Overview

Introduce a touch of autumnal elegance to your landscape with the Autumn Rocket Camellia live plant. This exceptional variety, often recognized as Camellia sasanqua ‘Autumn Rocket’, is renowned for its striking upright growth habit, making it a stellar choice for narrow spaces or as a distinctive vertical element in garden designs. As a mid-fall bloomer, it provides a spectacular show of pure white flowers, emerging from deceptive pink buds, just as many other plants are fading. The dense, dark green foliage is glossy and features narrow leaves, contributing to its refined and delicate texture. This Autumn Rocket Camellia live plant is a vigorous grower, promising to establish quickly and become a beloved feature in your garden for years to come. Whether you’re looking to create a formal hedge or a dramatic specimen plant, this camellia offers both beauty and structure.

The Autumn Rocket Camellia live plant is ideal for gardeners seeking a plant that offers significant visual interest during the cooler months. Its unique columnar form and abundant blossoms make it a standout. This live plant arrives in a 3.5 inch pot, ready for planting, allowing you to easily integrate it into your existing garden plan or container arrangements. Its adaptability and charming display of flowers make it a highly desirable addition for both novice and experienced gardeners.

Key Benefits

The Autumn Rocket Camellia live plant offers numerous advantages for any landscape, combining aesthetic appeal with robust growth. Its unique characteristics make it a valuable asset:

• Stunning Mid-Fall Blooms: Enjoy a profusion of pure white flowers with semi-double to rose-form double petals, blooming reliably in mid-fall (November in NC), extending the gardening season with vibrant color. These blossoms emerge from charming pink buds, adding an extra layer of visual interest.
• Elegant Upright Growth: The vigorous, upright, and columnar growth habit makes this white camellia shrub an excellent choice for creating hedges, screens, or strong vertical accents in your garden design. It grows densely, providing excellent coverage.
• Lush, Narrow Foliage: Features dense, shiny, and quite narrow dark green leaves that contribute to the plant’s delicate yet handsome texture, providing year-round verdant appeal.
• Versatile Landscaping Plant: Perfect for use as a hedge, a specimen plant, or in mixed borders, the Autumn Rocket Camellia live plant adapts well to various garden roles and styles.
• Medium-Sized Flowers: The blooms are a generous 3 to 4 inches in size, ensuring they are noticeable and impactful, drawing the eye to their pristine beauty.
• Hardy in Specific Zones: Thrives in USDA Zones 7b-9, making it suitable for a wide range of temperate climates where it can flourish and provide consistent beauty.
• Low Maintenance: Once established, this fall blooming camellia requires relatively low maintenance, making it a rewarding plant for busy gardeners.

Plant Care & Growing Tips

Caring for your Autumn Rocket Camellia live plant ensures its healthy growth and abundant flowering. This camellia thrives with specific conditions that mimic its natural habitat. For optimal blooming and vigorous growth, ensure it receives adequate sunlight. While it can tolerate some sun, it generally prefers partial shade, especially in hotter climates, to protect its delicate blooms and foliage from scorching. Morning sun with afternoon shade is often ideal. Good air circulation is also important to prevent fungal diseases.

When it comes to watering, consistent moisture is key, especially during dry periods and during its blooming season. The soil should be kept evenly moist but never waterlogged. Overwatering can lead to root rot, so ensure good drainage. Fertilize your white camellia shrub with a slow-release, acid-loving plant fertilizer in early spring, after the danger of the last frost has passed, and again in mid-summer. Follow the product instructions for application rates. Pruning can be done after flowering to maintain its desired shape and size, or to remove any dead or damaged branches. This also encourages a denser growth habit, beneficial for an upright camellia hedge.

The Autumn Rocket Camellia live plant is best suited for well-draining, acidic soil with a pH between 5.5 and 6.5. Incorporating organic matter like compost or pine bark into the planting hole can improve soil structure and acidity. It is hardy in USDA Zones 7b-9, meaning it can tolerate temperatures down to about 5°F to 10°F. In colder parts of its zone, providing some winter protection or planting in a sheltered location can be beneficial. Watch out for common camellia pests like scale insects or aphids, and treat them promptly with horticultural oil or insecticidal soap if observed. Providing the right care will ensure your fall blooming camellia flourishes and becomes a stunning focal point in your garden.

Size & Details

The Autumn Rocket Camellia live plant is shipped in a 3.5 inch nursery pot, providing a well-established root system ready for transplanting. At maturity, this vigorous shrub typically reaches a height of 6 to 10 feet with a spread of 2 to 4 feet, maintaining its distinctive upright and columnar habit. The growth rate is vigorous, allowing it to quickly develop into an impressive specimen or a functional hedge. Its medium-sized flowers measure approximately 3 to 4 inches across and are semi-double to rose-form double, presenting a beautiful structure. The bloom period is mid-fall, generally around November, offering a splendid display of white flowers when many other plants have finished their show. This particular Camellia sasanqua is known for its dense foliage and fine texture, making it an excellent choice for a variety of landscape applications. Plant it in an area where it can receive adequate space to grow to its full potential, creating a striking visual impact.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Q: How big does the Autumn Rocket Camellia get? A: The Autumn Rocket Camellia live plant typically grows to a height of 6 to 10 feet with a spread of 2 to 4 feet, maintaining an upright, columnar shape.
• Q: What size pot does this camellia come in? A: This white camellia shrub is shipped in a 3.5 inch nursery pot, providing a healthy start for your garden.
• Q: Is this an indoor or outdoor plant? A: The Autumn Rocket Camellia live plant is an outdoor shrub, best suited for garden planting in USDA Zones 7b-9.
• Q: How much sunlight does it need? A: This camellia thrives in partial shade, ideally with morning sun and afternoon shade, especially in hotter climates. It can tolerate some full sun but may benefit from protection during the most intense parts of the day.
• Q: Is this plant easy to care for? A: Yes, once established, the fall blooming camellia is relatively low maintenance, requiring consistent moisture and annual fertilization.
• Q: When is the best time to plant the Autumn Rocket Camellia? A: The optimal time for planting is typically in mid to late spring after the danger of hard frost, allowing the plant to establish before winter. Early fall is also suitable in many regions.
• Q: What condition will the Autumn Rocket Camellia arrive in? A: Your Autumn Rocket Camellia live plant is carefully packaged to ensure it arrives healthy and green, ready for planting.
• Q: Will it survive winter in my zone? A: This Camellia sasanqua is hardy in USDA Zones 7b-9. If you are in the colder end of this range or outside of it, suitable winter protection or indoor overwintering may be necessary.
• Q: What type of soil does this camellia prefer? A: It prefers well-draining, acidic soil with a pH between 5.5 and 6.5. Enriching the soil with organic matter is beneficial.
• Q: Can I use this plant for a hedge? A: Absolutely! Its vigorous, upright, and dense growth habit makes it an excellent choice for creating a beautiful and effective upright camellia hedge.