Flowering today in our specialty cold frame, where plants live before they are planted in the garden, is Camellia ‘Miss Sally’. This insanely huge flowered Camellia reticulata hybrid has blooms that measure a ridiculous 7″ across. This 2004 introduction was selected by Norfolk, Virginia’s Doug Simon, and shared with us by camellia guru, Mike Chelednik. It’s going to make an amazing garden specimen once we find the right spot.
So flower buds not affected by recent cold? What zone is this recommended for?
We know it’s fine in Zone 8a, and based on our understanding, it has a good chance in Zone 7b also. Since our plant still lives in a cold frame for a few more weeks, it wasn’t subjected to the recent cold.
Supposedly an excellent “landscape retic” (imagine if this was crossed with C. azalea or hybrid like ‘Xiafeng Relang’ (Summer’s Wind and Hot Waves))
From Virginia Camellia Society 2022 Facebook post:
Camellia x ‘Miss Sally’ (2004)
A Very Large-sized retic hybrid selected and named by Captain Doug Simon of Norfolk, Virginia, and named for his wife (who sadly passed away relatively recently). The Simons were very active members of the Virginia Camellia Society and inspired many in the Society.
The growth habit is spreading and full (for a retic), and the plant exhibits excellent cold-hardiness. An excellent “landscape retic”
How soon for sale?
We stay away from most woody plants in the nursery, so no camellias except in the garden.