sure, good idea

I prefer the the Stewartia monadelpha over the Stewartia
pseudocamellia because it has smaller leaves, nicer looking bark, and
better Fall color. It also has more, but smaller blooms. It's just more refined than the pseudocamellia in my opinion.

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i283/Botann/IMG_0620.jpg

Thank you I will take a look at the different stewartia including the monadelpha.

The oak is actually more like 50 yards away, not feet - doesn't totally shade the dogwood as I understand stewartia need good sun.

Must not be allowed to dry out in summer.

"nicer looking bark,"

LOL!! That may be a matter of opinion :-) Personally, I find the flaking, multi-colored camouflage looking bark patterning of a mature S. pseudocamellia to be far more appealing than just the cinnamon colored, shaggy bark of the monodelpha. I also think it has equally as good fall color (which can be quite spectacular under the correct circumstances).

Full sun is not at all a requirement for either stewartia - they will do very well in partial shade and may actually experience some leaf scorch in full-on, hot sun in summer. And as noted, not exactly drought tolerant - consistently even soil moisture is preferred.

I kinda figured I'd get some differing opinions on the bark and realize I'm in the minority. :-) The shagginess of the monadelpha bark goes away as the tree matures and the result is a smooth cinnamon color.

Parrotia has the bark of the pseudocamellia and very good Fall color, but doesn't have much for blossoms.

Reddish bark of tall stewartia much more conspicuous. Flowers of silky camellia much more impressive. Old rhododendron dominated gardens in the area often had one of each (along with one paperbark maple, one sour-wood and so on). Seed taken from plantings where both are present apparently rather often results in hybrid seedlings, judging from the numbers of such hybrids that appear among stocks sent to garden centers of what are supposed to instead be one of the parents. Unfortunately the hybrids tend to be visually inferior to both, with intermediate flowers and little bark interest.

Stewartia pseudocamellia no doubt performs much differently here in cold Wisconsin than the Pacific NW, but it's still a nice tree. It caught a bad break when a late May hard freeze did some damage, but it has come back looks decent. Flowering is sparse, but I'm just happy to have any.

The bark is nice, but not spectacular. I suppose I should start to limb it up, but I just can't bring myself to do it.

I actually have never seen these planted here in NC. I will have to see about buying some and see how it does in the area.

Bark will be more impressive when trunk is bigger. The more branches the faster the trunk will grow. Also with bark interest trees you want as much stem as possible - it is better when these fork low, have more than one trunk.

Turns out the back of my property has one of these already. It's probably 8-10 feet high and deserves a better location. Can I transplant this?

This is likely a hybrid. This is what happens when you collect seed from an arboretum where the different species blooming period overlaps. Anyhow this one has some S. monadelpha blood in it. This kind of a trait comes with age.

Wouldn't judicious pruning up show off the bark more, instead of leaves covering the trunk to the ground? At Polly Hill Arboretum on Martha's Vineyard there's an allee of stewartia pseudo. which do not have low limbs. Walking "through" those mature almost glistening trunks is memorable. Very muscular.

A friend and I, who both have this stewartia agree the flowering is underwhelming. The flowers don't come all at once so it is a rather gentle show. However, I imagine as it increases in size and there are more flowers the show will probably get better.

Pretty flowers at a time of year when not many other trees are blooming. I think the fall color is definitely an asset, not neutral.

"The flowers don't come all at once so it is a rather gentle show. However, I imagine as it increases in size and there are more flowers the show will probably get better."

I think that is exactly right. The flowering effect on mine, which is about 12', is a gentle show -- I like that description. I have seen larger specimens at Arnold Arb that were in full flower and quite spectacular.

Here's one of my Stewartia monadelphas that self seeds a bit. I would have preferred it to have a single trunk. Picture taken last February.

Today's haul:

2.5 oz S. pseudocamellia seed cleaned and ready to ship. This was a good year for seed production. Keep a close eye on your trees. After a couple of good frosts the capsules open. Put down a tarp and shake the branches. The seed falls down like rain. You can't do this on a windy day. Use a series of screens to separate debris. AFAIK all stewartia species do great in the mid-Atlantic area.