Camellia sinensis.

Well shoot, Ron you reminded me, I have C. sinensis 'Rosea'. This one is a heavy bloomer!

hey alan.....yes, im a sucker when it comes to species. LOL

right now, i have a few in bloom like fraterna and euryoides. oleifera and sinensis vars have finished up. ill have to walk thru the garden tomorrow to see if any new ones are blooming.

I've been buying species from places like Woodlanders, Nurseries Caroliniana and Camellia Forest for a couple of years. I have about a dozen species in north Florida, other than C. sasanqua, C. japonica and hybrids. Camellia lutchuensis is blooming now - in mid-January. Camellia rosaeflora has nice buds. Camellia sinensis has been blooming for a couple of months. I am very fond of a fall bloomer, Camellia crapnelliana, that has a 3" white flower reportedly grows as a small tree to twenty-five feet. Some people cannot help but compare them to C. japonica but I think they are great in their own right. By the way, I read plantaholic's bio. That sounds like my kind of garden.

At the time of my original post I didn't have a digital camera. I got one as an early Christmas present, so lately I have been going crazy snapping shots of the least little thing! I was thrilled when my C. yuhsienensis began blooming again last week. This is supposed to be one of the few fairly hardy, truly fragrant Camellias. I love it!

Serenoa, I would love to be able to grow lutchuensis here, but I think I'm a bit too cold for it. I actually tried to order it from Nuccios a couple years ago. I asked their advice on hardiness and they said it is too tender for my zone, so they suggested yuhsienensis as a substitute. I wanted one that had good fragrance. I also agree Hayes'(plantaholic) garden would be paradise! I bet your property in Belize is outstanding too! I'd love to have a garden somewhere tropical!

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:511687}}

hayes needs help raking leaves! LOL i still havent gotten them all up.

thanks guys! stop by if youre in the area.

Camellia yuhsienensis looks great - very interesting petal shape. I'll watch for it in the catalogs. Camellia yunnanensis has a smaller leaf and flower but has willowy, arching branches that are different from all of my other camellias. Its fragrance brings forsythia to mind, although it has been a while since I smelled a forsythia flower. By the way, I may add some tropical fruit trees to my Belize land when I retire and move there, but it is hard to improve on nature in a place like that. Meanwhile, I'm getting a big kick out of getting to know camellias and other "southern" plants after several years of gardening in Miami. Every place has its advantages.