Growing Camellias in Containers
American Camellia Society
ACS Camellia Yearbook
1947
Reprinted with Permission
The Chinese had been growing camellias in containers for many generations when, early in the eighteenth century, the first potted specimens were added to the cargo of a merchant ship bound for Europe. There is little actual knowledge of these first potted plants that made the long sea trip from the Orient, but we do know that they set the pattern for camellia culture in the West.
Camellia culture in Europe and northeastern United States was and still is almost wholly dependent on container-grown plants. Of course, climatic conditions necessitated the practice, but we must not forget that it was the remarkable adaptability of the camellia to this form of cultivation that permitted it to become one of the most popular greenhouse plants ever grown. Indeed, outdoor plantings in Europe and America were almost invariably begun experimentally with potted greenhouse plants that found the regions favorable and flourished.
To some, camellias in pots and tubs may seem out of place in those areas where they grow readily as garden shrubs. Yet, an increasing number of growers in the southern and western “camellia belts” are beginning to go back to where the whole thing started—back beyond the potted greenhouse plants, back to the old Chinese gardens where camellias have been grown in containers for centuries.