I LIKE PLANTS THAT EARN THEIR KEEP. By that I mean they do more than a week or two of showing off; they look good in more than a single moment, or season. The small-ish to medium trees in the genus Stewartia are a good bet if that’s the kind of multi-season interest you are looking for. Sound good?
The Latin specific epithet, or species name, of the Stewartia I grow is pseudocamellia, which roughly means it disguises itself as a camellia when in bloom (a nod to the look of its lovely and plentiful white June-into-July flowers, and the fact they are very distant relatives in the Tea Family).
But this Stewartia, from Japan, which gets to maybe 25 feet or so in a Northeast garden setting and is happy in part shade or sun, isn’t content to offer up just nice flowers for the privilege of living with you. It gives you peeling, lovely bark all season long (below), and hot fall color, too, as the leaves eventually change. I should warn that it grows slowly, so this is an investment piece, not instant success.
I like my stewartias to be multi-stem and breaking low from the base, instead of single-trunk, but such aesthetic considerations are up to you. A bigger cousin is S. monadelpha, also from Japan; S. koreana (from where it sounds like it’s from) is another showy choice. What I insist is that you at least agree to look at Stewartia next time you’re in a good woody plant nursery and think of this: What other garden-scale tree gives summer flowers (preceded by showy marble-size buds, bottom photo, by the way, in my pseudocamellia); hot fall foliage, plus winter interest in the form of textural bark and lovely structure?
Guess after reading this you already know the answer to today’s quiz, huh?
Welcome, Jim. Sorry to hear the tree is troubled. Though it is easy once established, it can be very fussy getting rooted in and adjusted after transplant (and suffer as yours seems to have in the process) and also HATES drought/lots of heat/baking conditions. Last summer in the Northeast was baking as I recall, and dry — was it there, too? Do you have a guarantee of some kind on the plant from the place you bought it? Many times a plant will not display its stress until it tries to break dormancy and leaf out again the next season — or even after! I have had trees flower the next spring after a stress, which made me so relieved, but then just up and die after the beautiful performance. I think the tree didn’t transplant successfully (too hot, too dry, too sunny a spot (it likes some shelter from worst sun/heat of the day).
Hi Margaret!
I realize this is an old post, but am trolling around your archives for ideas and this beauty caught my eye. In short: I’d like to give my best friend a long-living tree or shrub as a wedding present. My ideal criteria: Something that blooms in late June/early July (their anniversary is July 1), will do well in the Midwest (they live in Iowa), and could handle being gently transplanted in 2 years when they plan to move to another part of the state. (Though I suppose they could also take a cutting with them.)
A bonus would be a tree/shrub that produces fruit (they are prolific edible gardeners), but I worry all of those would be just too fragile. Would this Stewartia be a good choice? Any other suggestions?
Thanks so much. I adore your blog (just moved to the Hudson Valley two years ago and am working on my first-ever garden, so find daily inspiration here — and comfort/help when things don’t go according to plan!).
Cheers,
Virginia
Hi Margaret,
I think Virginia may not have checked the box down below which will notify you of follow up comments, as I don’t see a response from you here. So I figured I’d squeeze in my Stewartia question while we have your attention. :-) I live in the Boston area, just planted, in part-sun/shade location, a Stewartia on Mother’s Day. Overall the tree appears to be fine and doing well except for the fact that the leaves all have browned a little bit around the edges. All the leaves. I suspect I may have let it get too dry at various points over the summer? I will be sure to water it plenty until this year’s frost. After the winter is over, how much watering would the tree need during its second year?
Hi, Donna. I am afraid I can’t keep up with all the comments and questions, though I do try to do my best. In my years with this tree, it does tend to do that — get a little beat up early in a harsh season, and show its discomfort. The first year in the ground this will be especially so — many plants sulk a bit from the stress of transplanting. I think your plan is right: keep it cared for and watered until frost is in the ground. Generally speaking, trees and shrubs are still on the “extra TLC list” for the first two or three years after planting, as it can take some time to really re-establish.
Donna—I’m assuming the Stewartia you planted was psuedocamellia, the Japanese Stewartia, as this is one of the two “touchiest” Stewartias when it comes to leaf-burn (the other being, in my experience, Chinese Stewartia—sinensis—although it is much less frequently grown. The problem is not lack of water per se, but simply the direct effects of strong sunlight—for which additional water is useful. In hot sunny circumstances, the leaves just transpire more water than the trunk and stems usually deliver, so extra water helps. And your proposed solution will work fine, as Margaret says. Should be no problems with the tree leafing out next Spring. One trick I use with these and similar sensitive trees, is to put out a fine-mist sprinklerhead at the end of a hose under neath the tree for the 2-3 hours when the sun threatens to be particularly fierce on a hot day. The increased humidity is to the tree’s liking. My preference is to try to hit that “sweet spot” when parts of the leaves turn slightly pinkish, without the leaf actually starting to burn or shrivel. Nice color contrast which doesn’t hurt tree or leaf—if you can get it!
