Rare camellia blooms in Chiswick conservatory (From Richmond and Twickenham Times)

Rare camellia blooms in Chiswick conservatory

11:00am Sunday 14th March 2010 in

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One of the world’s most rare camellias is settling into its new home in the recently restored conservatory at Chiswick House.

Known as Middlemist’s Red, the flower is thought to be one of only two surviving examples of this variety in the world, with the other being thousands of miles away in Waitangi, New Zealand.

The flower is believed to have been grown at the Chiswick conservatory since the first half of the 19th century, when the Sixth Duke of Devonshire added the exotic plant to his camellia collection.

It was originally brought to Britain from China in 1804 by Londoner John Middlemist, who gave the plant to Kew Gardens, before it found its way to Chiswick in about 1823.

Although named Middlemist’s Red, the plant blooms a deep pink for about a month every year.

The flower will now be housed in the 300ft conservatory in the grounds of Chiswick House.

Fiona Crumley, head gardener of Chiswick House and Gardens, said: "It's wonderful that this very significant historic camellia collection is now beautifully housed in the restored conservatory where they were first places by the Sixth Duke of Devonshire.

"The camellias are known internationally, so we were delighted to be able to give the community the opportunity for preview tours last week with the shrubs in full bloom, and from this summer everyone will be able to enjoy them in their stunning new home."

Completed in 1813, author Mary Berry described the greenhouse as “a magnificent hot-house” and it was a forerunner to those designed by Decimus Burton at Kew and Sir Joseph Paxton at Chatsworth.

However from the mid-1800s, the house was rented out by the Devonshires and at one point even served as a lunatic asylum.

Left neglected, the conservatory suffered damage during World War II when bombings meant it lost all of its glass.

Yet thanks to the current £12.1m restoration project of the gardens, overseen by the Chiswick House and Gardens Trust (CHGT) and English Heritage, the conservatory has been painstakingly recreated.

It will now once again house Chiswick’s camellias -believed to be the largest collection of the oldest known varieties in the Western world - in its full glory.

The conservatory will be open from this summer for people to enjoy and from next year they will be able to admire the Middlemist’s Red and Chiswick’s other rare camellias in bloom in their beautifully restored setting.

For more information on the restoration project visit chgt.org.uk.