Historical Camellia Garden in Virginia

Caring for an incredible plant collection

Today Amy is sharing her beautiful garden in Suffolk , Virginia .

We are the third owner of a house build up almost 70 years ago . Dr. James “ Tubby ” Habel Jr. , who designed and built the house in 1954 with his wife , Allie , was an obstetrician by trade , but also acamelliapropagator . Every part of the yard has camellia on top of camellia , thanks to him . My husband and I always appreciated the yard , but with meddling lives , body of work , and crime syndicate , it was back of mind and mostly pure maintenance .

Over the retiring class , that changed . First , on August 4 , 2020 , a tornado came through our neighbourhood . We were fortunate to have little structural damage ( several homes are still being rebuilt 11 month later ) , but we lost 11 Tree , most of which were 75 to 150 human foot tall . One large pecan tree wiped out a 30 - understructure by 18 - foot borderline that had been full of camellia , tree , and azalea , and several other borders were severely altered . At first this was lamentable and disappointing , but after months and month of form to pick up and set out the labor of replant the field destroyed , we came to be more intimately connected with the garden and its design . Then in January 2021 I get a bash on my room access . Bob Black , a camellia expert and VP of gardening at a big local nursery , was look for a special camellia variety that he knew used to be in our yard and was asking if he could take a look around . As we trudged through the back James Jerome Hill filled with over a hundred or more camellias , hunting for something called ‘ Virginia Sunrise ’ , Bob explained how he had encounter Dr. Habel in the ’ LXXX when first out of college and learned and worked with him on all thing camellias . He tell me how Dr. Habel had been president of the Virginia Camellia Society as well as the American Camellia Society and that he ’d registered scads of varieties that he ’d cover . He walked me through the one thousand , point out some special varieties , and answer my many questions on how to take better tutelage of them . It was like a college course on the history of our thousand , and I was so felicitous and thankful that Bob came looking for ‘ Virginia Sunrise ’ that daylight !

I do n’t bed if it was due to Bob ’s chronicle lesson , or the extra rain we got in January , or if being home all the time due to the pandemic gave us the space to spend more clip in the garden , but the camelia and the garden were like a charming forest this yr , and my husband and I would walk around almost every day appreciating the amazing talent of this garden . When we were fully immunize , our first trip was to see several historic camellia gardens . We have to say that Dr. Habel ’s just might be better .

I get it on camellias arewinter blooming , so this may be of interest for later , but also I require to boost people to plant camellias this decline ! I think they are underrated , and they are gorgeous year - round .

A camelia ( Camelliajaponica , Zones 7–10 ) in soft pinko with darker petal sharpness

A beautiful floral fireworks display in violent and white

A semi - dual cushy pinkish flush

A copious pink formal double efflorescence

arresting in bloom , the glossyevergreenfoliage of these camellias always see full as well .

Many camellia varieties have flowers that stay colored and beautiful even after they drop off the industrial plant , creating unbelievable carpet of color .

What a wizardly forest of blooms to search .

This white-hot camellia might be the variety ‘ Allie Blue ’ .

sensational scarlet - and - white - pattern bloom of youth .

Have photos to share ? We ’d know to see your garden , a particular collection of plant life you jazz , or a wondrous garden you had the chance to call in !

To relegate , send 5 - 10 photos to[email protected]along with some information about the industrial plant in the motion-picture show and where you have the photos . We ’d love to hear where you are located , how long you ’ve been gardening , successes you are proud of , nonstarter you learned from , promise for the future , favorite plants , or funny stories from your garden .

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