Japanese Camellia Camellia japonica Roger Hall

Roger Hall is a red flowered Camellia japonica with full, evenly arranged blooms on a compact, well behaved frame, which is why it turns up so often in a tub beside a shaded entry rather than at the back of a border. Growth is slow to moderate, so a plant stays in proportion to its container for years instead of months, and the foliage is thick, glossy and dark enough to look deliberate out of flower. It works as a low hedge or a shaded feature.

Container culture and open ground

Part shade, morning light, shelter from hot western sun. It handles cool and warm temperate gardens, and in the subtropics it should be kept out of afternoon sun altogether. In the ground it wants acidic soil with plenty of organic matter and drainage that actually works, mounded if the site is clay, mulched permanently and kept moist through summer and autumn while buds are filling. In a pot, use a camellia or azalea mix, choose a container wide enough to shade its own root mass, and water thoroughly rather than sprinkling daily. Rainwater suits potted plants better than hard tap water, which lifts the pH of the mix over time.

The failure mode to watch on this one is scale. Camellias grown in still air, crowded against a wall or bunched in a group of pots pick up cushion scale on the undersides of the leaves, and the honeydew brings sooty mould that blackens the upper surfaces. It looks like a disease and is not. Improve air movement, thin the interior so light and air reach through the bush, and treat with horticultural oil on both sides of the foliage, repeating as the label directs.

Roger Hall compared with the older reds

Against C.M. Hovey, a nineteenth century formal double, this is the smaller and tidier plant and the easier one to keep in a container long term. Hovey is the one to plant if you want a hedge or a large specimen and a strictly geometric bloom. Against Man Size, the difference is scale: Man Size is a white miniature for tight courtyards, while Roger Hall gives full sized red flowers that carry across a garden and hold up better to a passing shower. Choose on the space you have before you choose on the flower. More in the camellia collection.

Feeding a camellia in a pot

Prune only lightly, and straight after the last blooms fade, taking off spent flower wood and any shoot that has broken the outline. Feed then with a camellia and azalea fertiliser, at half strength and more frequently for potted plants, and follow with a second light application in early summer. Topdress containers each spring by replacing the top few centimetres of mix, and repot into fresh mix every second or third year before the root ball becomes solid. Water potted plants through autumn even after the weather cools, and never leave a container standing in a full saucer.

Choosing a size

This plant is available in 2 sizes, from 200mm up to 300mm, priced from $40.95 to $149.00 per plant. The size shown is the pot the plant arrives in, which is the rootball, not the height of the plant. These mid-range sizes balance establishment speed against immediate presence, and they are the usual choice for general garden planting. Not sure which to choose? Read our guide to camellia hedges and winter flowers.