Strawberry Tree
Since moving to Washington, I have discovered a great number of new trees. One of my favorites is the Strawberry Tree ( Arbutus unedo ). It is a four-season tree with semi-glossy evergreen leaves and lovely mahogany bark. In autumn, clusters of white flowers appear, bearing a resemblance to Lily-of-the-Valley flowers. And then there are the little fruits, which resemble strawberries that appear at the same time as the flowers. I am not sure why, but I have only seen a few fruits on ours. I don't know if birds are getting them before I see them or what happens. The fruits are said to be edible but not very tasty (to humans). This year, our tree is loaded with flowers, the most I've ever seen. Bees absolutely love it and so do the hummingbirds. The flowers usually continue to appear straight through winter, and it can be blooming even during the coldest periods of winter. Aside from the fact that I have not seen much of the colorful fruits, the major negative note is the fact tha
Well no wonder its our state flower, Phillip. What a beautiful sight this dreary cold day in Chicago.
ReplyDeleteTaylor's Perfection is that - perfect! I have some old dark pink camellias, but I am becoming aware of the many others available and am considering developing a camellia walk. Maybe! If so, I will definitely include this one.
ReplyDeletePhillip,
ReplyDeleteTaylor's perfection resembles the pink camellia I posted a photo of one post back. The stamens on ours seem about twice as large as yours. We bought ours at the local nursery that mainly sells to the landscape companies.
Is it fair that you can grow Roses AND Camillias? I don't think so, but I agree that Taylor's Perfection is named perfectly. What a beauty.
ReplyDeleteA tiny bit of shortening of limbs after bloom season is over will help with the nodding. I know it's hard to clip off any of a growing camellia, but you could root the clippings.
ReplyDeleteWe have one in the store right now. Everyone wants red. I love it. I spotted one a few days ago down the street from me. It's against someone's house so I will need to ask permission for those cuttings. Beautiful blooms.
ReplyDeleteI think I've fallen for Camellias too. I want to ring the backyard with them.
What beautiful flowers! They remind me of a rose. Even taken with the flower nodding it's pretty because you can see the petals in a different way.
ReplyDeleteIt took me too many years to fall in love with camellias as well, but I've fallen hard. "Taylor's Perfection" is a lovely specimen and looks nice in its setting. Your last photo is gorgeous!
ReplyDeletePhillip, I love Taylor's Perfection....White By The Gate is my only camellia and i can see a few of these pink beauties in the back garden...it's shadier and the soil is deeper. Can you recommend a good mail order source...No one really carries them here...I suspect they are still considered iffy for even a zone 7 garden! gail
ReplyDeleteThe juxtaposition of the delicate blossoms and the rustic, old wood is lovely.
ReplyDeleteIn the 20+ years we've lived in our house, our camellias have never been this beautiful. Wish we had Taylor's Perfection.
They really do have beautiful flowers. Eucharis nod off the same way. Both have simple but very elegant flowers.
ReplyDeleteIt's spectacular Philip! I sure wish I could grown them here! Larry
ReplyDeleteCamelia Specialty nursery?!!!! Whoa! That would be so awesome!
ReplyDeleteI love the last photo with the water drops! Lovely!
Beautiful! I understand the attraction to camellias. Stunning and rewarding. If only I didn't have deer! I tried sasanqua at the house before this and the deer did munch away.
ReplyDeleteIf you ever come to Chapel Hill, you should visit Camellia Forest Nursery!
It's real easy to see why this is one of your favorites. The color and the number of blooms make this plant nearly perfect. As always, I have pangs of envy for you southerners who can grow them.
ReplyDeleteMarnie
That is a really nice pink. You are lucky you can grow the outside reliably.
ReplyDeleteI was a gardener a long time before I fell for shrubs.If I could grow camellias, I totally would. (esp. the one you get tea from, lol!). They're all so lovely.
ReplyDeleteAh, I love all your camellias. That one is really a stunner. I've only got two baby camellias and I keep having squirrel problems with them - the squirrels climb on the bush (sometimes breaking a branch while doing so) and then they proceed to eat the flowers! It's quite maddening but I don't know what to do about it. Guess they just need to get bigger so both the squirrels and I can enjoy the blooms.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful Phillip. Thank you for sharing some perfection. They look like flowers on a cake to me.~~Dee
ReplyDeleteI love camellias too. I planted several camellias years ago, and they thrive with benign neglect. The oldest ones are 8 feet tall.
ReplyDeleteThat is a gorgeous Camellia.
ReplyDeleteWe recently bought a tiny 85 ear old cottage in Oakland California, that came with a camellia that is taller than our house. I doubt I'll ever learn the name of this beautiful flower.
ReplyDeletehttp://howsrobb.blogspot.com/2010/03/whose-garden-is-this.html
I'm a few years late to this post - but just saw Taylor's Perfection for the first time today, and was looking up information. Yours is lovely - besides the heart-shaped petals, I liked that the not-fully-opened flowers were facing down, as if they were bells. Quite a beauty!
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