Characteristics
| Hardiness zone | 7a |
|---|---|
| Flower color | scarlet |
| Foliage type | evergreen |
| Plant form | upright spreading |
| Mature height | 8 feet |
| Spread | 5 feet |
| Light requirements | partial shade to shade |
| Moisture requirements | moist |
| Plant origin | import |
Tama Electra Camellia
Botanical name: Camellia japonica ‘Tama Electra’
This well branched compact shrub is covered with small, single scarlet blooms with fine white edges in late winter; flowers are great for cutting; has attractive, lustrous, dark, evergreen foliage; provide rich, acidic, moist, well-drained soil.
Other names: Japanese Camellia
Ornamental Features
Tama Electra Camellia features showy scarlet round flowers with yellow eyes and white edges at the ends of the branches from late winter to early spring. It has dark green foliage. The small glossy pointy leaves remain dark green throughout the winter. The fruit is not ornamentally significant.
Landscape Attributes
Tama Electra Camellia is a multi-stemmed evergreen shrub with an upright spreading habit of growth. Its average texture blends into the landscape, but can be balanced by one or two finer or coarser trees or shrubs for an effective composition.
This is a relatively low maintenance shrub, and should only be pruned after flowering to avoid removing any of the current season's flowers. It has no significant negative characteristics.
Tama Electra Camellia is recommended for the following landscape applications;
Accent, Mass Planting, Hedges/Screening, General Garden Use, Container Planting
Planting and Growing
Tama Electra Camellia will grow to be about 8 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 5 feet. It has a low canopy with a typical clearance of 1 foot from the ground, and is suitable for planting under power lines. It grows at a medium rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for 40 years or more.
This shrub does best in partial shade to shade. It requires an evenly moist well-drained soil for optimal growth, but will die in standing water. It is particular about its soil conditions, with a strong preference for rich, acidic soils. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution, and will benefit from being planted in a relatively sheltered location. Consider applying a thick mulch around the root zone in both summer and winter to conserve soil moisture and protect it in exposed locations or colder microclimates. This is a selected variety of a species not originally from North America.
Tama Electra Camellia makes a fine choice for the outdoor landscape, but it is also well-suited for use in outdoor pots and containers. With its upright habit of growth, it is best suited for use as a 'thriller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination; plant it near the center of the pot, surrounded by smaller plants and those that spill over the edges. It is even sizeable enough that it can be grown alone in a suitable container. Note that when grown in a container, it may not perform exactly as indicated on the tag - this is to be expected. Also note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.
