The first camellia to make it to the United States back in the late 1790s was red.
Photography by Mimi Giboin.
By the turn of the 2oth century, the flowering shrubs that had traveled across oceans—from their native mountainsides in Asia to the greenhouses of English horticulturists to the warm, temperate gardens of the American South—lost their cachet.
Some of these have been growing in my garden in Mill Valley, California, for many decades.
Seven or eight varieties of camellias, including this unidentified semi-double pink variety, bloom in succession in my garden from November through February.
To make side-by-side arrangements, I chose two bowls of different sizes, both painted with roses and edged in gold.
For a vintage flower frog that’s similar to mine, consider a Green Depression Era Glass Flower Frog ($45 at Chairish) or a 4 1/2 inch Glass Flower Footed Frog ($17 at eBay).
I cut branches from a couple of different camellia bushes—some of my camellias are very ruffly and others have flattish flowers.
After placing a single branch in the large bowl, I loved the spare, lopsided look. The asymmetry undercut the stiffness of the glossy green leaves.
I clipped the rest of the branches short to arrange them in the smaller bowl.
I liked the juxtaposition of an arrangement with a single branch sitting next to the overflowing abundance.
Learn everything we know about camellias (and by now you can tell we’re obsessed) at Camellias 101: A Field Guide to Planting, Care, and Design.