New bloom

Two falls ago, we rescued a tree from the woods behind our house. It had been tossed in a debris pile, but I noticed that it was still alive. Getting it into our yard was quite a project. John dug a large hole to plant it in (Corretion: I have been reminded by Katie that Tommy and Patrick actually dug the hole. Sorry for forgetting your part in it, guys.), we cleared the debris off and then had to figure out how to get it over the fence. It was quite heavy, as the root ball was pretty much intact. Probably the only reason it survived for almost a year in that pile. After using the fence as a fulcrum to lever the tree over and into the hole, it was planted. It has been slowly coming back, growing more and healthier-looking leaves. Last year, it had a few blooms, but nothing like what we saw when we looked out the window this morning:

Photo credit: John

It is covered with beautiful, pale pink flowers.

Photo credit: John

Now we want to identify the tree. Camellia trees are common in Japan, and we think it must be some type of camellia, but I can't find a photo with flowers that look exactly like these online. Does anyone know?

Photo credit: John

I really hope it is a camellia. When I was a teenager, I read (and loved) a series of books about a wealthy g irl in the 1910s who named her car "Camellia" for the flower I think, but I never knew what the flowers looked like. If these are it, I can see why she liked them.

Photo credit: John

But I can't imagine the car was as lovely as the blossoms are.