Camellia 'Inspiration'
4th April 2006
22nd January 2012
For a long time I have been confused between 'Inspiration' and 'Elsie Jury' because I lost the labels shortly
after I planted them. A few years ago I came across an old planting plan and realised my mistake but
by then I had already formed a rather low opinion of what I took for 'Inspiration'.
In the last couple of years I have paid closer attention and I am appreciating the plant a bit more.
It is growing at the top of the garden where the wind knocks it about a bit and it seems to prosper.
It flowers freely and has good dense shiny leaves (which is a kind way of saying it has plenty of flowers
and I don't really like them). A hybrid between C.reticulata and C.saluenensis, it has the large flowers
that are produced early in the season, so it inherits good qualities from each parent.
I admit that I am not easily pleased when it comes to flowers in shades of pink. Whatever it is I am looking for
(I have never managed to pin it down) this isn't it.
20th March 2013
My little plant grows on a single stem that seemed perfectly adequate until the flowers opened. It had a few days as a pink ball on a stick
and then a passing gust of wind laid it flat. It has been picked up and given a friendly stake to lean on while it recovers
some poise, or what passes for it among Camellia.
3rd Februry 2015
2015 was a mild year, it felt as though there had hardly been a winter, so it is good to be reminded that we had snow, although it fell overnight and
didn't last until mid-day.