Camellia x williamsii 'Donation'

Camellia × williamsii 'Donation' is widely counted among the finest hybrid camellias ever raised, and a long-standing favorite in our own garden. The cross is between Camellia saluenensis and the old japonica 'Donckelaeri', made by Colonel Stephenson Clarke at Borde Hill in England; the williamsii group to which the plant belongs began with J.C. Williams at Caerhays, whose saluenensis crosses gave the genus a new hardiness and an unmatched freedom of bloom. 'Donation' carried that promise furthest, and the Royal Horticultural Society has long honored the plant with an Award of Garden Merit.

The flowers are the reason: large, semi-double, and a clear orchid-pink, up to four or five inches across, the petals threaded with faintly deeper pink veins around a center of gold stamens. Bloom comes in abundance through the mid and late season, late winter into spring, on an upright, vigorous evergreen frame clothed in glossy dark foliage. Like the better williamsii hybrids, 'Donation' drops the spent flowers cleanly rather than holding onto browning blooms, so the plant stays tidy through a long flowering.

Grow 'Donation' in semi-shade, in sandy, slightly acidic soil kept mulched and watered, as a specimen, an informal screen, or the flowering anchor of a shaded border. A classic for good reason, and an easy, generous camellia for the gardener who wants proven performance with the bloom to match.