Hey, you guys, I'm so sorry I didn't see your answers until now. I asked the system to e-mail me with any, and after dropping by for one day and not seeing any I went into wait mode and then forgot and missed all the good info here. Thank you! New info on climate--we seem to be in a cold spot here. Just north of Lake Lanier and Atlanta, but it dropped to 15 degrees the night before last, 10 degrees and more colder than most areas around. In any case, when I returned to the nursery they'd already sold out of Mildred but will have more in the spring. But they did have poukhanense and, unwilling to have those disappear on me too, came home with 5 as a trial even though I knew nothing about her. So it's really great to get info on this one from someone who grows her, Jeff. That she is less covered with flowers than most selections these days actually sounds nice. I have a fondness for plants with kind of a dainty old-fashioned or even wild look. I've also just gone ahead and put Elsie Lee on my "send for" list based on a recommendation from someone who loves this color. Evergreen, I'd like most of my azaleas to put on their show in early and mid spring but be done blooming later on when the dogwoods get going. Thanks for the info on Mildred Mae. It sounds lovely and I think has to be the Mildred available here. The foliage was darker and richer in color than most of the other azaleas and the growth habit fairly dense. Luis, thanks very much for that extremely useful chart. It does look like I need to stay away from those designated as midseason, although a few Encores here and there, maybe tucked back toward the edges of the woods, seem a must-have. I now have the winter to consider the selections recommended and may well end up trying them all since I would like some range in color, size, and bloom time. They'll go in a band of shrubbery and trees around a circular lawn our new porch looks down on from about 14 feet up. And I also want to tuck a heat-tolerant rhodie, still to be chosen, against the house where we walk by above the lawn... Happy anticipation season, Rhodie people, and thanks again for your expertise.

We have a sasanqua camellia that is maybe 25 years old and tree-sized now. It was mislabeled as 'Hiryu' when bought from a big box store, but clearly isn't that. I'm fairly certain that it's 'Hugh Evans' as there's a perfectly matched picture for it, complete with some twisting of the flower petals, in Jennifer Trehane's book. Last year this one began blooming in late September and bloomed some even through December. I cut some branches several times in December and early January, figuring on just keeping it until the few remaining blooms lost their petals (which took about a week for a freshly cut bloom!)... but then I noticed that the small buds that had shown no color when first cut had been swelling quite quickly... and a few days later they started blooming too. On the last branch cut in January, there were no open blooms and nothing but the tiniest bloom buds; I was cutting the branches for their greenery only. I know this is hard to believe, but some of its tiny, tiny buds developed just fine in our kitchen, and within about ten days we started having blooms from those "greenery" branches--in January! Some of the buds that ended up opening as flowers were so small when the branches were first cut that I hadn't even been aware they were bloom buds at all. The first few years this camellia was planted I thought it was no great shakes... and then as it began to mature, the weeping quality of its branches got to me. It's a lovely plant overall and a fragrant one too; I'm glad we have it! I could scarcely cook supper last year for pausing to sniff it in its vase by the kitchen sink. Its blooms don't compete well with japonicas, but can pass for a Japanese still life once they're nicely arranged in a vase. Anyway, don't buy this one for the showy perfection of its blooms, but for the overall beauty of the plant in the landscape. (And if you are tempted to not keep it the first few years, as I was, well, just wait a few more years before deciding. If you like the form of weeping willow trees, you're very likely to end up really liking Hugh Evans, with its gorgeous weeping evergreen foliage and a bonus of tons of noticeably bright flowers.) Considering that it's a camellia, it's a relatively fast grower. (It has been tree-sized for about the last ten years or so.) Hugh Evens began blooming a bit later this year, probably because it wasn't adequately watered during our 5-6 weeks without any rain at all. As soon as we got rain, it started blooming promptly (around October 2, I think). Shishigashira bloomed last year starting in September, but hasn't quite opened this year yet either--probably due to the drought and also the fact that the plant was just relocated in March. Lovely low Shishigashira is covered with buds, though, and in its new location in front of the Hugh Evans, it will be very noticeable. No pictures, but perhaps this year I'll actually get around to taking some? Oh, Bonanza... a hiemalis, is new here (not yet planted) and started blooming on October 6. The blooms actually do look as large and beautiful as their pictures. The foliage is really nice too. Isn't this a great time of the year! Best wishes, Mary Here is a link that might be useful: Bonanza hiemalis camellia

Just a couple of thoughts on this, and I am sure you will get other opinions. I like the idea of putting containers around, while in bloom. We do that too, and I have 3 or 4 varieties for that purpose, with different bloom times so we will have something in bloom. You might check with some local camellia gardeners on whether 'Yuletide' blooms at Christmas in your area -- here on the gulf coast it is usually bloomed out by then. (Ours is in full bloom right now.) A good one for Christmas here is "Shi Shi Gashira" which is a sasanqua hybrid that has larger red blooms and is low-growing so it makes a great looking container specimen, better than Yuletide. Another variety that is pretty dependable here at Christmas is "Lady Clare" (aka Empress) a japonica that is reddish pink and is pretty easy to find and a heavy bloomer. If you need a contact person there for advice, send me an email and I will put you in touch.

I'd be afraid they'd get zapped by a late freeze if you put them out that early. Also with all the rain and storms we get in April/early May they wouldn't gain all that much growing time and will look pitiful until late May when things heat up (especially the night time temps) and the ground dries out from all the rains. So, IMO you're putting in a whole lot of work and effort and not really gaining all that much.