To southern gardeners transplanted north, camellias are the Siren’s song of the South, calling them back to their homeland. To Louisvillians transplanted from up north, camellias are those blousy and bloomy things in the wedding bouquets in the movie Steel Magnolias. We are a bit of a melting pot!

But regardless of your point of origin, Louisville has the challenging distinction of sitting in USDA cold hardiness zone 6b. That means that on average, our low temperature typically falls between 0 degrees and -5 degrees Fahrenheit. Traditionally, that means we sit just outside the limits of consistent garden success with camellias. Or at least that was the case for a long time. 

Camellias have long been a favorite of southern gardeners and lusted after by those of us from more northern climes. Most species – the number of extant species numbers between 200 and 300 depending on what taxonomist you talk to – hail from eastern and southern Asia with the highest concentration in Korea, China and Japan. And the most commonly cultivated species include C. sasanqua, C. japonica and their hybrids. Unfortunately for most of us who garden in mid latitudes, most of these selections are simply not adapted to our colder winters. 

But in the right climate, camellias are quite stunning in the garden. They form large, upright evergreen shrubs with insanely glossy foliage that provides the perfect platter for an annual presentation of drop-dead-gorgeous flowers. Pinks, whites, reds, lavenders, singles, doubles and about every combination you can think of, show up on plants during fall, late winter and spring. Southerners annually celebrate the start of camellia season. Northerners just scan through Instagram posts…

Of course the most commonly cultivated camellia of all is one you know quite well, even if you don’t know it. Camellia oleifera , the tea camellia, makes up the majority of nearly 3 million tons of tea harvested annually for later sale in dainty little mesh bags sold the world over. And while it is by far the most cold tolerant of the camellias, its flowers don’t come close to those of the more tender species. It is rarely grown in gardens.

Back in the 1980s, an enterprising fellow by the name of William Ackerman was working in the Washington DC area to produce unique camellia hybrids for gardens. He had amassed a huge collection of species and hybrids as his breeding block. And then it happened – a series of much colder than normal winters that killed or severely damaged most of his breeding collection. From the few lone and apparently super cold hardy selections, plus a few newly imported species, he set out to breed camellias specifically for improved cold tolerance. 

The resulting introductions became known affectionately as the Ackerman Hybrids and they include both fall and winter/spring blooming forms. Most have the word “Winter” in their variety names. Others indicate cold hardiness through names like ‘Polar Ice’, ‘Pink Icicle’ and ‘Frost Princess’, although I’m not entirely sure the last name was in honor of anyone specific! 

The result of these new Ackerman hybrid camellias is that those of us in USDA cold hardiness zone 6 are now tantalizingly close to being able to grow these garden gems. So here’s what we’ve experienced at Yew Dell Botanical Gardens.