Japanese Stewartia – Stewartia pseudocamellia
Description
General: Native to Japan, stewartia is a deciduous, slow growing tree with a slight pyramidal growing habit that will grow to 20-30 ft.
Leaves: Alternate. Dark green elliptical, mildly serrulate leaves that turn a bright red to reddish purple in the fall.
Flowers: White solitary flowers, with 5-6 petals and yellow stamens open up in June-July. Flowers open wider, more of a flattened look, than most other species of Stewartia. Here at Great Hill, our average bloom time is July 5.
Fruit: Inconspicuous
Bark: Exfoliating bark, which ranges in color from soft grays and tans to orange and reddish browns.
Attributes: A wonderful specimen plant, which should not be hidden in the landscape, Stewartia pseudocamellia offers beautiful flowers in the summer, leaves that turn a brilliant shade of red in the fall, and bark which serves as an interest all year round, especially in the winter.
Culture
Hardiness: Zones 5- 7.
Growing Conditions: They prefer a partly shaded to full sun area, in which their roots are shaded during the hottest periods of the day. They particularly like sheltering from other trees to block high winds. They favor a rich, moist, well-drained, acidic loam.
Maintenance: Minimal
Transplanting: Difficult. It prefers not to be moved. But we have had no reported problems when the plant has been dug during the spring, before bud break.
Our Experience
Experience at Great Hill
Overall, we have been successful growing Stewartia pseudocamellia. Some books report it as USDA Zones 6-7 others at 5-7, but here at Great Hill (Zone 6) we have several growing which have had no noticeable winter dieback or other problems related to winter hardiness. S. pseudocamellia has been reported as the most heat tolerant of the stewartias.
Stewartia Bloom Data
| Year | Bud Break | Full Bloom | Bloom Drop |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | June 13 | July 3 | July 25 |
| 2021 | June 1 | June 25 | July 28 |
| 2022 | No Bloom | ||
| 2023 | June 10 | June 30 | July 15 |