Ave Maria Camellia

Description

An RHS Award of Garden Merit selection that produces silvery-pink, small to medium sized, double peony form to perfect or rose form flowers with the show beginning as early as October and continuing well into January. Ave Maria Camellia is a Large Type Japonica with a slow growth rate eventually developing into adense, naturally upright to rounded, large evergreen shrub reaching 8-10' high and 6-8' wide at maturity.For optimum growth and vigor provideCamellias with a fertile soil rich in organic matter, with average moisture, and an organic mulch. See our Camellia Growing Guide for in-depth planting and care instructions.

Camellias are the rose of winter in southern gardens, with their colorful blossoms held against deep rich green glossy foliage on a naturally upright to rounded evergreen shrub. Pick the flowers and float them in a bowl of water to bring their beauty indoors. Camellias prefer an acidic, humus rich soil with an organic mulch and average moisture. Once well-established they need little additional care and will continue to perform for years to come. Most Camellias do best where they get light shade or morning sun and the light filtered shade of pines seems to be perfect. For more information about growing Camellias see ourCamellia Growing Guideor any of the excellent resources below:

Camellias Brighten the Winter Landscape- Get It Growing by Dan Gill with LSU Agcenter

Camellia Culture for Home Gardeners- UGA Extension by James T Midcap etal.

These large evergreen shrubs make easy container plants provided they get regular moisture and a good quality, well-draining, acidic potting soil. We prefer well aged, decomposted bark based mixes over peat based mixes and usually add a little extra sand or hadite to ensure good drainage. Container grown Camellias can suffer root damage if the soil is allowed to freeze so you will want to consider protecting them during any extended periods below freezing. They can usually tolerate overnight temperatures that dip as low as 20-25oF for short periods in 8" or larger containers. When grown or overwintered indoors provide them with plenty of cool direct sunlight. Preferably a few hours in the morning, in the late afternoon, or filtered light, like through a pine, is fine as well with high light conditions the remainder of the day whenever possible.

For more on growing Camellias as container plants see the following article by Dan Gill with LSU Agcenter: Camellias are Outstanding in Containers.