Camellia trees life cycle?

Question

I have several old pink and one red camellia tree in my yard. I am not familiar with them, and we have only been in the house a year, so have seen how they behave throughout the seasons. At the moment it is winter, however the pink ones are blooming really well. They did not bloom like this last year when we first bought the place. On the other hand the red one (which seems to be a different variety) which bloomed beautifully last year has had a few flowers over the last 6 weeks, but a lot less than last year. I am disappointed as it was a real showpiece. Will it bloom more toward spring? We have been in a drought for the last few years and got loads of rain in the last 6 months. Could this have something to do with it?

Answer 1

Camelias are shade loving and don't like too much direct sun.  Obviously you have had no say in where the plants are but dappled sun in mid-summer is best, so as the leaves don't burn.  They flower during winter when most other plants are not in bloom.  They send up green shoots in spring.  Camelias also respond well to pruning when the plants get too big, and can rejeuvenate and older bush. Just Cut limbs and branches off and the plant will regenerate by sending more shoots out of the old wood. Do this early in spring to give the plant a chance to make shoots before winter.   It is quite interesting to watch the new shoots develop.  The plant won't flower too much after a severe pruning.  They like quite reasonable amounts of water in summer but bigger plants can withstand periods of dry.  So I wouldn't worry too much about the lack of flowers, next year will probably find them producing more flowers.  Feed them with an all-purpose granular food in spring.

Answer 2

Camellias generally bloom during autumn and winter. Like roses they need to be pruned every year after flowering to produce good blooms next season.

Answer 3

usually with camellias they flower twice a year autumn and spring. They also usually have a spring and autumn flush(growth) so you could hit them with camellia and azalea food or some acidic compound eg lime. As camellias usually like a soil of around 4.5 ph. they are also shade lovers.

hope this helps

also try and give similar amounts of water to help prevent water loging when it does rain heavily