Camellia japonica Nuccio's Cameo

Camellia japonica 'Nuccio's Cameo' is a variety of Japanese Camellia with irresistible and fascinating beauty. From February, it produces a light pink flowering with sophisticated and elegant graphics, thanks to its numerous petals overlapping each other and forming a perfect rosette. This bush, which can easily be grown in a pot, forms a medium-sized clump with dense, evergreen and dark foliage, which highlights the clear flowering. Comfortable in an Atlantic climate, it appreciates partial shade and moist, slightly acidic soils.

Camellia is a member of the Theaceae family, of which it is the most well-known representative, including the tea plant (Camellia sinensis) of great economic importance, and all ornamental species. A few other rare genera of the family are known to collectors, such as Gordonia and Stewartia, whose respective flowers resemble those of simple Camellias. There are dozens of botanical species listed, with Camellia japonica being the most commonly used in gardens.
'Nuccio's Cameo' is one of the varieties whose flowers exude a sophisticated charm, due to their impeccable geometry. This medium-sized Camellia will reach a height of about 1.80 m and a spread of 1.20 m at maturity after about ten years. It has a dense and bushy, slightly pear-shaped habit, with dark green evergreen leaves whose upper surface appears glossy. These leaves are ovate to lance-shaped with a slightly toothed margin, leathery and generally 6 to 8 cm long. Their dark colour is ideal for highlighting the clear flowering that appears from February to April. Floral buds then open into large flowers with a diameter ranging from 10 to 13 cm. They are very double, formed by dozens of petals neatly overlapping each other, forming an almost perfect geometric rosette. The petals are slightly pointed in the centre of the corolla and round and widen as they approach the periphery, in an aesthetic that will delight purists. Their colour varies from a tender pastel pink to a deeper azalea pink, giving these flowers with a sophisticated sculpture a romantic charm.

Camellia Nuccio's Cameo can be grown in a pot to enhance a partially shaded terrace, protected from cold winds. Choose a thick terracotta or "double skin" plastic pot (with air gap between the inner and outer walls) to prevent the soil from heating up. In the ground, plant it in a bed of ericaceous plants that share the same needs. Extend the flowering period by planting Rhododendrons alongside, which will give you flowers from April to June depending on the varieties, in an almost inexhaustible range of colours. Little-known Magnolia macrophylla first attracts attention with its immense leaves that can reach 60 cm, and also produces large white flowers with a diameter of 25 cm in June and July. And to cover the entire growing season, indulge in Hydrangeas, which will offer you their generous flowering until autumn, before giving way to the Camellia sasanqua, the autumn Camellia, essential for the end of the season and winter.