President's Monthly Message

January 2026  

I am glad to share this first Monthly News on ICS developments and activities that, I hope, will reinforce our links and share our knowledge. Your thoughts and feedback are welcome, and I warmly invite you to share them. 

With my best wishes,

Prof. Gianmario Motta
President International Camellia Society

First International Sasanqua Symposium (December 1st-3rd, 2026) in Shanghai

The first International Symposium on Sasanquas will be held on December 1st-3d, 2026, at the peak of the local sasanqua season. The symposium will be hosted by the Shanghai Botanical Garden (SBG). SBG is an International Camellia Garden of Excellence (internationalcamellia.org/en-us/asia-gardens-of-excellence/shanghai-botanical-garden) located in downtown Shanghai.  ICS members are encouraged to attend the forum and submit papers. The symposium, funded by the Shanghai Municipality, will address cultivation, new cultivars, hybridization, research, and history of the sasanquas, and will also feature a Sasanqua flower show. Attendance is free and we will organize a specific activity for the ICS members coming from abroad, including a visit to the Shanghai Bund and Hangzhou, defined by Marco Polo as “the pearl of China”. No Chinese visa is required in most countries. Details will be posted on the website in the next months.

A camellia amphitheater in Shanghai

In West Bund, within a new residential and commercial complex, a spectacular camellia amphitheater has been created, which offers a 6-month blooming season.  The season starts with Camellia sinensis, continues with Camellia sasanqua ‘Haihong’, and ends with Camellia x transnokoensis ‘Sweet Jane’. All these 10,000 camellias are fragrant.

Hangzhou Botanical Garden (HZBG) is preparing its application as GOE

HZBG is located on the lakeside of West Lake. This lake is of stunning beauty, framed by a wood crossed by channels, which eventually flow into the lake, and walking paths around the lake itself. HZBG hosts almost 5,000 species, and, among ornamental trees, a collection of magnolias and other ornamental plants. Camellias include 100 botanical species, 318 japonica cultivars and 86 sasanqua cultivars, thus making HZBG one of the largest Sasanqua collections. Thanks to a substantial fund from the local government, HZBG is re-arranging the layout of the Camellia collection and labeling the plants according to the rules of the International Garden of Excellence.

Australia: Tsubakiyama Camellia Garden opens

On 27 November, the Tsubakiyama Camellia Garden was opened within the Blue Mountains Botanic Gardens, which is famous for the pine Wollemia nobilis, a living fossil from the cretaceous era.

The collection of rare Camellias has been and will be further enhanced by donations acquired through Camellia Ark Australia which has oversighted collection and propagation of rare and endangered cultivars from public and private collections across Australia.  

What is next taking place are the plantings of rare Reticulatas and hybrids, particularly those Australian cultivars.  Many of these would have been lost without this project.  Historic Australian Japonica cultivars are not forgotten either, including the recently propagated W. R. Guilfoyle of 1883.  

Hopefully we might have a meeting of the ICS Historic Camellia Conservation Committee at Mt Tomah Botanic Gardens sometime in the future where we can examine some of these Camellia treasures in fine detail.

Sasanqua book 2nd edition in preparation

As announced in the end-of-year message, we are starting to put down the second edition of the book on Camellia sasanqua. It will be presented at the First International Sasanqua Symposium (December 1st-3d, 2026) in Shanghai with the publication funded by the Shanghai Botanical Garden (SBG).  The new edition will increase the number of cultivars and include new releases. It will also contain series of essays on the history of Sasanquas in China and Japan, Europe, Americas, and Oceania. We will also add a chapter on the cultivation of sasanqua in open field, potted, and on the evolution of cultivars.

In fact, “Sasanquas” are a tribe of hybrids which evolved from the botanical Sasanquas. Firstly, wild Sasanquas, with pure white small blooms, were selected to obtain larger ornamental flowers. In the second phase, the species was hybridized with Camellia japonica at various degrees, thus obtaining the sasanqua, hiemalis, and vernalis cultivars. In this gradual evolution, vernalis cultivars have leaves and flowers closer to the Camellia japonica. In the third phase, sasanqua hybrids were further hybridized with other Camellia species, such as reticulata, oleifera and yuhsienensis, generating a new series of winter-blooming cultivars. Not surprisingly, these multi-hybrids have been hybridized again.

Germany: Rombergpark will apply for GOE

We received news that Rombergpark in Dortmund will be applying as GOE. The application process will be launched in 2027. The almost 70-hectare garden is in the center of the city and includes many themed gardens, including a heath and moorland landscape as well as historic gardens of the former castle in addition to the camellia garden.