Camellia sasanqua ‘Pink Butterfly’ in the Culberson Asiatic Arboretum, by Cathi Bodine.
Botanical name: Camellia sasanqua
Common name: Sasanqua camellia
Family name: Theaceae (Tea family)
Native range: East Asia
Location in Duke Gardens: Historic Gardens, Culberson Asiatic Arboretum
USDA Hardiness Zones: 7-9
Fall is usually the time for winding down in preparation for the winter, but it’s peak season for the sasanqua camellias (Camellia sasanqua), which burst into bloom as the days darken. These gorgeous flowers—usually pink, white or some combination of the two, with five simple petals—are abuzz with bees and other pollinators on warm afternoons, providing a late-season source of nectar, as well as a counterbalance to the bright red, yellow and brown autumn foliage dominating the landscape.
While there are more than 200 species of camellias, horticulturally they can be roughly divided into two main groups depending on their bloom time. Here in central North Carolina, fall bloomers like Camellia sasanqua tend to flower from October through December; winter and early spring bloomers like C. japonica tend to flower from December through March. Hybridization and cultivar selections have expanded camellia season and the range of colors and shapes even further. A diverse mix here at the Gardens ensures a continuous cascade of flowers over time.
At this time in November, most of the camellias that you’ll find blooming at Duke Gardens are either pure Camellia sasanqua selections (like ‘Pink Butterfly’ and ‘Sea at Sunset’), or hybrids with C. hiemalis, C. oleifera and other species chosen for aesthetic or practical attributes, such as enhanced cold hardiness. Sasanqua camellias are a central focus in both the Culberson Asiatic Arboretum and the Spengler Camellia Garden in the Historic Gardens, along with their winter- and spring-blooming counterparts.
Of special note are the rows of the cultivar ‘Maiden’s Blush’ lining both sides of the Walker Dillard Kirby Perennial Allée that connects the Mary Duke Biddle Rose Garden to the Azalea Court in the Historic Gardens. These shrubs were originally planted in 1996 to form dense green walls enclosing the space, and were heavily cut back in 2019 to return to the original design. Five years later, it’s almost impossible to tell that such a severe pruning ever occurred—a testament to both horticultural skill and botanical resilience.