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The first Camellias opening in mid-October signal autumn as certainly as do the falling leaves.
It is time to load the porch with pumpkins, buy some local apples, pull sweaters out of storage, and bring in tender plants for the winter.
It seems the white flowering Camellias always open first. The pink soon follow. Red Camellias will begin to open by early December in our garden.
I am especially happy to see the white flowers on our newest and youngest shrubs.
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This one in particular has been nibbled brutally over the years. But it is a survivor. I’ve had it surrounded by herbs and perennials all summer, and now I feel completely rewarded by these plump buds.
Camellia sasanqua bloom each autumn and winter here in Zone 7. Camellia japonica will take over and begin blooming in early spring.
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These are evergreen shrubs and maintain their presence all year round. But they are an especially magical presence in the garden as they send out delicate blooms, just when our days grow shorter and cooler each fall. Autumn blooming Camellias reassure us that our garden will bloom each and every day of the year, even as we feel the approach of another winter.
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The trees in our back garden are beginning to show some color. Purple Beautyberries are in their prime. This little Camellia grows at the bottom of this hill.
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Woodland Gnome 2015
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Forest Garden 
Beautiful, these I’ve not seen here yet.
Oh Maria, they are sweetly fragrant, too. I’m sorry you don’t have them there….
Your camellias are lovely. Does your beautybush die to the ground in winter or continue to grow. (I ask because ours dies to the ground, as do our buddleias. So they never get very large.) Love the pumpkin pic!
My partner surprised me with the pumpkin, and its twin, when I got home last night! He adopted them while I was away yesterday 😉 The beautyberry is deciduous, but the wood survives the winter. I have to prune our guys HARD in spring. I don’t coppice them, but cut them back by about 1/3 because many of our shrubs are very established and are huge. Right now, it is like an arbor along one of our paths as the Beautyberry has grown into a roof over the opening. the Buddleias are the same here. I just love the intense green of the Camellia leaves. If we can keep them alive until they are at least 4-5′ tall, we can keep them going. The new transplants have a time of it if a deer gets into the garden….