Poorly Camelia !

cullet

I have two Camelia's one in a pot which did fine,one in a bed which when the buds opened they shrivelled,what could be the cause please ?

oliveoyl

Camelias need acid soil... did you do a PH test before planting?

kimmee

Like OliveOyl says, you need acid soil. I had an old camelia in a pot that I had just ignored since I moved here (I inherited it) 5 years ago :eek:. The poor old thing really did look worse for wear and earlier produced one solitary flower which in itself was amazing!. So I cut it right back with the secataurs, uprooted it and re-planted it in some fresh ericacious compost.

This was about a month ago, I've kept it watered and in the last week I can see a few tiny new buds forming.

Unless you have acidy soil why don't you try what I did - I would guess that you don't need to cut it back as drastically as I did.

Good luck, they really are beautiful flowers aren't they?

cullet

The strange things it is planted next to a Rhodie which has flowered really well this year ?

westiea

How are your Rhody/Camellia leaves looking? If they have a light yellow tinge to the green (chlorosis) then it is your soil - water with sequestrone iron and that should help immediatly. Then pot as others have said in ericaseous compost, or continue with frequent feeding with the sequestrone.

If this is not the case could it be that it gets the early morning sun? Camelias dont really like an early sun,as if there has been an overnight frost the buds can get damaged. If this is the case then move it to a different area.

SailorSam

When i saw the name of the thread, and after the antics of Sarah Ferguson yesterday, i thought what has Prince Charles wife been up to now.
Oh no that's Camilla isn't it.

Kay_Peel

It's been a bad year for Camellias. In my own garden, some Camellia shrubs didn't perform at all, some produced promising flower buds that never opened and some flowered but the flowers dropped quickly. They are losing their leaves too. The one in a sheltered pot did alright.

Am I worried? No.

I know that this happens after extremes of temperature and biting winds in the winter and spring.

I suspect that you've lost your flowers for this year because of the harsh winter, biting winds and dry spells - but that doesn't mean that your shrub is sick. It's quite normal for a proporotion of the leaves to turn yellow and drop, too. They will be replaced by a new set of leaves - it's just the shrub renewing itself.

I've found that the best thing to do to ensure a good flower from a Camellia (or Rhododendron) is to water it during dry spells because next year's flower buds form over the summer and swell right up to October before hibernating. Don't overfeed it because you will do more harm than good. I give each one a washing-up bowl full of water every couple of weeks (when I remember!) and leave it at that.

If we get another winter like 2009 followed by a dry spring - then prepare yourself for a poor performance from Camellias. It's just the way they are, in my experience.

:beer: