Camellia Scentuous

'Scentuous' is one of the few genuinely perfumed camellias, opening pale pink informal flowers over a long season on a compact, dense evergreen frame. The fragrance is light and carrying rather than heavy, which makes it a plant to site where people walk past rather than one to admire from a distance.

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: 2.0 m
• Caliper: 190 mm
• Currently standing: 9 trees

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