Camellia japonica ‘Ave Maria’

This is a compact, upright shrub with gracefully hanging branches. It produces small to medium-sized, double to peony flowers in a delicate light-pink shade, each flower having 45 to 50 petals. The flowering period of this shrub is from early autumn to late winter. Camellia japonica is evergreen and native to mainland China, Taiwan, southern Korea, and southwestern Japan. Camellia japonica ‘Ave Maria’ was produced by Caesar Breschini in San Jose, California, United States and first flowered in 1953.