The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Camellias [Illustrated] [Hardcover]

Stirling Macoboy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 20, 1998

Hardy camellias reward the gardener with striking and profuse blooms at a time of year when the rest of the garden sleeps. This encyclopedia is the definitive guide to these beautiful and varied flowering plants.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Camellias are valued for their lovely flowers, which bloom when other flowering plants are resting, for their generally compact, formal habit, and for their evergreen leaves. Books about flowers are valued for stunning photographs, good organization and writing, and useful cultivation information, and this encyclopedia meets those requirements. Internationally recognized Australian author and gardener Macoboy presents here more than 1000 of the world's most popular camellias, with every entry illustrated by a color photograph. Entries are well placed with the photos and give the expected descriptions, which include flower form, color and size, parentage, date of registration, plant habit, and flowering season. The writing is informal and graceful. Of Arabian Nights, Macoboy says "There is little to connect this pretty camellia with the raunchy nocturnal enticements featured in the original translation of this oriental classic." Feature essays, illustrated with paintings by Paul Jones, provide background on camellia history, foliage, sports, and hybrids. There is a glossary and an extensive index. Recommended for all horticulture collections and wherever there is an interest in camellias.?Carol Cubberley, Univ. of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

This definitive guide to camellias by Stirling Macoboy, a leading expert on the genus, with the support of coauthor Roger Mann, presents 1,096 of the most popular species, cultivars, and hybrids. Each entry includes the flower's description (the color and form of petals), cultivars' names and synonyms, Chinese and Japanese names (as a point of fact, camellias were first cultivated in China and Japan), the date of registration, parentage, flowering season, and other historical information. In addition, each entry is illustrated by a stunning color photograph; additionally, there are 19 color paintings, 17 black-and-white drawings, and 2 black-and-white photographs. Rounding out the coverage is a brief chapter on the cultivation of camellias, and a glossary. George Cohen

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Timber Press (March 20, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0881924210
• ISBN-13: 978-0881924213
• Product Dimensions: 12.1 x 9.5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #88,497 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #18 in Books > Education & Reference > Encyclopedias > Gardening

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars As the title promises: An illustrated Encyclopedia, July 24, 1999

By 

[e-mail] - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Camellias (Hardcover)

This book presents over 1000 varieties of Camellias with short descriptions, parentage and flower period. The most remarkable point is that all varieties are illustrated with stunning photographies. The Camellias are grouped in several chapters: species, sasanquas, japonicas, higos, reticulatas and hybrids with short introductions dealing with their characteristics. The reader will see the full scope of Camellias and has the chance to compare synononyms, even chinese/japanese names are listed. However, of the 300 pages there are only 9 pages dedicated to the cultivation of Camellias. A hobby gardener interested how to grow Camellias will be disappointed.

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful pictures, mostly C. japonica, September 23, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Camellias (Hardcover)

It's important to note that the book has an Australian perspective. Why important? The camellia varieties found in commerce will vary from place to place, and cultural needs will vary depending on climate and soil. I suspect that most North Americans won't know how their soil compares to that in regions of Australia (I don't!).

The book is filled with beautiful photos. It's well printed and bound and offers a pleasant way to while away an hour when it's too rainy to work in the garden. It might even make a nice gift for a non-gardener.

In my area (coastal North Carolina), sasanquas are more successful than japonicas. This book, like most Camellia texts, is heavily weighted to japonicas. Of the roughly 300 pages, about 145 are devoted to japonicas, 28 to sasanquas, 10 to higos, 38 to reticulatas, and 35 to hybrids. And, as noted by another reviewer, cultivation is given only about 10 pages.

It's a great book for what it is: a photo gallery of about 1,000 camellia species, mostly C. japonica. What it is NOT is a book about growing camellias, nor is it one with especially good coverage of camellia species other than C. japonica.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars If you love camellias ..., May 9, 2002

By 

Ursiform (Torrance, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Camellias (Hardcover)

This is clearly a niche book, but it contains a wealth of information about camellias, and pictures of a large number of varieties. I have yet to encounter a better book for a camellia lover.