Neal, Some plants like people, seem to have it all. I'm afraid the lovely camellia, at least my varieties are not among those. They have no discernable fragrance. Maybe the southern ones do.

The fall/winter bloomers actually start blooming for me around the second week in November and are pretty much done by Dec 15th or so. Keep in mind that Camellias need a lot of shade, or they will not bloom.

I have 4 of them planted along the side of my garage, and that wall faces across from my neighbor's wall about 40' away. There are tall trees between her house and mine as well as a 6' privacy fence. That area gets no sunlight. Now down by the corner of the garage, the one that is planted there, on one side of it, the sun hits it from about 1pm on till about 6pm. That shrub grows amazingly well, but is never as deeply green as the others and refuses to produce blooms on the side that faces the sun.

Here's another.

Will cuttings of Holly Blue Prince, maybe Ilex x meserveae 'Blue Prince', change sex and become Princess? I'm thinking that has happened here because one of the old cutting has loads of berries.

Interesting question Evan, it's not something I've seen or heard of happening before. I have heard of other plant species doing that though. Well, there are even fish and amphibians that can change sexes, so I don't suppose it would be all that strange a thing to happen.

Hi Neal, Here's a pic of my Prince-ss loaded with berries. I pruned back about 1/3 in the Spring.

Can anyone tell me if this is a Camellia?

Hi Debbie,

I don't grow them, but it surely appears to be one. From the look of the leaves, and the flowers.

You lucky lady, you!

Thanks Polly. I'm sorry I took so long to get back. Busy time of the year. Thanks again.

Val said:The boxwood that I have is supposed to have a mature size of about 2 feet wide and about 8 feet tall. They were planted in 2007 and right now they are about 5 feet tall and 14 inches wide (I just measured). I know they like a bit of shade but they're doing well in full sun. Even though they don't have any protection from winter winds, they get very little burn.

How is the green tower boxwood doing now?