Issue 42 summer 24 web - Flipbook - Page 91
A further six varieties are in the process of being
identified.
The great age of the camellias means great diligence is required of the gardening team, especially as the plants are
in an indoor climate once again.
Head Gardener Scott Jamieson said: “The camellias are
robust, having been feral for the best part of a century, but
they are now in a rarified atmosphere again and that puts
us on a steep learning curve, just as the gardeners of 1810
would have been when the camellias first arrived.
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A Camellia Incarnata, which was first sold in Britain in
1806, also formed part of the collection, but died, due to
its age, before the Camellia House restoration began.
A lengthy search for a replacement revealed only two
such plants existed in UK nurseries. One is on order, but
Wentworth will have to wait until the plant is more
mature.
Said Head Gardener Scott Jamieson: “Historic varieties
naturally decline with time and many are rarely propagated. Losing the Incarnata emphases how important it
is for us to grow from cuttings.
Added Scott: “The young plants returned in 2021 and
are now over a foot tall. We are also growing on a further
120 cuttings taken last year. These plants are our new recruits, on stand-by to take over if a historic camellia in
the Camellia House comes to the end of its life.”
“We are creating our own ‘plant bank’ to ensure the
collection survives for at least another 500 years.”
In 2019, cuttings from every camellia in the Camellia
House were sent for propagation to Chiswick House,
which has its own internationally-renowned collection of
camellias dating from the early 1800s.
Below, Wentworth Camellia House after restoration rear view
Lady Rockingham's Tea House - Image Donald Insall Associates
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