It is from the "trees with shiny leaves" that the winter flower, the camellia, is born. Hundreds of different species have been identified around the world, and there are more than 200 in Parque de São Roque alone. It will be in this municipal green space, with over six thousand hectares, in the heart of the eastern part of the city, that the 28th edition of the Porto Camellia Exhibition will take place on the first weekend of March.

This is the show that marks the (re)encounter with the best and rarest specimens of the flower that Porto has adopted as its own. A tradition is thus fulfilled, with a vast programme of parallel activities, such as music, workshops and lots of outdoor entertainment, in a bucolic, family atmosphere that invites us to stop and appreciate what we rarely have time for - the mastery of nature.

There are hundreds of cultivars of camellia species and, in Invicta, they have been permanently resident since the 19th century in private and public gardens, such as the Botanical Garden, Casa das Artes, Nova Sintra Park, Quinta de Villar d'Allen, Soares dos Reis National Museum, Serralves Park, Quinta da Bonjóia, Pinto Leite Palace, among many others.

Known as japoneiras, roses from China or Japan, they are already part of Invicta's natural and cultural heritage. For this reason, it's not surprising that Porto is also known as "the city of camellias". There are those who travel from the Antipodes to appreciate rare species or to witness the period of their profuse flowering, which reaches its peak in the middle of the spring counter-cycle (in the autumn and winter seasons). For the flower to materialise to its full potential, it's not enough to let nature take its course. Perfection and exuberance are not just the result of chance or natural determinism. There are hands and knowledge that go into the equation, not least because you have to pamper, care for, nurture, prune and guide its growth.

Among camellias of the japonica, reticulata, sasanqua and sinensis species, we went to meet Cristina Campos. For 24 years, she has been the main carer of the thousand and one "winter flowers" that grow and bloom every year in São Roque Park. Cristina and the rest of the team of gardeners meticulously preserve and care for the legacy left by Jacinto de Matos (a distinguished gardener from Porto) - there are, after all, more than 200 camellias that still grow leafy in that 19th-century garden.

Near the gazebo, the grotto and the arbour, next to the unmistakable Casa Amarela de São Roque, there are centuries-old species. Some of them already bloomed in October - "the first to flower are the 'sasanquas', small and simple", explains Cristina. The others will open in all their splendour, just in time to be appreciated at the big exhibition in March.

Cristina confesses that she is not well versed in the names of some of her "girls" - "Viscondessa da Silva Monteiro", "Clara Gil de Seabra", "Augusto Leal de Gouveia Pinto", "Marmorata", "Duchesse de Nassau", "Castilho, o Poeta" or "Captain Rawes". The technicalities and intrinsic characteristics she prefers to leave to those in the know. She keeps the know-how and empirical knowledge of the "moods" and "care" that each cameleira has. "We have specimens here that are 150 and 170 years old," but this longevity brings "a lot of work and dedication," she tells us with the pride of an extreme carer. "They need to be watered, fertilised at least twice a year and pruned after flowering." It's constant work, not least because the camellias "don't give us a break, they need a lot of pampering," she concludes.

From the centenaries we moved on to the "nursery", where the first camellias planted last year are growing. In this lofty space, the views are unobstructed - on one side is the pergola of jacaranda trees and, opposite, the iconic natural labyrinth of common boxwood. Even so, these two ex-libris of São Roque Park don't overshadow the long-awaited promise of those hundreds of 'baby' camellia buds about to learn how to bloom.

We couldn't resist asking Cristina which was her favourite. She points to the 200-year-old camellia tree that, on so many summer afternoons, provides shade for family picnics. "The 'Beauty Cup' is my camellia of choice. In its structure and exuberance it manages to be beautiful, pure and, at the same time, simple and straightforward." At the Porto Camellia Exhibition on 2 and 3 March, you'll probably find Cristina and the team of gardeners at the municipal park looking after their "girls" and the more "centenary" ones. Care aside, there is the promise that next year new camellias will be reborn.