First thing I did was to see how close they were but they are on the other side of the state - over by Shoe - Pffttt.

Anxious to see your camellia's grow and see how your tea turns out. I drink it everyday in my smoothie.

Thanks for this info. I hadn't thought about growing my own tea since leaving CA where I had Camellia sinensis and loved it. I drink a lot of green tea and it appears this plant will survive in my zone.

Going to purchase a few of these. Perfect in a perennial garden as well.

Vic- a road trip, maybe
,
Tee- I'm very excited about it. They should grow well in your zone, even some of the ornamental camellias are hardy to 6!

signed,
the enabler

It doesn't take much for me to be enabled. As long as it's perennial or a veggie, herb or heavy reseeder here. I'm not entirely lazy but just like to put my energy elsewhere in the garden.

I think I've killed more camellias than any other plant just trying to get one to grow here, but oh boy, I really love green tea.

Thanks for such an informative review, Trish.

Sharon- is the freeze killing them, or?? The small leaf variety is listed as hardy to 6b.

I have the small leaf. It's HUGE and the birds build nests in it

It's been a couple of years since the demise of the last camellia, and I probably had one that was not hardy here. Someone sent me a rooted cutting that lived for a few months but no more. Either I never knew or I don't remember which one it was.

Starting over now though. I'll get the right one this time.

Vic- bigger than 6 feet?

Oh yes, we actually keep it trimmed to just below the gutter. It's huge!

It's a Sasanqua - plantation pink - fall bloomer - beautiful pink blooms.

Sharon, did you by any chance have it in full sun? Mine gets more shade than sun.

I'm pretty sure I posted blooms in the db but probably not the whole thing. It's trunk is about 8". It's 12 or 13 years old.

I thought it was getting only morning sun, Vic, but it might not have been getting enough.

Trish: Thanks so much for this great review and photo's! Those plants sure were packed amazingly well and look very healthy ... Kudo's to Camellia Forest Nursery for selling healthy plants and packing them so well for shipment! I'm going to check out their website to see if they offer any Camellia's that might grow in my zone! I love green tea but I don't think I'd have the patience to make my own ... getting lazier with each birthday.

I had a pretty Camellia sasanqua 'Northern Lights' a few years ago. It did very well in shade but when we had two consecutive harsh winters it killed the Schefflera trees that were shading it and the Camellia ended up getting fried by the intense Florida sun. Since moving into my new house I found a small Camellia planted in the yard but it's kind of sickly looking and it's being taken over by Boxwood hedges. I need to try to figure out what it's issues are and transplant it to a different area. I saw photo's on line of two sasanqua's that I'd love to find, one called 'Little Pearl' and another called 'Paradise Blush' that were really beautiful ... and a red one that I think was called 'Yuletide'. My sister in North Georgia used to have some really large, really beautiful Camellias in her yard.

Camellia sasanqua 'Northern Lights': ..... And the unknown Camellia currently growing in my yard:

Finding a good balance of sun and shade is my problem as well...
We haven't expanded gardens far enough to have any amount of shade yet.

I am watching this so I can hopefully see how your tea turns out!!.. too cool

I did order a couple of the tea plants and they will arrive next week. I'm really looking forward to growing them here. Thanks again.