All Seasons Plant Finder

Other Names:  Autumn Camellia, Sasanqua Camellia

Group/Class:  October Magic® Series

Brand:  Southern Living

Description:

Masses of lovely, large, double ruby red flowers with gold anthers; has a vigorous, upright habit, with very glossy, deep olive green leaves; provide rich, acidic, moist, well-drained soil

Ornamental Features

October Magic® Ruby™ Camellia features showy ruby-red round flowers with gold anthers at the ends of the branches from mid to late fall. It has olive green evergreen foliage which emerges light green in spring. The glossy pointy leaves remain olive green throughout the winter.

Landscape Attributes

October Magic® Ruby™ Camellia is a multi-stemmed evergreen shrub with an upright spreading habit of growth. Its average texture blends into the landscape, but can be balanced by one or two finer or coarser trees or shrubs for an effective composition.

This is a relatively low maintenance shrub, and should only be pruned after flowering to avoid removing any of the current season's flowers. It has no significant negative characteristics.

October Magic® Ruby™ Camellia is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Accent
• Mass Planting
• Hedges/Screening
• General Garden Use
• Container Planting

Planting & Growing

October Magic® Ruby™ Camellia will grow to be about 4 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 5 feet. It has a low canopy with a typical clearance of 1 foot from the ground. It grows at a medium rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for 40 years or more.

This shrub does best in partial shade to full shade. Keep it well away from hot, dry locations that receive direct afternoon sun or which get reflected sunlight, such as against the south side of a white wall. It requires an evenly moist well-drained soil for optimal growth, but will die in standing water. It may require supplemental watering during periods of drought or extended heat. This plant should be periodically fertilized throughout the active growing season with a specially-formulated acidic fertilizer. It is particular about its soil conditions, with a strong preference for rich, acidic soils. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution, and will benefit from being planted in a relatively sheltered location. Consider applying a thick mulch around the root zone in both summer and winter to conserve soil moisture and protect it in exposed locations or colder microclimates. This is a selected variety of a species not originally from North America.

October Magic® Ruby™ Camellia makes a fine choice for the outdoor landscape, but it is also well-suited for use in outdoor pots and containers. With its upright habit of growth, it is best suited for use as a 'thriller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination; plant it near the center of the pot, surrounded by smaller plants and those that spill over the edges. It is even sizeable enough that it can be grown alone in a suitable container. Note that when grown in a container, it may not perform exactly as indicated on the tag - this is to be expected. Also note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.