Love them all, although I do think the petals on this red one are almost unbelievable. I’m very fond of ‘lemon drop’ as well. I much prefer the doubles to single flowers.
The red camellia is Happy Anniversary. The one with the yellowish centre is Jury’s Yellow, not Lemon Drop.
The white camellia is Swan Lake. The pink one is Ballet Queen. They grow like crazy round here. We have two bushes of pink camellias that must be nearly twenty feet high. Very happy in our acid soil.
Oh yes, @Joyce Goldenlily , the anemone type camellias - I had a look and Burncoose sell Anemoniflora. It has a very distinctive shape doesn't it?
These types are not so common near me. It is interesting you mention that you have seen camellias growing in fields which used to be gardens. My garden is becoming more shaded in parts and I am thinking of growing another plant in the ground at some point. The doubles can get too fluffed up. I love the glossy leaves too, especially after rain in summer when they are no flowers to be spoiled.
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That is an interesting observation about the sky etc @bede, I will bear that in mind when my flowers emerge.Do you know of Camellia cuspidata hybrid Spring Festival by any chance? RHS suggests it may be useful to pollinators.
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I love a 'despite the odds' story, @Plantminded! Lovely portrait too. Is it deep pink or more red? (Can't quite tell due to the strong sun in the photo.)
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The nettles with iron look green/grey/sage - is that how you saw them? (Difficult to be sure in a photo).
Do you find things fade quite a bit? (Can add to the charm?).
The iron tends to darken (or sadden) the dye. It can be interesting to try three versions of one batch dye - one neutral (control), one with an acid like lemon juice, and one with iron. Bicarb and others additives can make for other shades.
In recent years I have been experimenting with mordants, to make colours more fast on fabric, and fixatives for paper. I would like to get better at fixing colour - after all the effort that goes into creating the brews. Without fixing, botanical colours tend to fade to brown. Artists' pastel spray may help fix on paper - I need to do some more trials.
My neighbour has a red cameillia bush and I will ask him for a few blooms to experiment with.
I am really excited about trying this, @fire. Going to start with crocus and daffodil petals. (Not yet in flower I should add). Your trials sound interesting!
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They grow like crazy round here. We have two bushes of pink camellias that must be nearly twenty feet high. Very happy in our acid soil.
These types are not so common near me. It is interesting you mention that you have seen camellias growing in fields which used to be gardens. My garden is becoming more shaded in parts and I am thinking of growing another plant in the ground at some point. The doubles can get too fluffed up. I love the glossy leaves too, especially after rain in summer when they are no flowers to be spoiled.