Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
rbfactor

My camellia buds never open!

rbfactor
18 years ago

Every year my camellia puts out a bunch of buds but they never open. Is there anything I can do?

Thanks!

Roy

Comments (4)

  • forrestal
    18 years ago

    Roy fortunately this is rare, but occasionally a camellia plant will do this. I have about 200 camellias, but only one of them -- a large old 'Candidissima' -- invariably produces hundreds of buds and not a single flower. I have cussed it many times. Not necessarily a symptom of disease (the plant may be otherwise healthy) but chronic bud drop has a long list of potential causes -- too much/little water, too much/little sunlight, too much/little heat in summer (or cold in winter) etc. If anyone could figure it out they would win a medal in the camellia world.

    My own opinion is that there are some varieties which are not suited for particular climates and thus do not open properly (or at all). For instance, some varieties need more cold weather to open. You see that in Hawaii for instance, and in south Florida, where the weather is too mild to permit many formal doubles to open but other bloom forms open fine. (And they can grow Reticulatas outside.) Many people don't realize that camellias do need a certain amount of cold weather, and we have had very mild winters lately -- it barely reached freezing once this year.

    In the case of my 'Candidissima' it is about a 50 year old plant that is too large to move, but it is a rare old variety, so I plan to make some airlayers to see if I can get it to bloom in other places on the property. And after taking the airlayers off, I plan to cut it down and graft something else more dependable on the large stump. That is one solution to bud drop!

    If your plant is small enough, I would suggest next autumn digging it up and moving it to another location to see if you can get it to bloom. I have had some success with that. Otherwise graft something else on it that will bloom more dependably in your climate. And meanwhile try some other varieties that won't disappoint.

    This is probably more information that you wanted, but I just so happened to have seen that dadgum old 'Candidissima' again today and threatened it with a chainsaw. But I doubt it was listening. Good luck!

    Forrest

  • Bela Sethi
    8 years ago

    I have two large crepe myrtles

    and I plan to put a sasanqua under there

    I am in zone 8 a

    will that be too much shade ?

    they will

    loose leaves in November

    any suggestions

    the crepes are on the west side

    thanks

  • luis_pr
    8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    I placed one on the east side of a large Crape Myrtle but the problem I am starting to notice is that the Crape Murtle continued to grow and is now giving it a lot of shadow (the camellia remains a good bloomer but still I am starting to get concerned). The camellia is in bright full shade so so far I am not moving it.

  • Bela Sethi
    8 years ago

    I think I will go and put them in and see how they do !

Sponsored
Preferred General Contracting, Inc.
Average rating: 4.7 out of 5 stars9 Reviews
Fairfax County's Specialized, Comprehensive Renovations Firm
More Discussions