Hello, hello8. Camellias, if given proper care, can live way past your great grand children. There are many examples of centuries-old camellias in Europe and the Far East (say, the 17th century and before); obviously, these are well cared for specimens.
Without knowing why your plants died, I cannot say that planting another camellia is a bad idea. Have you checked if there is a lack of moisture or too much moisture in that section? Too much or too little water could have hurt the plants; too much water could have caused root rot. Camellia canker & dieback is another possibility (it is a fungal infection) but I have not heard much about this problem in California. Have you done a soil test recently? There could have been insects behind this problem too. Some pests will drill holes on trees, deposit eggs and the larvae will kill the trees (or at least the part above where the eggs were deposited).
Perhaps an American Camellia Society Club in California can give you more possibilities on what happened. Check the link below.
Luis |
Here is a link that might be useful: Camellia Clubs in California
