Sasanqua Camellia Camellia sasanqua Showa No Sakae

Most sasanquas grow stiffly upright. This one does not, and that is the reason to choose it. Showa No Sakae has a lax, arching habit on pliable branches that lie down willingly against a wall or a wire frame, so it is the sasanqua people reach for when espaliering a shaded courtyard wall, spilling a plant over a retaining wall or training a weeping standard in a pot. The flowers are semi double in soft pink, looser than the flat singles, opening from autumn into winter.

Training a pliable sasanqua

Part shade suits it, with moderate water and an acidic, free draining soil kept mulched so the root zone stays cool. It is more tolerant of light than a japonica, though there is no advantage in pushing that in a hot inland garden. If you are espaliering, put the frame or wires up before planting, set the root ball at or just above finished soil level, and tie the long flexible shoots in while they are still soft, spacing them along the wires rather than bunching them at one point. Small leaves and a naturally dense habit mean a trained plant fills its frame without looking sparse.

The failure worth naming for a wall trained camellia is alkaline soil. Beds against rendered walls, brick footings and concrete paths collect lime leaching out of mortar, and camellias growing in it turn yellow between green veins, thin out and stop flowering. Test the pH before planting close to a house, use an ericaceous mix in pots rather than standard potting mix, mulch with composted bark or pine needles, and correct a drift with iron chelates and elemental sulphur.

Sasanqua habit against the japonicas

Next to the japonicas here, the differences are habit, season and light. Ecclesfield and the other japonicas hold bigger leaves and larger flowers, bloom in the depths of winter and want real shade. This one flowers earlier, from autumn, takes more light and, crucially, bends. Its flowers also drop petal by petal rather than falling whole, which is worth knowing if the plant will sit over paving. Anyone who wants a formal upright specimen or a large flowered bloom for a vase should take a japonica such as Roger Hall. Anyone with a bare wall, a wire frame or a retaining wall edge should take this. The camellia collection covers both groups.

Tying in and feeding after flowering

Prune when flowering finishes in winter, which is also the moment to retie an espalier and shorten any shoot heading away from the frame. Cut back to an outward or sideways facing bud, and take the whole plant back by about a third if it has become congested. Feed straight after with a camellia and azalea fertiliser, water it in and refresh the mulch. Trained plants need a second tie in during the summer growth flush, while shoots are still soft enough to bend without snapping, and check older ties then for anything cutting into the bark.

Choosing a size

This plant is supplied in one size, 200mm, at $31.95 per plant. The size shown is the pot it arrives in, which is the rootball, not the height of the plant. Not sure which to choose? Read our guide to camellia hedges and winter flowers.