Friday, December 7, 2012

Presents Under the Trees

Do you buy yourself a Christmas present?  Sometimes all those pretties are just so hard to resist!  At my house, the Christmas tree is up and decorated.  And there's not one present under the tree for me.  :(

So, - I bought myself a present!

Actually, I bought two!!!


You see, now is the time to buy camellias from nurseries and garden centers.  And I just couldn't resist! So, I purchased a camellia 'Cleopatra' and a camellia 'Kramer's Supreme'.  Cleopatra is a beautiful light pink sasanqua camellia, so it will bloom in the fall, while Kramer's Supreme is a red japonica camellia, which will bloom in early spring.

Camellia sasanqua Kanjiro

Pictured here is the camellia 'Kanjiro', blooming now in my garden.  You can easily see why I truly needed more camellias!   They are a present that keeps on giving.  Their colorful blooms light up the shade, warm up the cold, and decorate the garden for winter.  Their evergreen leaves shine throughout the year.  And even the bees appreciate a shrub that blooms in winter, while everything else is slumbering.

Besides, I was just trying to save St. Nick from having to squeeze them down the chimney!


Of course, these two presents for me, by me, are not actually going under the Christmas tree.  They'll be planted under the trees in my winter garden, where next year I'll be gifted with the presence of their blooms.

So, while I may have presents under the trees in the winter garden, technically, I still don't have any presents under the Christmas tree!

Really, I should buy myself something to put under there!  ;)


Have you bought yourself any plant presents lately?


32 comments:

  1. The best presents are the ones you bought for yourself, hehe! At least you'll get exactly what you want :)

    Funny enough our latest blog posts are about presents to ourselves :)

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    1. What is that saying? Great minds think alike! So glad you're getting plant presents, too! You're right - they will be exactly what we want!

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  2. Hi,

    Lovely Camellias, they're invaluable at this time of year!

    I usually buy myself a birthday present; although not so much christmas presents... As such anyway. But I do usually end up buying more for myself than for anyone else!!! :D

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    1. Yes, things do seem to jump into the cart! It's as if they can read our minds! ;)

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  3. Piękne prezenty kupiłaś ogrodowi, a teraz kup sobie pod choinkę:)
    Beautiful garden gifts bought and now buy yourself for Christmas :)

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    1. I know I shouldn't buy myself presents, but camellias are hard to resist, as they can't really be bought in the summer.

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  4. No, but I always buy myself a birthday present and since it's in the summer it usually has to do with my garden. Yay!

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    1. If you start collecting camellias, you can buy yourself a birthday present in summer, and camellias as your Christmas present! As long as it's for the garden, it's o.k. - at least, that's my theory! :)

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  5. You always get what you want when you buy it yourself:) strangely enough I bought myself 2 camellias last year. One of which I am training as Esplanier on the fence in my side garden. They are spring flowering. I haven't quite decided what I'm buying this year but given my recent pull towards alpines there are 1 or 2 on the top of the list.
    You have selected well and I'm sure they will give you great pleasure each time you glance at them.

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    1. Oh, I have always wanted to espalier something, but have been a little too afraid to try. I hope you will post progressive pictures of your camellia espaliered. I bet it will be gorgeous!

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  6. I always buy myself a Christmas present, and the presents go straight into the garden when they arrive... This year's present was a Clematis armandii 'Apple Blossom', you can see it on my most recent post.
    Loved your camellias, especially the autumn flowering one, not so common here in Britain.

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    1. Isn't it funny how we gardeners can always find something to buy for the garden - no matter the time of year! :)

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  7. I have to admit to spending quite a lot on plants, especially at this time of year :)

    Those are two beautiful presents you bought yourself. Such great 'investment' plants because they last and give pleasure for years on end! I couldn't be without my Camellias - they just make the autumn/winter garden, don't they?

    PS: Your photos are so lovely of them.

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    1. They really do make the winter a little more cheerful. I would not be as happy a gardener without them, I don't think.

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  8. Enjoy your camellias. Plant presents to yourself are best when you need a "green fix" and go to the local nursey looking for a pick me up...been there!!! As a matter of fact just the other day! Enjoy and happy holidays!

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    1. Yes, especially in the winter, I think, we gardeners need a little pick-me-up. So glad you found something to get your "green fix"! :)

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  9. The camelias look lovely. Who knows better what presents you really want?

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    1. You would think that more people would get gardeners plants as presents, but they are rarely given to me. Of course, I suppose it depends on the style of garden, if one could just stick a random plant present somewhere.

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  10. Camellias are beautiful evergreen which I think are a must in every garden, I have some springflowering ones, in our country I have not seen autumn flowering camellias probably too cold, we have snow and frost at the moment. Planted in November 5 new roses, which were a gift for myself.

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    1. I love the autumn flowering camelllias because sometimes the spring blooms get bitten by late freezes. But, we don't have the cold autumns here like you do, so that probably does have something to do with it. How exciting to get 5 new roses!!! Great gift!

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  11. Too early to buy any plant presents here but soon I will be able to order some and that will be quite a wonderful present.

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    1. Ah, yes, if we gardeners can't purchase the plant, we can always order for future delivery! :)

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  12. Oh, I would buy myself a Camellia, too, if I could grow them here. Dang, you sure are lucky! I LOVE Camellias!

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    1. I do feel lucky. I think it makes up for all the conifers that find it too hot here.

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  13. Southern Living just mailed plant presents here. I did plant two of them, but just might over winter two of them inside. Our weather is really unpredictible here. Pretty camellias, Holley. They would be iffy here.

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    1. How thrilling to get plants in the mail! I don't do well over wintering plants inside, although I'm going to try again this year with some tropicals.

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  14. The plant present is the best present of all! I feel so happy when I can spoil myself with plants - and there is not guilt attached! :-) Happy Christmas!

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    1. I agree - plants are the best present a gardener can get - or give themselves! ;)

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  15. My plant presents this year were seven $1 plants at a local nursery, all leftovers from the fall planting season. Hard to beat that! Now let's see if they live!

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    1. What a great bargain! I hope they all do well for you. I love finding plant bargains like that!

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  16. Presents in the garden are much better than presents under the tree. You can always cut out photos of your new camellias and wrap them. You are so lucky to have such a variety of camellias to pick from.

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    1. What a great idea to wrap photos of the camellias! But, that would defeat my having to buy something else to put under the tree! ;)

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