| According to Burke's Backyard, Early Pearly has a medium to strong, upright growth habit and will reach about 3-4m (10-15'). I have planted a number of Japonicas, all chosen for the flower rather than growth habits, and there are huge differences in their speed of growth. I bought one 3 years ago as a spindly little plant with one flower on top (which I managed to knock off before I got it home) which is now well over the dividing fence - taller and bushier than some others which were planted 5 to 8 years ago. There was one old camellia already resident when I moved in which had been pruned into a sort of ball shape (like all the shrubs ... grrrrrr). I left the poor thing to its own devices and it took 5 or 6 years to develop another leader. It now looks a bit like a ball with a spike. From this experience, I would be very wary of pruning the top of a camellia if I wanted it to develop height. In fact, the only camellia pruning I do consists of cutting flower stems for vases. Perhaps you could contact a specialist camellia nursery in your general area for information about the expected growth pattern of Early Pearly. | 
