Camellia x reticulata Lasca Beauty

The Camellia reticulata 'Lasca Beauty' is a medium-sized bush, with dark green evergreen foliage that is particularly ornamental all year round. At the end of winter, it also provides a beautiful setting for the absolutely charming flowering. The large diameter flowers are semi-double, and the pink petals undulate delicately against the golden stamens in the center. The abundant and imposing flowers truly catch all eyes and herald spring in the most beautiful way. Its hardiness slightly lower than that of other varieties restricts its planting possibilities to the Atlantic coastal area where it will find the mild and humid conditions it appreciates, without excessive sunlight as in the southern region. Elsewhere, it can be grown in a large pot to be sheltered during winter.

The Camellia is the main genus of the small Theaceae family, both in terms of ornamental and economic value, with the Camellia sinensis, whose young leaves are used to produce tea. However, this plant family also includes some other ornamental plants such as Franklinia alatamaha or Stewartia, whose flowers strongly resemble those of Camellias. The Camellia genus comprises between 100 and 250 wild species (according to botanical classifications), originating from Asia. Revered for centuries in Japan, this favorite plant of breeders and collectors now comes in nearly 40,000 horticultural varieties!
'Lasca Beauty' is the result of the cross-breeding between 'Mrs. D. W. Davis', a variety of Camellia japonica with very large semi-double flowers (15.5 cm in diameter), very pale pink, introduced to the market in the 1950s, and the Camellia reticulata 'Cornelian', with large semi-double flowers in dark pink to red intermingled with white, imported from China to the United States in 1948. The C. reticulata is a Chinese species that grows in the mountainous regions of the Yunnan province, where it can grow into true small trees of 10 m in height in this humid subtropical climate, tempered by altitude. Dr. Clifford Parks obtained this hybrid in California, during his work at the Los Angeles arboretum where a 6-year-old plant bloomed for the first time in 1970. This new variety was then registered in 1973 and cultivated by David L. Feathers in Lafayette, also in California.
'Lasca Beauty' has a much more limited development than the botanical species, forming in 10 years of cultivation a bush about 1.50 m high and 1.20 m wide. In our latitudes, it generally reaches a height of 2 m at maturity, but can grow significantly taller in other climates, and then become a large, well-branched bush. Its foliage is truly ornamental throughout the year, consisting of evergreen leaves of a beautiful dark green, with a shiny surface, of a very regular elliptical shape measuring approximately 13 cm long by 8 cm wide. This dark vegetation is a perfect setting to enhance the flowering which usually starts in February and extends into early spring. The bush produces at this time very large flowers of 15, even 16 cm in diameter, in a more or less intense bright pink. The semi-double corolla consists of 15 petals with undulations reminiscent of certain peonies. In the center, numerous stamens with white filaments topped with golden anthers create a subtle and harmonious contrast against the pink of the corolla. Spectacular and generous, the flowering brightens the garden at a time when the sky is still often dark.

The 'Lasca Beauty' reticulated Camellia should be grown in a pot to be sheltered from the cold in regions where frost is too severe, as it can only withstand temperatures around -9°C. It will be particularly comfortable in the humid and moderately sunny Atlantic coastal area, and preferably in partial shade in the southwest. Plant it in a border massif, alongside other plants with staggered bloomings to enjoy flowers for a good part of the year. Rhododendrons and Azaleas that share the same needs will then take over with panache, the countless available varieties offering an extremely diverse range of colors, until late spring. The Hydrangeas will then flourish all summer, offering perhaps an even wider range of flowers in flat, spherical, or conical heads, ranging from white to blue through all shades of pink and red. Camellia sasanqua varieties, or Autumn Camellias, will enliven this season, while for winter, you can rely on Hamamelis, with their astonishing flowers elongated in narrow yellow, red, orange, or purple filaments.