About Climate Zones - Can you grow camellias in your area?


The number one question we have from customers is "Can I grow camellias where I live? Sometimes it's an easy question, and sometimes it's not.  I usually start by asking about your location.

We often have to refer to several sources when determining whether camellias will do well in a particular area, one of them being the climate zone. 

The United States Dept of Agriculture has developed a climate zone map which will give us a good indication of the minimum cold temperatures of regions around the country.  Cold weather plays a big part in the ability of camellias to survive in some areas.  We can use the climate zone map to get an idea of the type cold weather that is typical for your area.

The second consideration is that not all camellias are equal.  Some may tolerate colder or warmer weather than others - so variety plays a part in determining whether camellias will do well in your area.

Traditionally Camellias do best in climate zone 8.  This zone has cold weather and hot weather, but not to the extremes found in other zones.  Climate zone 7 may have colder temperature and there are some camellias that may do better here than others.  The same holds true for Climate zone 9 - although in reverse - zone 9 gets warmer weather than normal so there may be some camellias that do better here than in colder areas.

Zone 6, which is relatively too cold for camellias planted outdoors does have some possibilities that lie with some proven cold hardy camellias as well as newly developed hybrids bred for cold hardiness.

Zone 10, which is very warm, with little freezes, may grow nice camellias, but with little to no cold weather, blooms on traditional camellias may not flower correctly.  Again, there are many new hybrids being developed that are tropical in nature that may hold some promise for camellias to be grown in these areas.

Our best advice when considering growing camellias is to start with your climate zone and go from there!  We've found a very nifty little tool that you can use to


Click to locate your plant hardiness zone