Plant-A-Day 2020 (Day 109) Camellia hybrid

One of a few ornamental plants that existing on our property when we purchased this house, this Camellia hybrid is on the fenceline with our northern neighbor. About twenty years ago, I pruned it way back so that it looked more like an interesting tree. Lately, however, it has overgrown its space and needs to be dealt with in a drastic way again.

The flowers are huge, light pink affairs. Taken individually, they are beautiful things. The shrub, taken as a whole during the spring, is typically a mess. The older flowers hang on and turn brown while new flowers open. And rain turns them brown faster.

I wanted to figure out the identify of this hybrid but found out that there are 33,000+ different Camellia hybrids registered! Maybe someday!

My drastic 2020 plans for this plant are to cut it way back, hopefully giving it a pleasing, interesting shape. Camellias respond well to pruning, so it will snap back in a year or two. Another related project–I want to plant a clematis at the base of this plant and see if it will add some flowers to the space in the summer.