On The 3rd Day of Christmas-Citrus Guy Style

     Welcome to day 3 of Gardener Christmas gift ideas.
     Today, I want to tell you about one of my other passions and how you can get some of the ones I grow and show.
Camellias

     There are four selections today, and again, I know these places and they only sell top-notch plants.

#1-Camellia Forest Nursery- These folks have been in business for over 40 years and are located in North Carolina. They offer gift certificates and you can pick what camellia you want by many different ways, either by name, color, bloom size, bloom time as well as others.

#2- Larry Bates Nursery- Coming out of Louisiana, Larry has over 300 different grafted camellias available. His site has pictures, ordering information, growing information and links to other good information and societies. There are a couple of his that I have on my wish list and will hopefully be ordering soon!

#3- County Line Nursery- CLN is a world-class grower of camellias down in Georgia. He ships smaller camellias for the folks that are having a hard time finding certain plants. His plants are beautifully packaged and will show up at your door without a scratch.

#4-Nuccio's Nursery- This is the Nirvana of the camellia world! They are in California and have been in business since 1935. This company has created and registered more camellias than I can remember. If you want something really unique, check these people out.

     As I have mentioned in previous Christmas gift posts, there are many other camellia growers and sellers online, a quick Google search will reveal them. These four I have had personal dealings with and love them!

     If a new Camellia is on your gardener's wish list, I urge you to check these folks out.

As always I am available to answer any questions, please e-mail me at TheCitrusGuy@netzero.com or .net.
You can also follow me on FACEBOOK or check out my WEBSITE

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays!
Happy Growing!
Darren

A Book About My Other Passion

Yes, I know, where the heck have I been?!
BUSY is not even a good word to use!

I have been writing for a new website, which I invite you to check out all of their cool stuff.
You can find it and my articles at You Had Me at Gardening.
I have been testing some products for them and they are working on a giveaway for some that were being tested, so check them out for that!

Well, today, I come to you with another of the reasons I have been absent, my newest book!
It is live and currently available on Amazon by clicking this link:

"Growing Camellias for Contemplation and Competition"

You all know me as The Citrus Guy, and Citrus will always be number one on my hit parade. Camellias come in a REAL close second. I only have 55 varieties of Citrus, but I have over 200 cultivars of Camellias.

I discuss in the book how I got into growing Camellias, pretty much by accident. It all started with the couple that the book is dedicated to. Let's just say it's their fault! LOL

But, honestly, it was a good fit for me. I am a competitive person by nature and this gives me a chance to burn some of that off, even if it is only friendly competition. I enjoy it completely!

Here is an excerpt from the Welcome Chapter:

Please know that this book WILL NOT be strictly about flower shows and competitions. I will cover as many aspects of actually growing them as I can. Even though I got into the whole camellia culture by mistake, it is really a good fit. I enjoy growing things and I have a very competitive nature, so the show circuit, which I will cover in Chapter 8, is something I look forward to. It is not at all cut-throat, the matter of fact it is really a friendly competition, but you will learn more of that later.

This book is going to be very straightforward, like all my other books, I tend to write as if we are talking one on one. Things come across much easier and with a little dose of humor thrown in. It will be very much like you are attending one of my lectures.
Let’s get started!

Chapter 1-Camellia History
There are tons of books on the market that cover this topic, so I will not try to rewrite history. There is really nothing new that I can add. I will cover a brief synopsis of the long history, just to kind of get your feet wet or give you a tiny taste so you will go and search out the Camellia History Buffet.

Chapter 2- Species
There are many different species of camellias, I am going to focus on the main four (with a little dabbling of a few other minor ones). Camellia sasanqua, Camellia japonica, Camellia reticulata, and Camellia sinensis will be my main fixations in this book. Here is a little tease about chapter 2, did you know you may be holding and drinking a product of one of these species in your hand while you are reading this book?

 Chapter 3- Flower Forms
When people think of a certain flower, let’s say a rose for example, they pretty much have one shape, form, and size in mind. I am not saying there are not different ones in the rose world, what I am saying is, the range of sizes, forms and colors in camellias are quite extensive and easily out number roses.

