Question:
Why are my Camellia flowers so terrible looking this year? The centers of the flowers are all brown.Answer:
The spring blooming Camellias, Camellia Japonica, are susceptible to a fungus disease called Camellia Petal Blight.- It hasn’t been a problem the last couple of years because of the lack of rain. But with the wet, damp conditions in January and February, it returned. The white and pink varieties are more susceptible than the red ones. Also, Sasanqua Camellias are not affected due to their early blooming period rather than any resistance to the fungus.
- The brown discoloration or rot in the center is sometimes confused with the normal damage caused by the winter wind, rain, and frost. This type of environmental damage causes the edges of the flowers to turn brown and the browning progresses toward the center of the flower.
- Camellia Petal Blight starts at the center or core of the flower and works its way to the outer edges of the petals. Eventually, the fungus invades the base of the flower where a hard, black structure called a Sclerotia forms. This is the source of the problem next year. It drops off and remains dormant below the plant, until just before the flowering season, when it germinates to produce small, cup-shaped reproductive structures. These structures release spores which are dispersed in the air and land on the buds or open flowers. The Sclerotia can survive at least five years and they don’t all germinate the first year. Hence, it can skip several years in a row before returning with the right conditions. The infected flowers and/or buds may or may not fall prematurely.
- There are no chemical controls for Camellia Petal Blight, although the fungicide, Captan would work if you could find it. Good sanitation practices are then the only cultural practices available to gardeners. You need to keep the spent flowers cleaned up under the canopy of the plants but don’t place them in your compost pile as the Sclerotia will survive.
- And finally, in problem years, replace the mulch with a fresh layer of organic mulch in May.
Question:
I have a very old Clematis plant with three-inch fragrant white flowers that always start blooming in mid-February on the new growth. The leaves are six to seven inches long and are a dark green color. So I’m confused when I read that the spring blooming varieties bloom only on the old wood. What type of Clematis do I have?Answer:
I believe you have Clematis Armandii. It’s an evergreen variety and one of the earliest varieties to bloom each year in February or March.- But I’ll have to disagree with you about the type of wood it’s blooming on. February or early March is too early for the new growth on Clematis to be appearing. Temperatures are just starting to warm up from the winter months; therefore, the flowers are on the old wood as the flush of new growth has yet to occur. You’d pruned this variety after the blooming period.