Camellia sasanqua ‘October Magic Ruby’.
What’s in flower at the Fuchsietum? Camellia sasanqua ‘October Magic Ruby’.
Not really what I would call ruby red on my plant but the color is still a bit richer and more interesting to the naked eye than these photos suggest. Even the sensors of a top-end Leica wouldn’t do reds that well without some post processing, though.
Not that this was a Leica. It was my cellphone. But Christmas is coming in case you have some extra room left on your holiday gift list, I’m willing to test Leica’s reds against my cellphone.
Anyway…. Its REAL cultivar name is actually Camellia sasanqua 'Green 02-003' under which it was issued a plant patent. Obviously that sexy name wouldn't seduce even the most desperate plant addict in any nursery so marketing slapped some October Magic® Ruby™ Camellia lipstick on the label after it successfully made it out of the test labs.
Looking at my calendar, it’s not exactly been doing any October Magic®. Probably because December®’s was already taken by a cutthroat® competitor™ in the horticultural-industrial complex. The color’s been hyped as “Christmas” red so we’ve also got some seasonal affective disorder going against attempts at marketing magic as well.
The camellia’s measurements are “semi-dwarf” estimated to get between three to four feet all by four to five feetwide (90-120 x 120-160 cm). We’ll see. Everything in the Pacific Northwest exceeds expectations.
One other thing I’ve noticed, or rather didn’t notice at first, is that the flowers are opening from the bottom of the shrub up. They also seem to face downwards a bit which made them less noticeable.
The tyke is still only two years old and eighteen inches tall, though, so I hope for better visibility as it grows up.
