Camellia shows and exhibitions in conservatories, shopping malls, and public gardens break cabin fever for residents throughout the United States.

Winter is camellia season and February is the month of peak bloom for Camellia japonica, Camellia reticulata and other cold-hardy species. Admired for their variety of colors and exquisite flower forms, camellias bring evergreen exuberance to midwinter.

Camellias are easy to grow and dependable oriental ornamental shrubs grown indoors in greenhouses in cold winter climates and outdoors in USDA zones 7 and 8.

There is sure to be a February camellia show in your part of the country where blossoms dance like debutantes at the Cotillion Ball. Camellia exhibitions often include experts to answer questions, seminars on cultivation, propagation, and pruning of camellias, and displays of reference resources.

Camellias in the South

Mid-Carolina Camellia Show in Columbia, South Carolina at Midtown Mall features several hundred blossoms from the home gardens of midland residents.

The Festival of Camellias is a month long celebration of camellia blooming season each February at Massee Lane Gardens in Ft. Valley, Georgia, home of the American Camellia Society.

The 64th annual Atlanta Camellia Show is held at the Atlanta Botanical Garden in Atlanta, Georgia.

Bellingrath Gardens in Theodore, Alabama hosts a Winter Wonderland of Camellias Celebration the first two months of the New Year.

Camellias in the North

Lincoln Park Conservatory and Garfield Park Conservatory in Chicago, Illinois have camellias in bloom under glass.

The camellia collection at the Missouri Botanical Garden is housed in The Linnean House, the oldest continuously operating conservatory in the United States.

Camellias in the West

The Camellia Garden at Huntington Botanical Gardens in San Marino, California has an internationally acclaimed collection with over 60 species and 1200 cultivars on display.

The Pacific Camellia Society holds their annual camellia show at Descanso Gardens in LaCanada, California, twenty minutes from downtown Los Angeles.

Camellias in the East

When the first camellia plants arrived in America in 1797, they were grown in New England greenhouses.

The Lyman Estate in Waltham, Massachusetts devotes one greenhouse to camellias that bloom from New Year’s Day through February in a structure dating to 1804.

The Camellia House collection in the East Conservatory Complex at Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania is a reminder of the historical significance of the oriental ornamental. The collection is also a laboratory for breeding cold hardy and ever-blooming camellias.

The Norfolk Botanic Garden in Norfolk, Virginia grows one of the Southeast’s largest collections of camellias in two locations: along Mirror Lake and in the Hofheimer Camellia Garden. Over 1700 plants are featured.

Take your camera to capture camellia souvenirs. Many conservatories and botanic gardens sell specimens propagated from their collections.