Camellia is a shrub or small tree grown for its large, lustrous leaves and beautiful flowers in late Fall, Winter and early Spring. Camellia is one of the "Queens" in the flower garden, it prefers cool climate in US zone 7-8 (average minimum temperatures from 0 to 20 F). There are two Camellia species that are widely grown around the world: C. japonica and C. sasanqua. Camellia has a cousin, C. sinensis, and its leaves are widely used to make tea. Camellias are originally from Japan, China, and North Vietnam.

C. japonica has large flower, up to 5 inches across, and bloom in late Winter or early Spring. C. sasanqua plant is relatively smaller than C. japonica, but generally hardier than other species and bloom earlier (late Fall). Leaves and flowers of C. sasanqua are smaller, about 2 inches in diameter. Camellia flowers are semi-double or double forms in shades of white, yellow, pink, rose or purple red. Few cultivars from C. sasanqua are fragrant. If you want to learn more about camellia, visit these Camellia societies: Gainesville Camellia Society, American Camellia Society, International Camellia Society.

You can also search for Camellia in Google:

'Adolphe Audusson'	'Adolphe Audusson' variegated	'Bernie Boddy'	'Choji Raju'
'Claudia Lee'	'C.M. Wilson'	'Descanso Yulletide'	'Dixie Knight'
'Elegans'	'Emmett Barnes'	'Freedom Bell'	'Pink Pagoda'
'Tinsie'	C. chrysantha