Camellia Fragrant

Scent is the rare thing in camellias, and 'Fragrant Pink' has it, deep pink miniature peony-form flowers carried in quantity through autumn and early winter, with a genuine fragrance you can pick up from a metre away. The plant beneath is a dense, rounded evergreen with small, fine-textured leaves.

In the landscape

Scent is rare in camellias, so this one earns a position where people pass close by, beside a path, at a doorway, in a courtyard or a raised planter. It clips into a hedge or screen at 1.2–1.5 m centres, and holds its shape as a freestanding specimen or a row of standards at wider spacing. Underplant with something low and quiet so the flowers and the fragrance carry.

Growing notes

Evergreen, flowering through the cooler months, and suited to southern and highland Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and cooler districts. It wants a slightly acidic, free-draining soil with organic matter worked through, a mulched root zone, and full sun to light shade, afternoon shade is worth having in hot inland sites. Frost resistant and drought resistant once established, and tolerant of urban pollution. Growth is moderate, reaching roughly 3–4 m tall by 2–3 m wide in the ground.

This tree

• Height: 3.5 m
• Canopy width: 3.0 m
• Caliper: 120–140 mm
• Currently standing: 36 trees

Field-grown ex-ground at Ravensbourne Farm, root-pruned and basket-lifted, delivered and craned Australia-wide, price on application through the Shortlist.