Something About Seedlings – Part 1

 Seedlings became a curiosity before Camellia Heaven became a reality. Volunteer seedlings could be found anywhere camellias were growing in the wild, or at least semi-wild. Whether growing in the neutral ground at Canal Boulevard, the Hody Wilson Garden, the McIlhenny’s Jungle Gardens or behind the Atkins’ home in Shalimar (and many other places visited over the years), large or small, they represented something new with potential or just simple in a variety of colors. One property in Mississippi had hundreds of seedlings that cried out to be noticed until they were cut down to harvest the pine trees under which they were growing. Luckily, many have begun growing back from their roots (and several were grafted for future consideration). Seedlings are the hope for a future; it’s what keeps many camellia people going late into their 80s and 90s – to see what a seedling might produce.

Before Camellia Heaven was purchased, I had accumulated several hundred seedlings from a myriad of sites and was looking forward to what they might become; however, Katrina ended the lives of nearly all of them. So in starting over, seeds were collected in July from anyone who would share theirs and planted in pots; the quest for something new, different, special, or just something “pretty” was on. One year 5,000 seeds were gathered. But, Camellia Heaven offered a playground of seedlings that had been growing for years as well as ones that got established due to Katrina.

A word about Camellia Heaven for those unfamiliar with it. Camellia Heaven began as Webb Hart’s Camwood Nursery. Webb sold grafted and other plants there and had about 2,000 plants in the ground. When we purchased the property, I actually counted all the plants and varieties (about 600). I had already collected about 300 of those, so in terms of varieties, there would be 900 varieties there. Since 2005, the year of the purchase, the collection there has grown to over 5,000 varieties and is a true camellia preserve. Each year more varieties are added through grafting, purchase and in the case of seedlings, naming the new intriguing varieties that have sprouted up all over.

But let’s take a step back for a moment. Camellias produce seed pods that look like green cherries to nearly apple sized. They can be collected as the pods split in late July and August, or harvested from the pods by hand once they have matured. The special feature, to the consternation of commercial growers (forcing them to grow from cuttings or grafting), is that most seedlings are plain singles – white, pink, red and variegated; however, sometimes the DNA lines up to produce a vast array of different color shades, combinations and even shapes. These seeds can be planted in anything from damp soil to various potting mixes. Our elders might have thrown the seeds down by a small stream or placed them near a fence post. The seeds may germinate nearly immediately, or could take as much as a year. They start pushing out roots and stems. If you don’t want the plant right where it is growing; you need to dig it up, trim off the tip of the tap root and hope it develops enough new root hairs to continue to grow.

About a year ago, nearly 125 seedlings were gathered by literally yanking them out of the ground. Some had plenty of root hairs, others did not or were damaged. These were all planted after trimming their tap roots. After a year in the ground, 80 were alive and growing new leaves and are established in the bed created for them. If you don’t cut off the tap root tip, the tap root will continue to grow and feed the plant and root hairs will be few. Removal and re-establishment is unlikely to be successful. I once followed a tap root of a beautiful formal double red seedling for several feet down and laterally until in ran into a neighbor’s yard. I had to cut it off. The plant did not survive despite trimming its size, feeding with root hormone, etc. If I had not had it grafted, the seedling would have been lost.

I was offered a Granthamiana seedling that was about 6 feet tall and had been growing about 6 or 7 years. After digging about 4 feet down along the tap root, I accidentally severed the tap root as it turned laterally where I was digging. That seedling had no root hairs and therefore faded rapidly and was lost. At any rate, once you have a growing seedling, it’s all just a matter of time until you obtain a bloom (usually 4 to 16 years – you really can’t speed things along much other than growing under a grow light that stays on 18 or so hours a day, or grafting it and hoping it develops sooner). Of course, if you find wild seedlings that have already bloomed and they are special, you can graft or take cuttings to reproduce the plant and not risk losing it by digging it up.

It is said that if you ONLY grow great varieties, you are more likely to obtain a great seedling. In gardens that have mixtures of all shapes, sizes, and species growing in close proximity, the wild seedlings could be just about anything. If you harvest seeds, you can mark the seed parent, but you will never know the other parentage (bees gather pollen in about a 2-mile radius area and other pollinators also have large foraging areas); the pollen could have come from a camellia anywhere in the vicinity (not just your garden).

So the Grimm’s first registration was a gift from Ed and June Atkins registered as 'Atkins’ Gift.' It pre-dated Camellia Heaven, so the original plant was planted at our home in Metairie. It did survive Katrina, but because so many camellias in that yard died because of soil contamination, it and other special plants were removed. Some, including it, were successfully transplanted (although it took them many years to overcome the trauma of the hurricane). A graft of the 'Atkins’ Gift' fared far better and dwarfs the original plant by several feet of growth. The registration process was not complicated, but required taking many pictures and learning something about color shades, and or course, shapes and sizes. That registration was a special event. Many people have admired the blooms and requested plants which have been reproduced for them from cuttings. As it is a mid to late bloomer, only a few blooms ever make shows. This means show people have never been very interested in it; it appeals to home gardeners and the same people who love; Pink Perfection.' Camellia Heaven yielded several registrations thereafter. Webb Hart tapped several for future naming. One selected was a white similar to 'September Morn' (Yohei Haku). This one bloomed more in mid-season and was named 'Webb’s White' for Webb (he already had a bloom named for him by the Zerkowskys – 'Mayor Webb Hart'). A beautiful peony Webb said he would like to be named some day as 'Camwood Brenda' (the Camwood nursery name and his daughter, lost in childhood, who was also memorialized as 'Brenda Ann Hart' (also by the Zerkowskys)). It, and another named for his son, were both registered in the last few years. 'Mr. Tim,' a dark black-red late bloomer, was always a visitors’ delight at Camellia Heaven “Friends and Family” days. But the gem of the Camellia Heaven seedlings was named after my wife passed away as 'Stephanie’s Heavenly Star.' Check next issue for it and other blooms named for Stephanie.