More than thirty camellias bloom against the wall of the conservatory at Chiswick House, a Palladian villa on the western outskirts of London. Their glossy leaves are the natural background to flowers ranging from pure white to fiery red, with single, double, semi-double and more shapes.
The oldest plants date back to the 1820s, when camellias in pots began to replace pineapples and peaches in the elegant glasshouse. The conservatory, in fact, completed by the Sixth Duke of Devonshire in 1813 to house precious grapes and exotic fruits, was considered an indispensable protection for these exciting and expensive novelties.
In 1838, Charles McIntosh devoted an entire chapter to the 'Camellia House' in his book The Greenhouse, Hot House and Stove. He acknowledged that this splendid genus, 'so universally admired', was easy to cultivate but to have 'Camellia in the first degree of excellence they should be kept in a glasshouse'. Diagrams (see below) explained 'what we consider to be the best form of houses adapted for this section of plants...' and further instructions followed about propagation and cultivation, with particular attention to obtain a prolonged flowering season.
Some of the camellias included in McIntosh's 'Selected List' are blooming at Chiswick, such as the variegated 'Chandler', the rosy 'Elegans', the reds "Aitonia' and 'Rubra Plena', and the blush 'Pompone', names that evoke a world of people and stories. Just a handful of plants in this unique collection have not been identified and dated during the intense program of restoration undertaken by the International Camellia Society in 1994, while the conservatory underwent major renovation between 2009 and 2010.
In 1855, camellias had conquered their place in the soil of the back border, surrounded by Rhododendron, Magnolias, and Acacias, while pots of pelargonium, azalea, chrysanthemum and other conservatory plants were displayed on the two-tiered platform in front of them.
Besides 'the magnificent Nepal Rhododendrons, the best varieties of tender English hybrids, as well as the Chinese Magnolias, whose rich perfume would amply make up for the absence of fragrance in the two former genera,' McIntosh suggested as suitable companions for the camellias in a glasshouse: 'Nerium Oleander, and its splendid varieties, Illicium floridanum, Daphne odora, ...And as scandent plants, to be trained up under the rafters of the roof, we would recommend Kennedya, various species, Wistaria chinensis, Caprifolium japonica, Tacoma grandiflora, ...' concluding that 'a house so furnished would be sufficiently interesting throughout the year...'. This is probably true, but nothing was missing in the warm conservatory at Chiswick filled with the flowers of thirty proud camellias.
All quotations and drawings from Charles McIntosh, The Greenhouse, Hot House and Stove', pg.109-134.
Photos
TravelinaGarden, Chiswick House, London, March 2016.
Further reading:
Charles McIntosh, The Greenhouse, Hot House and Stove: Including Selected Lists of the Most Beautiful Species of Exotic Flowering Plants, and Directions for Their Cultivation, London, WM S. Orr and Co., 1838.https://archive.org/details/greenhousehothou00mcin
Link:
Chiswick House and Garden, London.
http://www.chgt.org.uk
