Overview

Introduce a touch of timeless beauty to your garden with the Kramer’s Supreme Camellia live plant. This exceptional evergreen shrub, a cultivar of Camellia japonica, is celebrated for its abundant and exquisitely fragrant, fully double peony-form flowers. Each blossom showcases ruffled, turkey-red petals with charming yellow stamens peeking through, creating a truly spectacular display. Unlike many other Camellia japonica varieties, the ‘Kramer’s Supreme’ offers a delightful sweet scent, making it a standout choice for any landscape. Its long flowering season, extending from mid-winter through spring, provides much-needed color during colder months, ensuring your garden remains vibrant and inviting when other plants are dormant. Whether you’re looking to create a focal point or add a sophisticated touch, this fragrant camellia shrub is an excellent selection.

The Kramer’s Supreme Camellia live plant is a versatile addition, suitable for various garden designs from traditional to modern. It’s a robust plant that, with proper care, will thrive and become a cherished part of your outdoor space. Its rich green foliage provides year-round appeal, even when not in bloom, making it a valuable evergreen for structural planting. Ideal for USDA Plant Hardiness Zones 7a-10b, this plant is a testament to natural elegance and enduring charm.

Key Benefits

The Kramer’s Supreme Camellia live plant offers a multitude of benefits that make it a highly desirable choice for gardeners seeking both beauty and performance. Its unique characteristics contribute to a vibrant and engaging garden experience.

• Exceptional Fragrance: One of the most sought-after qualities of this camellia is its rare sweet scent, a characteristic not commonly found in Camellia japonica cultivars. The fragrant blooms will enchant anyone who passes by, adding an extra layer of sensory delight to your garden.

• Stunning Winter-Spring Blooms: Enjoy a prolonged flowering season from mid-winter into spring, providing brilliant turkey-red color when most other plants are dormant. These vibrant flowers are a welcome sight, brightening up the landscape during the colder months.

• Fully Double Peony-Form Flowers: The large, 4-5 inch flowers boast a luxurious, fully double peony form with ruffled petals, creating a dramatic and opulent appearance. This specific flower type contributes significantly to its visual appeal and makes it a showstopper.

• Versatile Landscape Use: This evergreen flowering shrub can be grown as a large shrub, a small tree, or even trained as an espalier. It’s perfect for specimen planting, hedges, background plantings, or container gardening, offering flexibility in design.

• Low Maintenance: Once established, the ‘Kramer’s Supreme’ Camellia requires low maintenance, making it an excellent choice for gardeners who desire beauty without excessive fuss. It’s resistant to deer, drought (when established), heat, and humidity.

• Excellent Cut Flowers: The beautiful blooms are perfect for cutting and bringing indoors. They make exquisite additions to floral arrangements or can be floated in a bowl of water for a simple yet elegant display, extending the garden’s beauty into your home.

• Deer Resistant: A significant advantage for many gardeners, this camellia is known to be deer resistant, helping to protect your investment and maintain the plant’s pristine condition without constant deterrents.

Plant Care & Growing Tips

Proper care is essential for ensuring your Kramer’s Supreme Camellia live plant thrives and produces its magnificent blooms year after year. Understanding its specific needs will help you cultivate a healthy and vigorous specimen. This red peony camellia prefers a site with morning sun and afternoon shade, or an area with all-day filtered sun. Direct afternoon sun, especially in warmer climates, can scorch the foliage and stress the plant. For optimal growth, aim for a location that provides protection from intense midday heat.

When it comes to watering, this camellia requires average moisture. The soil should be kept consistently moist but never waterlogged, as constantly soggy soil is an intolerance for this plant. Once established, its water needs will decrease, making it more drought-tolerant. Well-drained soil is crucial; it thrives in amended clay, loam, or sand with a pH between 5.0 and 6.5 (acidic). Amending heavy clay soils with organic matter will improve drainage, while sandy soils will benefit from amendments to retain moisture and nutrients. Fertilize in late winter or early spring after the blooming period with an acid-loving plant fertilizer. Pruning should occur after flowering to shape the plant and remove any dead or crossing branches. Monitor for common camellia pests like scale insects and address them promptly with appropriate organic or chemical controls.

The Camellia japonica care instructions for ‘Kramer’s Supreme’ include protection during extreme cold. While hardy in USDA Zones 7a-10b, younger plants or those in the lower end of their hardiness range may benefit from winter protection, such as mulching around the base or covering during hard freezes. Conversely, in regions with intense summer heat, ensuring adequate afternoon shade and consistent moisture will prevent heat stress. This attention to environmental conditions will allow your Kramer’s Supreme Camellia live plant to flourish and become a long-lasting feature in your garden.

Size & Details

The Kramer’s Supreme Camellia live plant is an impressive specimen, typically growing to a mature height of 6-10 feet and a width of 4-8 feet, depending on pruning and growing conditions. This makes it suitable for a variety of landscape applications, from a prominent specimen plant to a dense evergreen hedge. The plant arrives in a 4 inch pot, providing a well-established root system ready for transplanting into your garden or a larger container. The large, 4-5 inch flowers boast a striking turkey-red color and fully double peony form, adding significant visual impact.

Its robust growth habit and dark green foliage ensure year-round interest. This red peony camellia has a relatively moderate growth rate, allowing it to establish well in its chosen location. For solid hedges, a spacing of 5 feet apart is recommended, while for more space between plants, 10 feet or more is ideal. The plant will be shipped as a healthy, actively growing specimen, ready to adapt to its new environment and begin its journey towards maturity.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Q: How big does this plant get? A: The Kramer’s Supreme Camellia live plant typically reaches a mature height of 6 to 10 feet and a width of 4 to 8 feet, depending on pruning. It can be grown as a large shrub or a small tree, offering versatility in size and form.

• Q: What size pot does it come in? A: This camellia is shipped in a 4 inch pot, providing a healthy start for transplanting into your garden or a larger container.

• Q: Is this an indoor or outdoor plant? A: The Kramer’s Supreme Camellia live plant is primarily an outdoor evergreen shrub. It is hardy in USDA Zones 7a-10b. In colder zones, it can be grown in containers and brought indoors during winter months.

• Q: How much sunlight does it need? A: This camellia thrives in morning sun with afternoon shade or in an area with all-day filtered sun. It’s important to protect it from direct, intense afternoon sun to prevent leaf scorch.

• Q: Is this plant easy to care for? A: Yes, once established, the Kramer’s Supreme Camellia live plant is considered low maintenance. It requires consistent moisture, well-draining acidic soil, and protection from extreme temperatures.

• Q: What condition will it arrive in? A: Your Kramer’s Supreme Camellia live plant will arrive as a healthy, actively growing specimen, carefully packaged to ensure its well-being during transit. It will be ready for immediate planting or repotting.

• Q: How long until it blooms? A: This camellia typically blooms from mid-winter into spring, offering a long season of beautiful, fragrant flowers. You can expect blooms in its first or second year after planting, depending on establishment.

• Q: When is the best time to plant? A: The optimal time for planting most camellias is in mid to late spring, after the danger of hard frost has passed. Early fall is also suitable, allowing the plant to establish its roots before winter.

• Q: Will it survive winter in my zone? A: This evergreen flowering shrub is hardy in USDA Plant Hardiness Zones 7a-10b. If you are in zone 7a or colder, consider providing winter protection or growing it in a container that can be moved indoors during severe freezes.

• Q: Does the ‘Kramer’s Supreme’ have fragrant flowers? A: Yes, one of the distinguishing features of the Kramer’s Supreme Camellia live plant is its sweet, rare fragrance, which is a delightful addition to its stunning visual appeal.