Camellia is one of my favourite broadleaf evergreens. It blooms early, then works hard as background support the other 3 seasons. Several birds make themselves at home in the camellia in our courtyard – – AND the shrub is deer resistant! That’s my kind of plant. 🙂
A few years ago, I spotted a hedge of camellia in downtown Victoria, beside London Drugs. They were almost finished blooming in mid-December! I have no idea how early they’d started… November? October??
Who’d have expected blooms in autumn?
Not long after that, KC gifted me with a fall-blooming camellia. It starts blooming before Christmas and has even more flowers through January!
Yeah, Baby!
Once I knew it was possible to have blooms so early in the year, I kept an eye out for even more samples around town:
It was delightful to find another variety of camellia starting to bloom in mid-February sunshine near the BC Legislature.
Just a month later, in March, I notice these camellia blooming in a yard not far from the YM-YWCA downtown.
A block or so away from our place is a camellia that flowers through April.
Then there is the camellia in our courtyard typically begins blooming in April & is in full blossom in May.
Autumn… winter… spring…
Who knew there are so many cultivars with differing blooming schedules?
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© SVSeekins and Garden Variety Life, 2014
Garden Variety Life 
Camellias are wonderful! I have Kanjiro which is a dark pink single petal, late autumn/winter blooming. I recently have been in the market for another one… So many options 🙂 I will say though that I had a problem with the deer eating my this winter. I guess mine have different, expensive taste buds 😦
Hi Erica 🙂 I really like camellia too, and fortunately have not had too much issue with the deer. Camellia have those thick broad leaves like rhododendron – – which the deer ignore in my garden too. That said, they happily munch on the russian laurel. Go figure! Mostly, I find that the deer are lazy opportunists. They mostly eat what is right beside their trail. Pls. let me know if your new gates do the trick!
No the deer here eat everything! They even go after hollies. I will update on if the gates work.
Hollies!! Now that is a hungry deer!