Sasanqua Camellia Camellia sasanqua Rose Ann

Rose Ann is a sasanqua in every respect: small glossy leaves, dense branching, more tolerance of bright conditions than a japonica has, and pink flowers through autumn that shed petal by petal rather than dropping whole and browning off. What separates it from the other pinks stocked here is the wood, firm and evenly built rather than arching, so the bush carries its own shape. It holds a clipped face on a fence line, sits still in a pot, or fills a shaded bed as a rounded shrub without much intervention at all.

A plant that holds its own shape

Some camellias have to be argued into a shape, and this is not one of them. Left alone it makes an even, rounded, reasonably compact bush, so a shaded bed planted with it stays looking deliberate without an annual correction, and a low hedge is sheared to tidy the face rather than to fight the habit. That makes it the sensible pick for a garden that will not get much attention, or for a site where structure is wanted without a maintenance schedule attached. Temperate and subtropical districts both suit it, and it copes with the drier inland end of that range better than most. Part shade still gives the cleanest flowers, with morning sun and protection from hot westerly exposure. Soil acidic, free draining and rich in organic matter, with the root ball set slightly proud of the surrounding level and mulch spread over the root zone but held off the trunk.

Fertiliser burn on shallow roots

Feeding is the part that surprises people on camellias. The roots are fine and they run in the top 100mm to 150mm of soil, directly beneath the mulch, which is exactly where a scattered handful of general purpose or lawn fertiliser lands. On a dry root zone the salts pull water out of those roots and kill them, and the plant shows it weeks later as scorched leaf margins and sudden leaf drop, long after anyone would connect the two events. Three rules cover it. Use a fertiliser formulated for camellias and azaleas rather than a general purpose or lawn product, which will be too high in nitrogen and often alkaline in reaction. Water the ground before you apply it, not only after. And keep lawn feed off the hedge line entirely, because a spreader run along a boundary throws further into the bed than people expect. In pots, half strength onto damp mix.

Between Jennifer Susan and Plantation Pink

Jennifer Susan covers similar pink ground but on soft arching wood that wants tying in and suffers on an exposed western boundary. Plantation Pink is the single flowered screening plant, firmer in the frame than either of the others. Rose Ann sits between them: more self supporting than Jennifer Susan, less assertive in the landscape than Plantation Pink, and grown here from small stock through to larger pots so a run can start at whatever grade the site needs. Take it for a mid sized hedge, or for a shaded bed where the plant is expected to behave itself. The rest of the group is in the camellia range.

Shearing, and why deadheading is not needed

Shear as soon as flowering finishes and not later in the year, because sasanquas set the coming season's buds on growth made in spring and summer, and a summer trim is the usual reason a hedge stops flowering. Light and regular beats one hard annual cut on a plant that is already dense, and on a free standing shrub a shear is often unnecessary altogether, since taking out the occasional shoot that has broken the outline keeps it looking right. Deadheading is not required, because the petals shatter and fall on their own, but they land in a layer under the plant and they are slippery, so sweep a path or a step below a planting. Feeding follows the rules above: twice a year, the right product, and never onto a dry root zone. Keep the mulch topped up with a clear ring at the trunk.

Choosing a size

This plant is available in 6 sizes, from 70mm up to 400mm, priced from $16.95 to $289.00 per plant. The size shown is the pot the plant arrives in, which is the rootball, not the height of the plant. The smaller pots hold younger plants that cost less each and establish quickly, which suits hedges, screens and mass planting where the plant count adds up. The larger sizes carry several more years of growth on the farm and give height and presence straight away, which is what you want for a single feature position or a screen that cannot wait. Not sure which to choose? Read our guide to camellia hedges and winter flowers.