil that is rich in organic matter. Avoid planting camellias in heavy clay soil or areas where water tends to collect. If drainage is a problem, amend soil with compost and plant on mounds or berms. Camellias do not tolerate alkaline soils, which can lead to yellowing foliage.

Water

Early Wonder® Camellias thrive with regular moisture, but do not tolerate wet feet. Provide young plants with even and consistent moisture during their first two years, but avoid over watering. Mulch the roots to help retain soil moisture between irrigation or rainfall events. Plants require less supplemental water once established, however they do need a regular supply of water during flower bud development, which begins mid-summer. If dry spells occur during this time, provide supplemental irrigation to prevent bud drop.

Temperature And Humidity

Early Wonder® Camellia is cold hardy in USDA Plant Hardiness Zones 7 to 9. Plants thrive in the warm, humid conditions of the Middle, Lower, and Coastal South, though they do not tolerate salt spray. In the Upper South, provide camellias with protection from winter winds and plant in partial shade to prevent problems associated with temperature swings during freezes.

Fertilizer

Camellia plants are heavy feeders and benefit from fertilizer applications during the growing season with an acid-forming azalea or camellia fertilizer. The American Camellia Society recommends fertilizing in early March, early May, and early July. Young camellias require higher concentrations of nitrogen than established plants to support growth, select fertilizers accordingly. Apply only the recommended label rate of fertilizer.

Pruning Early Wonder® Camellia

Camellias benefit from light pruning after they finish blooming to help maintain an attractive shape and open the canopy to allow air and sunlight to reach interior foliage. Start by removing any dead branches. Also look for branches that cross or rub against one another and remove one or both.
These pruning steps help open the canopy. To shape plants, trim back any disproportionately long shoots, cutting back to a leaf or side branch. Lower branches can be shortened to maintain a more upright growth habit.

How To Get Early Wonder® Camellia To Bloom

Some bud drop on camellias is normal, as plants often produce more flower buds than they can support, but when plants fail to bloom entirely it is time to consider changes to plant culture. Too much nitrogen fertilizer encourages shoot and leaf development at the expense of flowering. Likewise, too much or too little water can impact flowering, and summer drought can lead to bud drop. Strive to keep water consistently moist, but not soggy. Make sure plants are sited in soil that drains well and be sure to supplement rainfall during periods of drought.

Early Wonder® Camellias bloom best when they receive sufficient sunlight. Make sure your planting site is not too shady. Consider pruning a few limbs from overhead trees to allow more sunlight to penetrate. Pruning camellias at the wrong time of year can also reduce flowering. Camellias start to set flower buds when growth resumes in spring and summer. Pruning right after flowering is complete ensures flower buds are not removed by mistake. Finally, some causes of bud drop are out of your control. Late spring frosts can damage developing buds and cause them to drop.

Overwintering

Early Wonder® Camellia benefits from a layer of mulch in winter to moderate soil temperatures and conserve moisture. In the colder regions of the South, plant camellias in locations protected from strong winter winds. Make sure plants are well watered going into fall and winter. Avoid late season pruning and fertilizer applications, which promote new growth that will not have time to harden off before freezing temperatures arrive.

Camellias tolerate temperatures as low as 0˚F. If temperatures are predicted to drop below that level, consider protecting plants with blankets or several layers of horticultural fleece. Camellias growing in containers are less insulated against cold temperatures and need protection when temperatures fall below 20˚F. Insulate containers by wrapping several layers of bubble wrap around pots, extending to ground level and a couple inches above the rim of the pot. Fill the top of the pot with dry leaves and pile mulch around the base. Consider moving potted plants into an unheated greenhouse or garage when below-freezing conditions are expected.

Propagating Early Wonder® Camellia

Early Wonder® Camellia is patent-protected and cannot be propagated.

Potting And Repotting Early Wonder® Camellia

Camellias are easy to grow in containers and make beautiful additions to patio plantings. Select a container with good drainage and use a frost-proof pot in areas where frost is expected in winter. When potting nursery grown camellias or repotting existing plants, select a container that is one to two sizes larger than the current pot. Camellias need to be repotted every two to three years into larger containers and fresh soil.

Provide Early Wonder® Camellia with a well-drained, acidic soil such as a commercial mix labeled for rhododendrons and azaleas or camellias. A mixture of equal parts coarse sand, finely shredded pine bark, and oak leaf mold also works well. Container-grown camellias perform best with morning sun and afternoon shade or filtered light all day. They also dry out faster than those planted in the ground. Be sure to water containers deeply when the upper two inches of soil feels dry to the touch. Fertilize potted camellias with a water-soluble fertilizer for acid-loving plants according to label
directions from spring through mid-summer.

Common Pests & Plant Diseases

Insect pests of camellias include tea scales and aphids, both of which produce a waste product called honeydew that encourages sooty mold to grow on the foliage. Manage scales and aphids using horticultural oil following label instructions. Problems with sooty mold will clear up when the insects are controlled.

Camellias are also susceptible to a number of diseases, the most serious of which are flower blight, root rot, and camellia dieback and canker. Most disease problems can be avoided through proper plant care including planting in well-drained soil, fertilizing properly and maintaining appropriate soil acidity, and avoiding damage or wounds to stems.

Symptoms of camellia dieback and canker include sudden wilting and yellowing of the foliage and die-back of branch tips. This fungal disease appears as gray blotches on the bark, eventually developing into sunken cankers. Remove diseased twigs by cutting them several inches below the affected area and burn or dispose of prunings in the garbage. Disinfect your pruning tools between cuts.

Flower blight or petal blight is also caused by a fungal pathogen. It causes flower petals to quickly turn brown and drop, typically within 24 to 48 hours. Practice good sanitation to limit the spread of this disease. Collect and destroy all fallen flowers and as well as infected blooms still on the plant. Also remove and discard the mulch around the base of plants and replace with a fresh layer.

Common Problems

Attention to soil health also prevents a common problem among camellias: chlorosis. Chlorosis causes leaves to turn yellow while remaining green along the veins and is the result of improper soil pH. When planted in neutral or alkaline soil, camellias cannot take up adequate nutrients. This is easily corrected by amending soils with garden sulfur to adjust the pH.

Scorched or bronzed areas on the leaves typically indicate sunscald. Sunscald can be a problem when camellias receive too much sun. This is most common for plants located along a wall with an intense southern or western exposure. Plants moved from shaded locations to bright sun may also experience sunscald. Providing plants with adequate protection from intense afternoon sun typically prevents this problem.

Camellias are robust plants that weather occasional insects, disease, and other challenges quite well. Basic plant culture and care goes a long way towards preventing common problems and ensuring your camellias remain healthy and blooming for years to come.