Camellias
Winter’s Charmer
STORY BY ROYCE ARMSTRONG
Just when they are most
needed to brighten winter
dulled and browned lawns,
large and colorful blooms
appear on these dense ever-
green shrubs that are gardening
favorites all across the South.
Best of all, camellias are easy
to grow, the slow-growing
plants are attractive all year
long and they last for years.
Camellias are large, attractive
evergreen shrubs with large,
leathery, dark green leaves
measuring about four inches
long. The plants bloom in late
winter through early spring.
The flowers range in color from
white to pink and red and aver-
age three to five inches in diam-
eter. Some varieties begin
blooming in September and
continue to bloom until April.
HISTORY
Camellias have been cultivat-
ed in Asia for thousands of
24 • south mississippi scene
years before Christ’s birth,
where the shiny, dark green
leaves are harvested for tea. It
is believed that these plants
originated in an area where
northeast India, north Burma,
southwest China and Tibet
come together.
The tea plants are a variety of
camellias (camellias sinensis)
with small, white flowers.
Yunnan Province in China
has also been identified as a
birthplace of tea plants and is
home to the world’s oldest
known cultivated tea plant, a
tree estimated to be 3,200 years
old.
According to Chinese legend,
Shennong, the Chinese emperor
was drinking a bowl of boiling
water around 2737 BC when a
few leaves from a nearby tree
blew into the water and began
to change its color. The curious
emperor tasted the water and
was pleasantly surprised by its
delicate flavor and restorative
properties.
Tea became a favorite bever-
age for the Asian people.
When the first Europeans
began travelling to and trading
with Asians, they quickly
adopted tea drinking and fell in
love with the tea plant.
Camellias were imported into
Europe in the 1600s. Efforts to
grow the plants failed due to
the climate and soil fertility
except where they were grown
on a limited basis in green
houses. These plants were
grown more for their beauty
than for the leaves.
Tea was imported to the
American colonies in the 1700s
and the Boston Tea Party in
1773 helped ignite colonial
anger against the British crown
and precipitated the American
Revolution.