hot plant: stewartia, an ideal small tree
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, and adaptable to Zones 5-8.
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, with orange bark.
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?
Thanks so much for the advice. I got it at Pound Ridge Nurseries- which is very expensive but has quality stuff. I had just seen Martha Stewart’s magazine article about them and when I saw it jumped on it. It gets good sun, and is not too deep- the nursery dug it for me. Hopefully it’s the settling in situation . It is a slow grower- like you said. I will see how it goes and if problem persists talk to them about it. Also learned my lesson bout impulse buys-which I hardly ever do- I’m usually a bargain hunter.. Love your sight!!
Welcome, Kathleen, to A Way to Garden. Oh, my, now let me try to guess who sold it to you for that price, as I know most nurseries an hour from the city. Eek! ;-)
Actually, Stewartia pseudocamellia in particular is pricey (though not that high normally!) because it is a decidedly slow grower. It does not like to be transplanted when very big, and can be finicky in its adjustment to a new home, so smaller plants of maybe 4 to 6 feet are common and normally run in the several-hundred-dollar range to maybe five-hundred, in my experience. It is adaptable, supposedly, once settled in, but ideally wants a soil that is high in organic matter and drains well without being dry.
You are definitely not too cold for the tree; I do not think you have a winterkill issue, as an hour north of NYC is probably still Zone 6 (and it can handle Zone 5ish).
I am guessing you have a settling-in problem; again, it doesn’t love transplanting, and perhaps more roots were disturbed or damaged than is ideal, causing dieback. I assume at $1,000 someone planted it for you; that nursery or landscaper should be responsive to your concerns.
One more thought: Is it planted too low (sort of in a depression now that the soil has settled, which is slow death to many trees and shrubs) or near the road where highway salts are applied in winter or some other stressor like that? Just in case, thought I’d ask.
Thank you for reminding me to check the Stewartia for flowers! It is blooming and mine is a single stemmed tree. I love this tree.
I have a Stewartia I bought 2 years ago for- brace yourself- $1000. it is about 7 feet tall- but small. I have had alot of problems with it- the from limbs keep dying off. Do you think I need to protect it in the winter- I live in upstate New York- about an hour north of the city. Its by far the most expensive tree Ive ever bought- I dont want to lose it!!It is beautiful- blooming right now- I even like it when the blooms drop off and lay on the grass- it looks beautiful.
You’re so welcome! Actually, the new mantra would be a hybrid to something or other that Jerry Lee Lewis said in response to his cousin, Jimmy Swaggart, the evangelist…”Well, if I’m goin’ to hell…I’m goin’ to hell playin’ the PEEEEEEEEANNA!!!(piano):]
Dear Margaret, a friend sharing your site feels the same as I…so sad for you and your love, bottlebrush buckeye..and the horrible weather you’d been getting. Last night the first winds left the coast of Africa…here comes the hurricanes!!! I say if we’re goin’ down, I”M goin’ down, TROWEL-IN-HAND!!!Your site is so human, thanks Margaret for staying afloat! Much continued success.
Welcome, Courtenay. I love the image: Going down, trowel in hand. I’m there. Perfect! Thanks much for that new mantra.
Diana and Margaret: Thanks for the great information. And the prices seem very reasonable. Another bookmarked site.
Rick, check forestfarm.com in Oregon. They have a great selection and reasonable prices.
diana
from Margaret: Diana is right…so I put in the link to the Stewartia page at Ray and Peg Prag’s wildly diverse catalog.
Stewartia has been on my ‘want’ list for years, but I’m a bit too cold really. I saw one at a plant sale years ago and ran around singing a stewartia song. In the end though I passed, it was too costly and I just couldn’t picture where I would plant it. The ideal spot already had a Cornus mas in it. I still think back on that lost opportunity.
Margaret, Don’t be too quick to write off your buckeye, many suckering shrubs can regenerate quickly from the roots. If it does turn out to be gone, mourn it and start a shopping list. In the garden, every loss is also an opportunity.
@Bobster: Depending where you garden and the kind of fall temps and moisture you have, the fall foliage on pseudocamellia can be orangey-yellow hot or purple-red. Monadelpha is more in the deep red zone, almost wine-colored.
@Rick: I am mourning the passing. Your comment really touched me because yesterday I lost one of my oldest shrubs, and most beloved, to a freakish electrical/rain storm. A bottlebrush buckeye, Aesculus parviflora, at least 20 feet across and a dozen high. RIP, my darling baby. RIP. Haven’t even had the strength to go do the autopsy and take away the corpse yet.
Margaret, thanks for sharing! I happened across a well established tree on a garden tour about two weeks ago, loaded with plump buds and couldn’t wait to ask what it was. Not a single bloom at the time but it was absolutely striking, even without a single flower. I’ve had it in the back of my mind since then.
The dogwood that I’ve had pencilled in for a new bed on “the plan” might have just been replaced! What does the Fall foliage look like?
Ah, the pseudocamellia. I looked all over town when we first moved into our home four years ago. Finally found one at the most expensive garden center in town. A three foot Japanese variety set me back $125.00. For two years it was beautiful. Lovely flowers, the whole bit. Then in the spring of 2006 it warmed up very early. Sap rose, things bloomed, leaves budded. Then, on May 18th, the killing killer freeze came. In college we were taught that April 15th was the 50/50 day, (a 50% chance of a killing frost) and May 10th was frost free day. No longer. The killing freeze wiped my Japanese pseudocamellia out. Now there are none to be found, for any price.
Gorgeous! Would this tree do well in a large container (2 to 3 ft diameter)?
Welcome, Jonith. Even S. pseudocamellia is a good-size tree, so not a pot subject. I grow Japanese maples of smaller stature in large pots of 3 feet or thereabouts, but even those require root-pruning every few years to deal with confinement. So I’d not suggest it.
Hello, Mary Lou, and welcome. Wet feet are tough on many a plant, indeed. Good this you rescued this treasure.
One more thing about the stewartia. It does not like wet feet! Ours struggled valiantly in a poor drainage area until we finally moved it, saw the root rot, and realized what was happening.
In its new setting it is thriving and rewarding us with all the seasonal interest described above!
“it grows slowly, so this is an investment piece.” I like the way you phrased that! I bought a seedling three years ago from Seneca Hill Perennials, so mine is even more of an investment piece.
It’s gorgeous! How do these do in alkaline soil? I do have an American Fringetree that is doing great in my yard.
What an absolute beauty! This is the tree I want to gaze at every day through the window over my kitchen sink. Thank you Margaret and Happy 3 month Blog-aversary!
I’m always tricked by the famous “part shade or sun”. In Oklahoma it’s got to be part shade since we get too much sun for too long. I love the look of the tree and will search for one.
Welcome, Karol. The species monadelpha is far better suited to heat, I have read, so I’d inquire about it at a reputable local woody-plant resource or your nearest arboretum/botanical garden.
Thanks, Andy, for the good words…and Diana, I am no sure what to say about alkaline soil. I have not seen any specifics on that in my reading. (I grow the fringetree too here, by the way…love it!)
Ah – multi-stemmed! The only ones I’ve seen are all single stem, and they have seemed oddly upright and skinny, somehow. Despite this reservation, I have just put one in this season (the Koreana kind) and it’s still quite small. But it does have little branches all the way down to the base. I will definitely encourage the multi-stem thing. Thanks’1
Hi, Pru–welcome back.
And welcome, JeanAnnVK, to A Way to Garden. Yes, you are right. Aren’t they lovely? Almost don’t care if they open.
The flowers are beautiful…see the resemblance to a camellia, but the unopened buds and flowers almost remind me of a single peony…