Last spring, my neighbour knocked on the garden gate looking worried. Her prized Camellia japonica ‘Adolphe Audusson’—a deep red treasure she’d planted two years earlier—was turning yellow. Not dramatically, but in that telltale way between the veins while the veins themselves stayed green. I walked over, looked at the plant, and asked one question: “What’s … Read more
Years ago, I nearly lost a prized ‘Donation’ camellia — a stunning Williamsii hybrid I’d waited three years to bloom — because the soil pH was completely wrong. The leaves turned yellow. Growth stalled. She sulked in that border for two whole seasons before I figured out what was happening. That experience taught me everything … Read more
Last spring, I stood in my backyard staring at a row of struggling camellias and felt genuinely baffled. I’ve been growing camellias for over twenty years. My yard in Zone 8b is practically a camellia museum. Yet three of my…
