Winter's Snowman Ice Angels® Camellia

Follow a regular watering schedule during the first growing season to establish a deep, extensive root system. Provide well drained soil, rich in organic matter. Feed with an acid fertilizer after bloom. Keep roots cool with a thick layer of mulch. Pruning time: winter after flowering.

Camellia makes a striking shrub as a single focal point anywhere in the landscape. It is particularly beautiful near the front door where visitors can appreciate flowers at close range. Use in a protected place in the garden, such as an east facing entryway, and be rewarded with handsome evergreen foliage and mid season white flowers. Both the blooms and foliage are fine additions to indoor winter cut flower arrangements. Beautiful as a foundation plant, in a container or as part of a Zen tranquility garden. Great as an espalier to cover walls.

To stay true to its Asian heritage, plant with Azalea, Heavenly Bamboo, Japanese Maple, Fern, Dogwood and Rhododendron. For those shady beds close to your outdoor patios, create a moonlight garden with white blooming Astilbe, Hydrangea, and Clematis. Provide some filtered shade with small stature, white blooming trees like Apple Serviceberry, and Crabapple.

Camellias are native to eastern and southern Asia. The genus was named by Carolus Linnaeus who named it for a Jesuit missionary Georg Kamel, who cultivated an important garden of local medicinal plants on the Philippine Island of Luzon in the 17th century. Winter's Snowman is the result of years of research and cross hybidization by Dr. William Ackerman at the National Arboretum in Washington, D.C. to breed cold hardy Camellias. It is a cross of (C. sasanqua 'Narumi-gata' x C. hiemalis 'Shishi Gashira) x C. oleifera 'Plain Jane'. C. oleifera is widely grown throughout Asia as a source of cooking and cosmetic oils. Camellias represent longevity and faithfulness and have long been a primary floral component in Asian weddings.