Camellia Garden Honored with "Excellence Award" The Huntington Botanical Gardens was named an International Camellia Garden of Excellence by the International Camellia Society during its recent international symposium this past February. Descanso Gardens in La Cañada Flintridge was also honored. The two Los Angeles-area gardens are among only five in the world to be honored. The other three are the Massey Lane Gardens, headquarters of the American Camellia Society in Fort Valley, Georgia; the Royal Botanical Gardens in Melbourne, Australia; and the Peter Fisher garden in Hamburg, Germany. The criteria for determining garden selection included the size of the camellia collection; and the garden must be open to the public, provide camellia care information, and engage in camellia research. About the Camellia Garden The camellia collection at The Huntington showcases 40 species and 1,200 cultivated varieties, covering approximately 12 acres in the North Vista, Japanese Garden, and North Canyon areas. Among the most historic plants is a lovely Camellia japonica ‘Pink Perfection,’ whose arrival pre-dated founder Henry Huntington’s purchase of the property in 1903.
The Huntington camellia collection has the distinction of having been named a participant in the North American Plant Collections Consortium, having met the stringent standards set by the American Association of Botanic Gardens and Arboreta for being an important source of rare, significant, or historic cultivars and for the size and completeness of the collections.
Ann Richardson, Curator of Asian Gardens at The Huntington, acknowledge the award from the International Camellia Society, saying “This honor will help insure that these collections will continue to grow and flourish, and that the public for many generations to come will be delighted by the diversity and importance of the genus called camellia.”
Flower photos on this page are reproduced from |
The collection’s reputation as one of the most comprehensive in the world is due in large part to the work of one man. William Hertrich served as superintendent of the gardens from 1903-1948, and the camellia collection was his passion. He started growing camellias from seed in 1912 as rootstock for grafting new cultivars, and for increasing the collection. Forty-two years later, he published the three-volume book, Camellias in the Huntington Gardens, the fruit of his life’s work propagating, studying, and photographing thousands of camellias.
The Southern California Camellia Society became involved in the collections in 1942. They donated plants, created a test garden, and the work of developing new cultivars began in earnest. The Society has had a close relationship with The Huntington ever since, through activities such as seed collection and an annual camellia show.
Some notable camellia introductions have been made by The Huntington over the years, including well-known cultivars such as ‘Rudy’s Magnoliaeflora’, ‘Betty’s Beauty’, and ‘Little Michael’. The collection houses many species, and includes cultivars of “higo” camellias which were developed in Japan for bonsai and for having large numbers of showy stamens, “snow camellias”, fragrant camellia hybrids, one of the largest collections of sasanquas (“sun” camellias), and more than 100 cultivars introduced by Nuccio’s Nurseries of Altadena, California.
A new pictorial guide to The Huntington’s camellia collection was published this year, entitled 
Camellia season is in full flower in Southern California from approximately December through March, and the public is invited to see and enjoy these two internationally acclaimed collections.