Comments on: The lost Camellias of New England

By: Matt Mattus

Matt Mattus — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 03:40:00 +0000

Thanks for your post. I was going to go today also but we had to go buy duck food. I should join the society, since I have about a dozen Camellias in the greenhouse, and I ordered about a dozen more from a trip to Nuccios in CA. They do very well in our cold greenhouse, I notice that they even are doing better when planted in the ground.
Your comment about Camellia’s as corsages reminds me of one of my first jobs in winter, during high school. I worked at a greenhouse in Worcester MA ( Holmes and Shusas), and Paul Shusas had just purchased some old glass greenhouses from Mrs. Holmes, they were full of camellia trees in the back (the houses must have been 100 feet long), and although they we’re covered in blossoms, no one ever asked for camellias anymore, which I felt was sad. Perhaps only once or twice, did I remember having to drive the 1 mile or so, to these greenhouses, to see if there were any camellias in bloom for, well, an old lady, who used to ask for them once a year or so. In a concrete raised bed underneath them, also grew Ranunculus and Anemones, which I also felt was very old fashioned. The other big glasshouse contained giant Calla Lillies, also, then, out of favor. What a loss when they were torn down, but those camellias which must have been 16 feet tall, are what inspired me to design my greenhouse to be so tall, so that I could recreate the same sort of experience. I only wish I had oil heat and steam pipes instead of my gas heater (which scares me everytime it comes on!).

By: Unknown

Unknown — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 22:07:00 +0000

I’m headed for the MA Camellia Society Show at Tower Hill Botanic Gardens this afternoon, so I was thinking about the camellia corsages I had as a teenager in the late 1950s. Someone must have been raising them comercially in CT greenhouses as late as that. They can’t have been very expensive since teens were purchasing them.
An older, but not yet OLD lady.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 19:54:00 +0000

I just came across your site – and loved reading this post about the old New England greenhouse camellias. How fun. I live in the south – where camellias are happy outdoors – but am becoming a bit obsessed with all of the different varieties (and the wonderful stories behind them). This was very interesting (as our your links to your ‘secret sources’ – some were new to me, so thank you).

By: Gotta Garden

Gotta Garden — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 05:34:00 +0000

Very interesting! I had no idea. Beautiful pictures! I always think of camellias as so very southern…nice of think of them being appreciated elsewhere!