Camellia (Camellia edithae)
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Camellia edithae is one of my favorite plants in all of the Hartman Prehistoric Garden. It is a species Camellia from southeastern China, and this is a double form. It is quite cold hardy (zone 7B) and loves afternoon shade, acid soil, and regular watering. It is unusual for a Camellia in that it is very tolerant of heat. The leaves are very attractive, and would be worth mentioning all by themselves, but then the profuse and gorgeous flowers appear in spring and are so distracting that the word "leaf" becomes irrelevant. This small plant had been in the ground two months and was covered with buds!
Unfortunately, some people who come to the Hartman Prehistoric Garden feel the need to pick the flowers, which is NOT ALLOWED. This was the first blossom on this plant, and it was picked less than an hour after it opened. And the next flower AND THE ENTIRE BRANCH IT WAS ON was ripped from the plant shortly after. In order to save the plant from certain destruction, I was forced to remove all the rest of the buds. I will do the same thing again this year if people will not respect this plant and this garden, in the hope that someday in the future the Hartman Prehistoric Garden will be treated with respect by all visitors. On that future day, this plant will be there to treat us to all its incredible gifts.
class: Magnoliopsida / order: Theales / family: Theaceae / genus: Camellia / species: edithae
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