David Domoney camellia plant care tips

TV Gardener David Domoney introduces camellias – the plant of the month for February. Plus get David’s camellia care tips and feeding tips for ericaceous soil. Transcript The Horticultural Trades Association recommend a plant every month. And this month, February, it happens to be camellia. And they couldn’t choose a better type of plant. Here’s mine – this is in my own garden! I love it when you get flowers really early on in the season because it makes you think of spring yet to come and much more colour in the garden. But look at that flower for a beautiful shape, and I like the buds too. There’s so much hope built up waiting for it to erupt into flower. And it’s such a beautiful plant because it’s not just about the flower – it’s about the foliage too. You get these beautiful rich emerald green glossy leaves that are borne on this sizeable plant. I give mine a little extra feed. I put some non-galvanised rusty nails or brillo pads at the bottom of the planting hole. The iron in these break down and make the soil more acidic – camellias love ericaceous (acidic) compost. You can also feed camellias with iron sequestrene to add acidity to the soil and keep the plant healthy. Camellia is a great plant to have in a container as well as the flower border. And with flowers like that, it’s guaranteed to put a smile on your face. Read more about how to grow camellias on David Domoney’s website: http://bit.ly/1nzlIuG