LA Peppermint Camellia

Crisp white blooms hand-streaked with candy-red, opening in the quiet of winter when almost nothing else dares to flower. The LA Peppermint Camellia (Camellia japonica 'LA Peppermint') is a broadleaf evergreen shrub prized for its formal double flowers, each petal brushed and flecked with rose-red striping over a clean white ground so no two blooms look quite alike. It carries that color from winter into spring, set against thick, glossy, deep-green foliage that stays handsome all year. Maturing to a substantial 8 to 10 feet tall and 6 to 8 feet wide with an upright, rounded habit, it grows at a steady, moderate pace and earns a permanent place as a specimen, an evergreen anchor, or a graceful informal screen. Why growers choose the LA Peppermint Camellia Off-season color. Flowers arrive in winter through spring, lighting up the landscape during the months when most shrubs are bare. Distinctive striped blooms. The full, formal double form in white striped with red gives every flower a one-of-a-kind, peppermint-swirl character. Year-round structure. Lustrous evergreen leaves provide dense, dark-green presence in every season, not just at bloom time. Long-lived and dependable. Hardy in zones 7 through 9, a well-sited camellia becomes a decades-long fixture of the garden. Beautiful for cutting. The shapely double flowers float gorgeously in a shallow bowl of water and bring living color indoors. Use it as a refined focal point beside an entry, as an evergreen backbone in a shaded mixed border, layered under high tree canopy in a woodland setting, or spaced along a property line for a soft, living screen. Wherever it settles in, it rewards a sheltered, part-shade spot with seasons of winter bloom.