Camellia japonica ‘Ave Maria’

Extraordinarily beautiful, award-winning Camellia japonica ‘Ave Maria’ features small to medium flowers, 2-4 in. wide (6-9 cm), with up to 50 petals in a delicate shade of silvery pink. The elegant blooms vary from formal double (no stamen display) to peony form with the golden stamens scattered amongst the central petals. The flowers are happily produced over a fairly long period extending from early to mid-season (October to March in the Northern Hemisphere;  March to August in the Southern Hemisphere). This compact Camellia forms an attractive, neat, rounded bush. Its lustrous foliage of glossy dark green leaves is evergreen and very ornamental year-round.

• This evergreen shrub has a slow, compact, upright habit and grows up to 6-12 ft. tall (180-360 cm) and 6-10 ft. wide (180-300 cm)
• Winner of the prestigious Award of Garden Merit of the Royal Horticultural Society.
• A part shade lover, this plant is best grown in consistently moist, acidic, organically rich, well-drained soils. Provide a site sheltered from cold, dry winds as buds and flowers may be damaged by cold winds. Protect from the early morning sun and the direct hot summer afternoon sun.
• May be attacked by aphids, scale insects, and vine weevil
• Mass in mixed shrub borders for dramatic winter blooms. Great flowering shrub for woodland gardens or as a screen and hedge. Perfect as a specimen plant and may be effectively grown in tubs or large containers.
• Apply a root mulch (leaves or shredded bark)
• Prune after flowering. Prune to thin branching and control size and shape.

Camellia japonica is the pre-eminent species of the genus and counts over 30 000 cultivars in a wide array of flower forms and colors. The blooms can reach 5 in. across (12 cm) and create a gorgeous floral display from late winter to spring. They range in color from pure white to soft pink to dark red and may be single, semi-double, double, formal double, or full peony form. Slow grower, this broadleaved, evergreen shrub may grow up to 25 feet (7.5 m), but more often to 6-12 feet (180-360 cm) with a spread of 6-10 feet (180-300 cm). Its shapely habit, handsome, glossy foliage, and fabulous flowers have attracted gardeners for hundreds of years in Asia. Long-lived, some Japanese camellias, around the emperor’s palace in Japan, are known to be more than 500 years old. Unfortunately, Japanese camellias are not always cold-hardy (USDA Hardiness Zone 7 – 9).