"La France" 1867 is one of the earliest H.T.s and in my eyes one of the 12 best pink H.T.s, I also love its fragrance. cl. "Mrs. Herbert Stevens". This grows to be a self supporting rosebush of c. 7 feet tall by nearly as wide, that has the twiggy growth habit of a Tea rosebush. Leaflets are a bit small and scanty, if that matters to you. "Golden Ophelia" darling golden-yellow roses. A small plant suitable for the border. "Condesa de Sastago" one of my favorite Pernetiana type roses. Pernetiana roses "Soleil d'Or" has a growth habit and foliage that is like the wild rose it was bred from, a marvelous rose that shows a lot of character in plant and flower. I also love "Gruss an Coberg" it is a Pernetiana that is healthy in our no-spray garden and has a re- bloom rate of a Florabunda. H.T.s from the early 1900's "Polly" very fragrant and lovely "Snowbird" a white H.T. from the 1930's that has a bloom style one would expect more from a rose from the 1800's. Very floriferous and quick to re-bloom. Of all of the white roses in the whole wide world, it is one of my top 12 favorites, and I rate it only slightly below the white Tea roses. Not a Tea but very much like a Tea, with smaller roses, Spray "Cecille Brunner" a sport from the original rose that was bred from a Tea rose and a Polyantha, The bush has the size and twiggy growth habit of a Tea, and like Tea roses in our climate, it retains its foliage far longer in the Autumn, than H.T.s do. The roses are fragrant and dainty in size, pink and very pretty. I used to dislike the H.T. class as a whole, until I met more of the H.T.s from the 1800's-1930's, a few of which captivated my attention, especially the Pernetiana roses which grow well where I live. Luxrosa

Congratulations! I also hope you are successful with the new cuttings! This part of Texas has a lot of alkaline soils and my camellias have tolerated the alkalinity well. I do ammend the soil in Spring with garden Sulphur though and sometimes, not always, I will water by hand using water from a rain barrel.

Its a stunning plant, I have several, about eight in a grove. The price has come down a lot since I first bought mine, sometimes by at least 70%. Im not in America however and Im not sure why this is as grafting stock is often taken from the wild which cannot be renewable to the extent of the number of these found in markets across Southern China and Hong Kong and the rest of Asia never mind exported elsewhere. The grafted trees are it's true very easy to grow, and with cutting success so bad will continue to be the mainstay of the species as a garden plant. They're as easy as any Camellia except they like full sun if your humidity is up to it and warm subtropical conditions, even tropical ones seem to work if you can keep the roots stock cool and the plant partly shaded. They need acid soils and love a nice deep mulch. Only problems that are encountered are on the very big grafting stocks (Camellia japonica) where they've grafted multiple small branches. The cut wood on the stock doesn't health over easily if at all and rots after a time instead so the grafts start to wilt and decay. The best grafting is a simple single top graft leaving no exposed wood on the stock, this is a long lived plant. There is extraordinary phenotypic variation in flower form and leaf shape in Camellia azalea. This is true even given the limited small number of plants left in the wild and their otherwise lack of true genetic variation. Some have small very open flowers others have large tall fluted wine glass shape flowers just like a large magnolia, lots in between. Variation in size and shape of flower is quite considerable but also the colour of the red. Some are more on the pink side of red, others pale faded out red, some more on the orange side but the best are a deep vibrant scarlet with the large fluted upright blooms. Size and shape of leaf and plant shape also vary. There is simply no other Camellia like it so it will always be a stunning garden plant in it's own right as a species. Unfortunately Camellias and their hundreds of selections and crosses cannot compare to the best of Camellia azalea in a straight comparison. So crosses or hybrids tend to diminish the flower shape and the unique vibrant colour. C. azalea could in theory however impart the forever blooming characteristics onto the rest, though as of now not many of these crosses have exhibit that characteristic in any way to the degree of the species. Alternatively with repeated back crossing the ease with which ordinary Camellias can be propagated could make for an easily propagated C. azalea eventually. I think the latter is where efforts should be concentrated so something more or less exactly like the best of the species can be enjoyed far more widely and relieve pressure on wild populations for grafting stock. A white with the best shape and size of a C.azalea bloom would of course be extremely lovely!

Hunter, those are lovely camellias, and I like the "time-lapse photographs" of 'Frank Houser'... I find it helpful to see how a camellia shrub grows and fills out over time, and that's a nice specimen. I'm sure we would all like to see more photos as you find it convenient to post some. Now that our camellia season is pretty much done, it will be nice to have some flowers to look forward to online. Thanks, Virginia