What the heck is a Camellia?!

Nerding out on flowers over here and had to share one of my recent adventures about learning about a new flower today.  On a random Saturday a couple of weeks ago my husband told me we were going somewhere he thought I'd like.   In all honesty my husband is not very secretive so I was immediately excited and curious as to what we were doing.

We drove West towards the upper North Shore and ended up in a forest.   Smack in the middle of this forest was an amazing arboretum called Planting Fields in Oyster Bay that's one of the longest standing estates on Long Island.  While it was freezing and too snow covered to walk around I could tell it would be a beautiful place to go in the summer time.  Since it was winter though we ended up in one of the greenhouses, and not just any greenhouse.  It was specifically for Camellias!

What the heck is a Camellia?!  I had no idea but quickly learned they are large flowering plants that are found in Eastern and Southern Asia.  There are also about 100-250 different types of species and this greenhouse had many of them.

The varieties are so unique and the flowers look so different.  Some looked like dahlias, carnations, tropical flowers, carnations, gardenias.  They come is all shades of reds and pinks, white, and many two toned ones.  Needless to say I was in heaven.  I love flowers and plants and learning new things about them.