Camellia japonica 'April Snow'
Since it stormed the landscape scene of North America in the 1920’s, the camellia has been a popular member of the southern garden, with its strong evergreen structure and amazing bloom variety. But since most camellia are zoned 7-9, their beauty and versatility are lost to those who live in the colder northern regions of the country, unless you have a heated greenhouse. Monrovia has been working to remedy that with its latest introduction of a more cold-tolerant camellia: ‘April Snow’ Camellia Japonica. ‘April Snow’ sports fragrant rose-form, white, double flowers, each 3-4” in diameter (BIG!), blooming in early April. It shows more cold tolerance than other japonicas, growing well in zone 6b (if in a very protected site, like the south side of a home, you might could push it to zone 6a). This evergreen shrub is slow-growing, with a mature shape taller than it is wide, with glossy green leaves up to 3” long. ‘April Snow’ would look lovely as a tall screening hedge (trim immediately after bloom to not impact next year’s bud set) or to add height in a partial shade garden bed.