Chapter 4- The Basics
Luckily, most of the things that the different species I will discuss have the same requirements, fertilizer, water, and soil pH. The lighting will be the only minor difference, but I don’t want to let that shine through yet.

Chapter 5- Propagation and Pruning
If I have done my job well, after reading this book, you will be itching to go out and get a bunch of these beautiful plants. The rub is, they might be a tad harder to find than your average azalea. If you have patience, some camellia friends, and some time, you can end up with dozens, if not hundreds of camellias. If you are really lucky, you might even be able to name your very own camellia!

Chapter 6- Pests and Diseases
No matter how good a gardener you are, no matter where you live, you will end up with some kind of a pest or disease. The good news is, except for one of the diseases, all of the subjects in this chapter are easily thwarted. One of them might actually be your friend.

Chapter 7- Show Use Mostly
This is where I start talking more about competition and showing. The things in this chapter are mainly for folks who are going to start showing blooms in flower shows. They are easy to do, to some degree. They may seem odd. They can all be done even if you are not going to show blooms. One of them could almost be considered legal cheating, don’t worry, it really is legal. No, seriously, I promise, it is perfectly legal!

Chapter 8- Flower Showing
If you live anywhere in the lower third of the United States, up the east coast to Maryland, and up the west coast into Oregon, there is at least one flower show near you every year. This chapter will delve into some of the rules of the show, how to prep flowers, what kind of things you can win, and how much fun it really is to be doing this with dozens of your friends, which they will all become.

Chapter 9- Nurseries
Yes, I covered how you can generate your own plants in Chapter 5, but there will be times that you see the most beautiful bloom at a show, and you MUST have it now! These are some of the best nurseries around, though you may have to actually visit them, some do not ship.

Chapter 10- In Conclusion
A tidy little sum of what this whole camellia craze is all about, some interesting stories that really happened, and ways that you too can get hooked into this world.

All of that in 169 pages and dozens of photographs. If you think you might enjoy growing Camellias or know somebody that might like to learn, this book is for them.

It was a year in the making and a blast the whole time!
As always, if you have any questions about this article, my books, or anything garden related, please feel free to drop me a line to TheCitrusGuy@netzero.com

You can follow me on FACEBOOK
Or get onboard my WEBSITE

Happy Growing!
Darren

It's About Bloomin' Time!

I wanted to give you a little inspiration today. Spring is finally really starting to show it's head. So, I wanted to share a few Camellias that are blooming in my yard right now. They are all in containers, in case you were wondering.



Camellia japonica 'Something Beautiful'


Camellia japonica 'Mathotiana'


Camellia japonica 'Nuccios Gem'


Camellia japonica 'Mathotiana Variegated'


Camellia japonica 'Betty Sheffield'


Camellia japonica 'Dubonnet'


Camellia non-reticulata hybrid 'Taylors Perfection'

These are just some of the Camellias that are blooming right now. I have really gotten into growing them. Currently my collection stands at 19 named varieties. I have a couple that I am still trying to identify.
I hope this gives you some inspiration for the coming season, it does me every time I walk out my front door!
Happy Growing!
Darren

I Am Cramped and Hungry.....Feed Me!