Thanks, Kf, for the detailed tactics. I often get some brown along with my fall color on this tree, even now, many years in the ground. It does hate a heatwave, especially late summer or fall here.
Margaret, maybe you can diagnose what’s wrong with my Stewartia pseudocamellia. When I brought it home from the nursery five years ago it was covered with blooms. Then it refused to bloom the first few years in my yard. I assumed it didn’t get enough sun so moved it to a sunnier spot. After a year of settling in there, it did produce a bunch of those nice, large marble-like buds this year. In August, a few started to open. I was so thrilled. But then most of the rest of the buds just dropped off, unopened.
Any ideas?
Hi, Bart. Stewartia are notoriously slow to adapt to transplant and hate being moved. They also seem to hate hot/dry spells, especially if they are not well rooted-in yet. In the early years with mine, I had more bud blast than I do now — but I did have some last year (2010) when we had a very hot, dry season.
It also gets crispy leaf margins if unhappy about the weather (again, if too hot/dry). Did you have that, too?
My tree is in part shade, which I think they prefer to a full-sun location (especially in brutal years like last year). I would not move yours again, and I’d water it very thoroughly (especially in summer) for its first several years in its new spot. I suspect it will settle down once its root system is really established — again, assuming it is kept thoroughly watered.
I am interested in training my newly planted Stewartia into the multi-stemmed form breaking from the base that you mentioned you like best. My tree is 3 ft tall and came in a one gallon pot. We live in the Mid-Atlantic region.
Your site is the reason I decided to get a Stewartia – thanks for the inspiration!
Hi, Catherine. I have always selected from among the plants at the nursery for one with the basic structure I prefer. I like ones that “break low” rather than having a single trunk with branches that start higher up it. I have never tried to train or otherwise correctively prune a Stewartia myself, so I don’t know if the 3-footer you have is already off to a strong start as a single-stem (whether someone has directed its form or not already, or whether it is the shape it is naturally) or has the potential to train from this point onward. Basically the idea is that the dominant vertical leader is cut out or reduced to encourage other trunks, and they are spaced well apart, not all bunched up; this is usually started from a very young age. I would NOT recommend trying this without advice from someone who can a) see your plant and its potential, and b) has experience doing such pruning. I don’t have a book here with a good diagram to take you through the steps, and again, I suspect with your 3-foot tree may already be well along in showing its habit, no?
I purchased a Stewartia tree during the summer of 2011. It was about 5 ft. tall. It had many blossoms on it . I expected them to open in the fall. They didn’t open and the squirrels invaded it and retreived the blossoms. I put a wind chime in the inner branches hoping to discourage them. The leaves turned a beautiful golden color as fall approached. I hope to get flowers next season. Is their any approach to discouraging the squirrels?
Hi, Joyce. Squirrels! No telling if they’ll even take interest in the same tree next year, but as for what to do to deter them wherever they are, I am not aware of any secrets. They really have minds of their own. Short of hiring a licensed nuisance wildlife control operator (in the yellow pages) — but that really seems extreme. :) Fingers crossed that they simply take interest in something else next year — my local group seems to have some new obsession every year.
By the way, I’m sure the flower buds “blasted” (failed to open) because of the stress of transplanting, and hopefully the plant starts to settle in over the spring and summer ahead. Sometimes even a year in the ground it can be a little sulky — not just Stewartia, but any tree or shrub that has been through root disturbance — so don’t panic if it’s less than full bloom in 2012, especially after a summer planting just he year before. It’s worth the wait.
@Joyce, We have several Stewartia here in NH and they always bloom early in the summer, late June/ early July. After blooming, they produce a brown fruit, which may be what you saw on the tree rather than flower buds.
Thanks, Paula, and welcome. Have never noticed that on mine! Will look more closely this fall to see.
We planted a Stewartia last summer- the buds are starting to swell now and I’m wondering if I need to give it some frost protection….I know that Japanese Maples need this in spring, but I wasn’t sure how sensitive Stewartias are. The temperatures have been all over the place this spring and I’m concerned about the 20 degree weather predicted for tonight…..
I live in central Ohio and I have been looking to buy a Mountain Stewartia but I can’t seem to find anyone locally that sells that kind. Common one is the Japanese Stewartia but that gets a little to tall. Is there anywhere online that I might be able to purchase from.
Thanks!
Hi, Teresa. The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center site says this nursery sells it and offers mail order. I don’t know beyond that — none of the “regular” places seem to sell it as you have found.