Stewartia pseudocamellia ‘Ballet’

Stewartia pseudocamellia, the Japanese Stewartia, is a beautiful, medium-sized, slow-growing tree related to tea with a pyramidal shape and showy, white, early summer flowers with orange-yellow anthers that look like Camellia. The exfoliating bark becomes spectacular as the tree ages offering mottled tones of reddish brown, green, beige, grey, and white – perfect for winter interest. The foliage also turns beautiful tones of red and orange in autumn. One of the best all around trees for urban gardens. Possibly hardy into zone 4. ‘Ballet’ has larger flowers than the species – up to four inches across! – and particularly good fall colour.