Not too long after I started my blog and started telling people about it, there was a few people that said "Great, I can do what you do!" Which scared me a little at first. What may work for me, may not work for them. I have come to accept this feeling now. Gardening is as much an art as it is a science. Toss in a little luck and there it is.
I tell you this because I have done a lot in the yard today and many may think I am nuts. Well, call me Macadamia and lets move on.
Just as a FYI, remember, I am a Zone 8 almost a 9.
The Citrus came out of the greenhouse for the LAST TIME this season, until November. Unless we get a spell of 20 something weather again, then disregard that last statement. They got fed and watered real well. I used a combination of Slow Release and Blood Meal. Next week they are going to get Fish Emulsion. I didn't get around to repotting some of the more cramped ones. They should just be happy they are out of the cramped greenhouse for now. Maybe next weekend.
I did get around to repotting the Camellias that needed it. They also got fed a very high powered lunch. Holly Tone, Slow Release fertilizer, Ironite and some soil acidifier. I know, that sounds like WAY too much. This is their first feeding since probably August of last year. Some of them maybe even longer than that. There were a few that showed some Nitrogen deficiency, so there that is. They too got a good drink of water.
The Potatoes are now planted in their 30 gallon pots. I am hoping this year to do better. Last year they were in too much shade and did not produce well. They are in full sun this year baby! Theoretically, I should get about 25 pounds of taters from what I planted today.
I have my 15 gallon pots ready to go for my 20 or so types of Tomatoes and 18 types of Peppers that are started and eager for Spring. The pots are all nicely spaced in their permanent positions, full of soil and most have the Tomato cages in place. I need to pick up a few more.
I am SO ready for Spring! Now I just have to get everything else done, pruning, raking and disposing of all the dead pots. I think I had some pretty heavy casualties this Winter. I will discuss them in a later post as I calculate the losses.
UPDATE: Two weeks ago I planted my onions. They are now about an inch high and looking great! The Asparagus still has no signs of life.
It was beautiful day in South Carolina, I hope you all had a nice day too. Spring is not far off folks, Get those Greenthumbs warmed up!!
If there is anything that you have questions about, feel free to e-mail me. There maybe others with the same question and it might make a good topic for a post!
Cactusmusic@netzero.com
Happy Growing!
Darren

A Cut Above The Rest

This coming week I am doing a lecture on pruning. We actually get a lot of questions pertaining to pruning at the Master Gardener office. It is often one of the most misunderstood concepts to gardening. I prepared a handout for my lecture and thought I would share it with you.

PRUNING
What, When and How To Do It

The definition of a garden could very well be:
“A Place That Has Been Pruned For The Benefit Of Both Plants And Persons”
The history of pruning is as old as the history of civilized man. From Ancient China to the Romans, Egyptians and Greeks. George Washington and Thomas Jefferson used pruning to create formal hedges around their respective estates.

Benefits of Pruning:
Pruning directs growth. You can bring a lopsided tree into balance, so the uneven weight will not break branches.
Controls the Microclimates. Allows air, and sunlight into the center of a shrub or tree. This will improve the health as the air circulates and sun penetrates to help prevent disease. Pruning out dead and possibly diseased branches can keep the infection from spreading.
Helps insure healthy transplants. Reducing the number of leaves helps the plant compensate for root loss during transplant.
Can rejuvenate an old, sparse tree.

When to Prune:
To answer this question, you need to know:
1)When the plant flowers
2)On which kind of growth it flowers (i.e. Current season, previous year or older wood)
Basic rules of thumb are:
1)If it flowers in the Spring, prune after flowering (Forsythia)
2)If it flowers on the new growth, Prune in Spring before they bloom (Butterfly Bush)
Other reasons to prune: Crossing branches, dead wood, diseased wood, to control height, control width.

Some Specific Examples:
Camellias: Anytime tolerated, but major work should be done in Spring.
Hydrangea: Late Spring after flowering
Nandina: Anytime, best before Spring growth
Ligustrum: Major cutting in Spring, maintenance pruning anytime
Ilex (Hollies): Anytime
Azaleas: Tip pinched after flowering. Older azaleas that need rejuvenation, cut back oldest branches to within a foot of the ground. Then do the same thing over the next two years. Never cut more than one third of the plant each year.
Roses: General rule....Cutting off old wood regularly produces new wood. The energy that would have been used in keeping the old wood alive, goes instead into new growth and flowers.
Some roses bloom on current seasons wood, others on last seasons wood.
The first group should have all three year old wood removed, do this when dormant.
The second group should be pruned after flowering.
This is a very general approach to what, when and how you should prune. If you want or need to know about something more specific, please touch base with me. I will be more than happy to assist you.
Happy Growing!
Darren