C.japonica ‘Sarah Frost’

Originated by Ritchie and Dick, Philadelphia, USA in 1841.
Commentary:  Florence Crowder, Denham Springs, Louisiana -  2012

Photo from ‘Camellias’, G.G. Gerbing, 1945                       

‘Sarah Frost’, also known as ‘Clarke Red’ and ‘Owl Face’ is, without question, one of the most popular older camellias in the United States.  It is known to be in gardens along the eastern, gulf and western coasts and is often found in other countries such as England, France, Belgium.  There are many reasons for its popularity, some of these being its dependability as understock for grafting, the long blooming period, its vast display of blooms, its adaptation to both sun and shade and its beautiful contribution to the landscape.  G. G. Gerbing, Fernandina, Florida liked it so much that he planted a hedge with it bordering one area of his camellia-azalea nursery.      

‘Sarah Frost’  is described as ‘Crimson varying to deep Rose Pink.  Medium, formal double.  Vigorous, compact, upright growth and is mid to late blooming’,  in the 1981 edition of the Southern California Camellia Society’s publication of ‘Camellia Nomenclature’.   It was described by Alexandre Verschaffelt in 1850 in Book X of ‘Iconographie des Camellias’, and translated by E. A.  McIlhenny  as  ‘The bright pink blossom is rather small, but of regular shape and perfectly imbricated.  The arrangement of the petals, as in a few favored varieties, is double; at the circumferences they are distinctly rounded, faintly acute, ovate, or slightly acuminate, with undulate or even somewhat lacerated edges’.    Those of us who have grown and observed the plant has seen that a bloom will often have two ‘centers’, calling it owl faced.

Photo by Gene Phillips, Savannah, Georgia, USA

Location of old established plants;

Crowder home, Denham Springs, Louisiana, USA
Jardin des Plantes, Nantes, France
Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, Charleston, Sth Carolina, USA