The Pink Empress Camellia

If you’ve been out and about in Greenville, you have probably noticed the Camellia japonica bushes are beginning to bloom. The beauty featured today is called the Pink Empress Camellia. This bloom is located on the bush between Richard Branum and Resa Bates houses on East Commerce Street, near City Hall. The Camellia japonica ‘Empress’, according to www.almostedenplants.com, blooms early in the season and has large semi-double rich rose colored flowers centered by a boss of gold tipped stamens. It is a Japanese heirloom originally known as Akashigata. The bush grows to 8-12 feet high and 6-10 feet wide. It prefers morning sun, part shade, and average moist, humus rich, acidic soils with good drainage and deep organic mulch. Pruning should occur once flowering season has ended in mid-late spring and before buds set in the summer. (Bruce Branum | The Standard)