- Camellias like it cool but not real frost
- The ideal place for wintering the camellia
- Camellias need light
- No flowers without cold
- tips and tricks
Camellias with their beautiful flowers in white, pink or red are preferably cultivated in pots or tubs. Really hardy Camellia japonica does not exist. They are therefore only suitable for outdoor use if you can offer them a very sheltered place in the garden.
Camellias like it cool; But they don't like frost at all
Camellias like it cool but not real frost
Camellia japonica is often sold as hardy. Don't let that fool you. Camellias tolerate and even need cool temperatures. But the pretty ornamental plants are not really hardy.
You can leave camellias in the tub on the terrace in winter without frost protection until the temperatures drop to a maximum of -5 degrees. But then it's high time to bring them into the house.
As soon as the temperatures rise a little and it is frost-free again, the camellia can move back onto the terrace.
The ideal place for wintering the camellia
- cool
- Frost free
- bright
Camellia japonica has no place on the windowsill in the living room, even in winter. It's just too warm there.
It survives the winter best in a barely heated, bright room such as a cool conservatory.
Camellias need light
A big problem when overwintering Camellia japonica is the lack of light. The plant also needs sufficient light in winter.
If you cannot offer it a suitable place, place the plant in the basement or by the hallway window and use special plant lamps to ensure that it is sufficiently bright. 16 hours of light is optimal for camellias.
No flowers without cold
The fact that camellias have a reputation for being hardy may be due to the fact that they definitely need cold - just not frost.
The flowers only open when the ambient temperature is cool enough at 6 to 10 degrees. They will then delight the gardener for up to five weeks.
As soon as the temperatures rise higher, the flowering period of the camellia is over very quickly.
tips and tricks
Camellias grown outdoors can survive very mild winters. However, they develop far fewer flowers than if you overwintered them in a bucket in a cool but frost-free place.