Camellia sasanqua

sasanqua camellia

Theaceae

Overview

Camellia sasanqua is a versatile broadleaf evergreen shrub that brings exceptional multi-season value to Pacific Northwest gardens with its refined foliage, extended fall-to-winter flowering period, and adaptable growth habit. Unlike its spring-blooming cousin C. japonica, this elegant plant flowers during the gray autumn and early winter months, providing crucial garden interest when most other plants have finished blooming in the region's cool, wet climate. Its more willowy growth habit and greater sun tolerance make it particularly valuable in contemporary Pacific Northwest landscapes where its versatility allows use as everything from foundation plantings to informal hedges, espaliers, and even container specimens. Especially well-suited to urban gardens throughout western Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia, sasanqua camellias combine the sophistication of traditional camellia flowers with a more relaxed growth habit and seasonal flowering that bridges the transition from autumn perennials to winter-blooming shrubs.

How to Identify

Camellia sasanqua can be identified by its smaller, more delicate leaves compared to C. japonica, typically measuring 1.5-3 inches long with finely serrated margins and a less glossy appearance. The foliage often has a slightly darker, more olive-green tone and may show fine hairs on new growth. The most distinctive identifying feature is its fall to early winter flowering period (October to January in the Pacific Northwest) versus the late winter to spring bloom of C. japonica. The flowers themselves tend to be smaller (1.5-3 inches across) and often more open and simple in form with a lighter, sometimes fragrant character. The overall growth habit is more graceful and less rigid than C. japonica, with branches often displaying a slightly pendulous or arching quality, particularly when in bloom. Bark on mature specimens is smooth and gray-brown, developing subtle texture with age.