Dream Weaver Camellia

Dream Weaver Camellia offers fall flowers with a soft two-tone look that stands out from standard pink camellias. Botanically known as Camellia sasanqua 'Dream Weaver', it produces double blooms with white to blush outer petals and deeper rosy pink to lavender-pink tones near the center. The flowers appear heavily from fall into early winter, often October through December, against small glossy evergreen leaves. We would place it toward the back of a bed or at a woodland edge, where its 6- to 8-foot height can frame lower shrubs without hiding the flowers.This sasanqua camellia is an especially free-flowering hybrid of Yume, with a moderately fast, upright habit. It grows about 4 to 6 feet wide and can be used as a flowering hedge, espalier, background shrub, or small evergreen tree with age. The fall bloom season makes it valuable near patios and windows that lack a view after summer color has faded. It is a good fit for acid-soil borders with camellias, azaleas, and shade garden shrubs.Dream Weaver Camellia CarePlant Dream Weaver Camellia in morning sun with afternoon shade, partial shade, or bright filtered light. It grows best in fertile, humus-rich soil such as amended clay, loam, silt, or improved sandy soil that stays moist but drains well. Keep soil acidic to mildly acidic, around 5.0 to 6.5 pH.Water deeply during the first growing season, and let the upper soil begin to dry slightly before soaking again. Pay close attention from late summer through bloom time, since sasanqua camellia buds are developing while weather can still be hot and dry. Fertilize after flowering or in early spring with an acid-forming camellia fertilizer, stopping by midsummer so new growth has time to firm before cold weather.Prune right after the fall-to-winter bloom period, removing crossing stems or shortening long shoots before the next seasons buds form. Lower branches can be removed gradually if you want to train Dream Weaver Camellia into a small tree. Keep mulch broad and shallow over the root zone, and pull it back from the trunk to reduce crown rot risk.Dream Weaver Camellia SpacingSpace Dream Weaver Camellia 4 feet apart for a solid hedge, or 8 to 10 feet apart when each plant should develop as a separate specimen. Use a container at least 18 to 22 inches wide with drainage holes and a bark-based acidic potting mix.In the landscape, combine it with mountain laurel, leucothoe, hellebore, or heather in acid-soil plantings with filtered light. For containers, use pansies or liriope around the base where cool-season color, drainage, and steady moisture work with the camellia.