I am waiting with baited breath for the outburst of the camellias! We almost take them for granted in Cornwall as they adorn the great gardens and are the forerunners and the backbone to our spring gardens extravaganza. For that is one of the best features of camellias. There are varieties that will provide flowers from October through to May. The range of flower colour is another major attribute from pure white through to yellow, every shade of pink to the reds. The constant breeding of camellias now gives us speckled and striped flowers and even variegated leaves. No doubt some bright spark is trying to breed a blue one!

All the professional advice will suggest camellias prefer an acidic soil and that is certainly true. But if your soil is neutral, as many of ours are, the camellia is just as happy. If your soil is alkali the option is to grow in pots of ericaceous compost and to feed from March to August. Camellias should not be fed outside these months.

If you are considering planting camellias then they are readily available now. The nurseries promote them when they are in flower and they can be planted as container grown or lifted plants even when in flower. Different varieties have preferences for different growing locations but as a general rule if you remember that they are woodland plants and give some shade and protection from the harshest winds they will be happy. What that amounts to really is that an easterly direction, without protection, should be avoided. This is partly because of the winds, but also because if the flower buds do get frosted they prefer to thaw out slowly rather than quickly in the warmth of the early morning sun. Remembering the woodland scenario, they should be planted with generous amounts of organic material.

Most camellias will grow to between 8ft and 20ft if left unchecked. One or two will be shorter, for example ‘Contribution’ which spreads outwards rather than upwards. All can be pruned as soon as they have finished flowering and before the new growth starts. Leaving it any later will chop off next year’s flowers.

For camellias in tubs, rainwater is better than tap water but some water is better than none so if you do not have any rainwater and the plant is dry then use tap water. Drying out will kill your plant so ensure that those in pots have water at the roots and that the rain hasn’t just bounced off.
One of the most frequent queries about camellias is when they produce little round balls that look like apples. There is usually a panic as most assume these are bugs or galls and that the plant is suffering. In fact they are seed capsules which contain up to six seeds in each. When they are ripe they burst and you may be lucky enough to see offspring. If you plant the ripe seed you will almost certainly produce seedling plants, but remember that they can take anything from three to ten years to produce flowers, you will have to be patient!

So, if you give your camellias the correct conditions and location they are fairly trouble free and will reward you for years being a very long lived plant. Needless to say there are always a few problems which occur and they are invariably easily solved;-

Brown marks on the leaves – This is usually caused by weather damage and can range from exposure to cold winds, frost or very hot sunshine.

Brown edges and tips to the leaves – This is due to over feeding, a common occurrence with pot grown plants. The only solution is to water excessively and flush through the excess fertiliser. If the plant still looks ill and drops its leaves it may well recover and produce new shoots later so don’t give up hope. A white powdery substance on the leaves can also been seen when the plant has been over fed.

Black sooty mould – This is a fungus which grows on the honey dew secreted by scale insects or aphids. Generally it is not a problem although the leaves are unsightly. The fungus can be washed off if physically possible. Try a hosepipe to wash off the insect and the mould, particularly on the underside of the leaves. Otherwise, put up with it, resort to insecticide, move to the inner city where they rarely suffer this problem because of the sulphur in the atmosphere from petrol fumes, or back your car up to the plant and run the engine…

Curling of young leaves – Some varieties like ‘Lily Pons’ actually grow like this so there is nothing wrong. Otherwise it may be aphid attack as they prefer the young leaves.

Yellow leaves – The plant may just need feeding if it has used up all the goodness in the soil. Ericaceous compost needs adding to in pots after a fairly short period of time. The plant may be too wet, in which case, attend to the drainage. They like well drained conditions and will not tolerate permanently wet feet. Otherwise it is likely that there is an iron deficiency and you can use a proprietary sequestered iron feed or mulch the plant with well rotted bracken or pine needles.

Flower buds dropping – This is a common complaint and there can be several reasons. The buds can be taken off by squirrels, birds or even mice. The camellia may have been over fed too late in the season or it may be too wet or too dry. Those things you can sort for yourself. Unfortunately bud drop can happen when the weather fluctuates from mild and wet to cold and frosty and that is unavoidable, so too natural bud drop when there are just too may flowers on the plant and it sheds a few.
A very happy 2011 to all; just think, if you had planted a camellia for the millennium it would be ten years old now and in the right spot ten feet tall. Where does the time