this one is my oldest fall-blooming camellia. it is approx. 5'high x 6' wide and the habit is low, spreading on stiff branches with the flowers coming on short stems along the branches . it blooms heavily, beginning in late september, with good display on through october and finishes by december, having a few scattered flowers that last month. i think the shrub is about 18 years old but i don't recall exactly when i planted it. it is in dappled summer sun and receives fall/winter sun until mid-day.
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sorry about the photo quality of these but it may help give you an idea of the habit.

Nice specimen in photo. Camellias are like rhododendrons and dwarf conifers--slow growing but long lived. Given enough time they become small trees. Some centuries old rhododendrons and camellias aren't even small trees.

my shishigashiras have reached "favorite" status since i got them for christmas last year. they've been covered in bloom here in NC7a since just before thanksgiving, and buds continue to form. they're in large containers on my full morning-sun porch - it gets very warm there and the sun is direct - in spite of what the nursery said of shishi's great sun tolerance, i was expecting to move them to shade before the summer was over. to my amazement, they're still happily containered by the front door, blooming their rich pink heads off :) my point - they're rugged & vigorous & will take some sun (at least in Z7) and not the best of attention. it's my fastest grower & most prolific bloomer.
the photos above are marvelous representations.

the info that came with the shishis indicated they'd ultimately be 6' tall and 6' wide. from the great photo above of an old shishi, it looks like the 6x6 would be a good size to anticipate. the uniform size & open/airy branching will be fabulous en masse as hedging/screening or as specimens/accents. ten shishis! this should be fun :)

marsha

carrie,
i see from your member page that you grow many roses.
you might want to check out the link below to a post in the gallery for camellia 'chansonette'.
its flowers are rose-like, hot pink in color and it is a seedling of 'shishi gashira'.

i wish i had cleaned the fallen leaves and pine straw from the shrub before taking that photo above but i waited too late and the flowers opened then the yellow jackets showed up!
the lateral growth pattern is perfect for catching any debris that falls from above and it can look a bit unkempt without some periodic grooming if sited under trees.

Here is a link that might be useful: 'chansonette' pics

I have a friend who has some old Shishi's. He has limbed them up to a tree-like form so he can grow perennials in front of them. They must be about 6 1/2 feet tall and nearly as wide.

I planted our two 'Shishigashira' camellias in the mid-1970's, and they are now between ten and twelve feet tall. My observation of this cultivar is that its growth rate is fairly slow; but over time, 'Shishigashira' will reach the size of a small tree. Our two 'Shishigashiras' have never been pruned, except to remove dead twigs. Though large, the plants are fairly compact, spreading six to eight feet from their main trunks. We are in Zone 7B, and our 'Shishigashiras' generally bloom profusely during October and November.