This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. In the spring of my ninth year growing camellias, I walked out to my largest bed and found three established plants sitting in standing water that had been there for at least four days. Two of them were ‘Survivor’ japonicas I … Read more
This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. When I planted my first camellia back in 2003, I had no idea what I was doing. I bought a generic, unlabeled plant from a big-box nursery, stuck it in full sun with clay soil, and watched it slowly sulk for … Read more
This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. I still remember the spring I lost a twelve-year-old ‘Survivor’ camellia to what I can only describe as fertilizer enthusiasm. It was my fourth season growing camellias seriously, and I pushed nitrogen too early, right before a late frost snapped back … Read more
This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Three springs ago, I stood in front of a ‘Survivor’ camellia I had planted seven years earlier and felt genuinely defeated. The leaves had gone from that deep, waxy green I love to a sickly yellow-green with darker veins running through … Read more
This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Three years. Three springs of walking past that ‘April Kiss’ camellia in my side garden, watching it push out healthy dark green leaves while producing exactly zero flowers. I fertilized it. I watered it. I talked to it — yes, I … Read more
