Camellia sasanqua 'Paradise Venessa'

Description: One of the valuable early flowering Camellias with white tinged pink, semi -double flowers which are larger than most sasanqua varieties. The tea scented blooms are produced from late autumn through to early spring providing a dazzling splash of colour on a gloomy winter day.

Vigorous, rather upright evergreen growth makes it ideal for tall hedging and screens.

Climate / Position: Partial shade, although sasanqua types can tolerate both full sun and partial shade but still try to avoid morning sun on new buds.

Height / Spread: Height 6m. Spread 3m.

Soil Requirements: Acid to neutral soil. Well drained and humus rich.

Pruning : Little or no pruning required. Cut out weak stems and prune after flowering if required.

Plant Breeders Rights apply

This cultivar was raised by Bob Cherry in his Paradise Nursery in Australia.

Sometimes referred to as Christmas Camellias, the 'sasanqua' varieties of Camellia are native to the evergreen, coastal forests of southern Japan. It was introduced by Dutch traders into Europe in 1869. The Japanese use the leaves of 'sasanqua' to make tea, and the seeds are pressed into tea seed oil for use as a lubricant and in cooking and cosmetics.

'Sazanka” is a Japanese name of the ornamental shrub Camellia sasanqua and two related hybrid camellia species – C. x hiemalis and C. x vernalis. Non-Japanese people call it “sasanqua”. In Japanese, word “sazanka” is written with three Kanji characters meaning “mountain”, “tea” and “flower”. In Chinese, sasanqua is called “cha-mai” and is written with two characters meaning “tea” and “pretty”, together meaning “pretty tea”.