History

The Apple Blossom faced some opposition in its selection as the state flower due to its biblical role in Adam and Eve’s expulsion from the Garden of Eden.

Fun Fact

Apples and crabapples are members of the rose family.

The Apple Blossom was chosen as the state flower of Arkansas during a time when the state was one of the largest apple producers in the U.S. For more than a quarter century after the designation as the Arkansas state flower, the flowering Apple Blossom dominated the state’s landscape and agriculture.

The industry brought the state so much notoriety that the small, northwestern town of Rogers organized an Apple Blossom Festival to promote the region. The celebratory event includes colorful floats, the coronation of an Apple Queen, and draws thousands of visitors from across the country. A newspaper in nearby Fort Smith boldly predicted that Arkansas would soon be competing with California and Florida as a “playground for the nation.”

But such aspirations would never materialize. In 1927, the state’s top crop were damaged by disease and severe frost. Apple production plummeted, and Arkansas’ days as a top apple-producing state were finished.

Even though apples no longer dominate the state’s agriculture today, the state flower continues to have a presence when the flowers bloom each April and May. The Arkansas state flowers are clusters of pink or white petals. These delicate blooms give off a honeysuckle scent that attracts bees to the trees where they carry out the important work of pollinating them.

Once Apple Blossom flowers bloom and are pollinated, they develop into fruit and grow to their mature yet small size by late summer. While apples from many trees can be eaten, the fruit that grows after the Arkansas state flower has fallen is largely ornamental. It is sometimes used to make jams and jellies.

Identifying Features

The saguaro cactus (Carnegiea gigantea) is one of the defining plants of the Sonoran Desert. These plants are large, tree-like columnar cacti that develop branches (or arms) as they age, although some never grow arms. These arms generally bend upward and can number over 25. Saguaros are covered with protective spines, white flowers in the late spring, and red fruit in summer.

Habitat

Saguaros are found exclusively in the Sonoran Desert. The most important factors for growth are water and temperature. If the elevation is too high, the cold weather and frost can kill the saguaro. Although the Sonoran Desert experiences both winter and summer rains, it is thought that the Saguaro obtains most of its moisture during the summer rainy season.

Range

You find this cactus in southern Arizona and western Sonora, Mexico. At the northern portion of their range they are more plentiful on the warmer south facing slopes. A few stray plants can also be found in southeast California.

Wild Status

The saguaro is not currently listed as threatened or endangered. Arizona has strict regulations about the harvesting, collection or destruction of this species.

Life Span

With the right growing conditions, it is estimated that saguaros can live to be as much as 150-200 years old.

Size

Saguaro are very slow growing cactus. A 10-year-old plant might only be 1.5 inches tall. Saguaro can grow to be between 40-60 feet tall. When rain is plentiful and the saguaro is fully hydrated it can weigh between 3200-4800 pounds.

Quick Facts

The saguaro is the largest cactus in the United States.

Most of the saguaro’s roots are only 4-6 inches deep and radiate out as far from the plant as it is tall. There is one deep root, or tap root that extends down into the ground more than 2 feet.

After the saguaro dies its woody ribs can be used to build roofs, fences, and parts of furniture. The holes that birds nested in or “saguaro boots” can be found among the dead saguaros. Native Americans used these as water containers long before the canteen was available.

The camellia is a flowering evergreen shrub with dark, glossy leaves and large, lush blossoms that appear and bloom for several weeks during the fall through early spring period in warmer regions. Where it is reliably hardy (zones 7 to 9), the camellia is a very popular plant that is used in much the same way that northern gardeners use peonies. Similarities between peonies and camellias include lushly petaled blooms and a tendency to outlive their owners.

Camellias can be planted from container-grown nursery plants at almost any time of year except during the hottest summer months. They are slow-growing but exceptionally long-lived plants.

Camellia Care

Camellias are best planted in rich, moist soil in a partial shade location. If planting multiple camellia shrubs, space them at least five feet apart. They do not like to compete for water and nutrients with trees in close proximity. They should be planted at the same depth they were growing in their nursery container with the top of the crown slightly exposed.

Know the mature size of your camellia, and plan accordingly if planting close to a window or home foundation. You do not need to amend the soil at planting time; instead, rake compost or well-rotted manure into the top few inches of the soil.

In favorable conditions, camellia is an easy-to-care-for plant that requires pruning only to remove dead branches. However, some gardeners might find them susceptible to a variety of pest and insect problems, which are more serious if the plant is neglected or in poor health.

Light

Camellias thrive in partial shade or in locations that receive dappled sunlight for the entire day, such as the understory beneath tall airy trees. Camellia sasanqua cultivars can tolerate more sun than Camellia japonica cultivars.

Soil

Camellias require well-drained soil, and an ideal soil pH for camellias is within the 6.0 to 6.5 range—slightly acidic.

If your garden soil consists of dense clay and doesn’t drain well, grow your camellia in a container. Smaller cultivars are more suitable for container growth and require large, wide, heavy containers with adequate drainage holes and filled with rich, moisture-retentive potting soil.

Water

Camellias require consistently moist soil. Dry periods that occur during bud development result in fewer flowers with a lower petal count. Drought-stressed plants can also cause spider mite infestations. Twice-a-week watering for a total of one inch of water per week is a good watering schedule. Apply a three-inch layer of mulch to moderate soil temperatures, retain soil moisture, and stifle weeds.

Temperature and Humidity

Camellias are reliably hardy in USDA hardiness zones 7 to 9, although some, especially the hybrids, are known to be hardy in zone 6. Gardeners in colder climates can increase the chances of their camellias surviving the winter by carefully selecting a permanent planting site in the landscape. A northern-facing location has an advantage over a warmer south-facing location. South-facing locations can cause the plant to break dormancy too early, resulting in the loss of flowers to frost damage. A north-facing site combined with a building, hedge, or fence that acts as a windbreak gives cold-climate gardeners the best rate of success.

Fertilizer

Camellias are best fed with a nitrogen-rich slow-release fertilizer, such as 12-4-8 or 16-4-8 applied in three applications: early spring, late spring, and mid-summer. Avoid feeding after August because the new growth that fertilizer promotes can be damaged by cold temperatures.1

The acidity that camellias favor can be provided by a fertilizer designed explicitly for camellias or azaleas.

Types of Camellia

Although camellias are indigenous to Asia, the genus is named for Moravian Jesuit priest Brother Josef Kamel, a botanist, pharmacist, and missionary who classified plants in the Philippines.

The Camellia genus belongs to the Theaceae (tea) plantfamily and includes well over 100 species. But nearly all garden camellias, of which there are hundreds of different types, are cultivars developed from C. japonica (Japanese camellia) or C. sasanqua (sansaqua camellia). A third common species, C. sinensis, is normally grown for tea production, not as an ornamental plant. Additional species sometimes lend their genetics to hybrids.

Some popular garden varieties include:

‘April Dawn’: Reliably hardy in zone 6, this variety has double white flowers streaked with pink.

‘Elfin Rose’: This cultivar has pale pink double blooms that appear in October and November.

‘Fragrant Pink’: This variety has small pink flower clusters with a sweet fragrance that is especially obvious on warm winter days.

‘Francis Eugene Phillips‘: This popular cultivar has highly ornamental fringed foliage and ruffled pink flowers edged in white.

‘Yuletide’: This plant features red single blooms on a compact, four-foot-tall shrub.

SOURCE: THE SPRUCE