Column "Camellia" part 15

～Camellia Festival～

The Camellia Festival will be held in the town of Oshima from January 31 (Sunday) to March 21 (Monday). Oshima Park's greenhouses and the camellia garden at Oshima Senior High School will be open during this festival so the public can enjoy various types of camellia.

In the pure breed section of the greenhouse in Oshima Park camellia are on display such as the famous camellia chrysantha with its yellow flowers and the camellia amplexicalis, a Vietnamese camellia which looks like bright red waxwork. Camellia which are currently in season to view which have been grown in an incubation room which is not open to the public are also on display in the cultivar section of the camellia museum. On the Oshima Park website you can view flowering information on the camellia in the Oshima Park camellia garden including greenhouse camellia, so please check it.

The Oshima Senior High School camellia garden is the largest scale camellia garden in a high school in the country, and every year new breeds are added by cutting and grafting. Students of the agriculture and forestry course maintain more than 350 cultivars of more than 1,000 camellias, and because you can see so many camellias up close the garden is enjoyed by many people during the festival. Information is also available on the high school's website. Please visit and enjoy the flowers. (The students are scheduled to serve as camellia guides for visitors on February 7)