camellia query

[laura g]

new garden has a big camelia bush thing at the corner of the patio. beautiful round shape - well, was when we moved in; looks a bit mad right now; guess i should be topiarising it back to its regular shape but i'm a bit nervous of that!

It's about 8' wide and 8' deep and 6' high so really substantial. It's very pretty when it's not being very messy, if that makes sense. needs picking at and shaking every other day to get the old flowers off and then loads of sweeping. I spend less time on my own hair!!

heres my q: it flowers in two colours at the same time - whites and deep pinky reds. someone has told me that i should keep picking the reds off because if they are allowed to 'take over' then eventually i will only had a red flowering plant.

not knowing anything about plant genetics (i only know its a camelia because someone said so!!) am I, d'you think, being advised right???

[Alice]

Hello Laura, I'm not sure what's going on with your camelia. Could it be two bushes which have been planted close together and are now growing through each other. Picking the red flowers off won't make any difference. If you wanted rid of them you would actually have to cut out the stems.
As for the size and shape of your camelia, once it's finished flowering you can prune it back to where you want it.

[rustylady]

I really think you have two camelia bushes planted together. Yes, they are a bit messy when they shed their spent flowers, but do you really have to shake the dead flowers off and sweep up every day? I have a huge beautiful camelia and leave the dead flowers to fall onto the border and disintegrate (which they do soon enough). The worms pull them down into the soil and this is the easiest way of enriching the soil round your plants. The only other way is to rake everything up, put it on the compost heap, wait for it to rot down, and then fork it back onto the borders.

[laura g]

really is a shake and sweep cos the plant is in the middle of a patio...but i am composting the petals though so not all lost.

have got underneath the thing with a torch - hard to see whether there are two sets of roots. however while most flowers are either white or red, some have one or two thick red stripes or just a single red blob! once i have broadband going i can take pics - they are a very strange sight - or at least i think so!

[nick the grief]

Hi Laura,

Camelia's aren't really my thing but I'm sure there is one that is bicoloured. I've just tried a quick google but couldn't see anything usefull.

[TPeers]

I have a bi-colour camilia some of the flowers are white, some red but most have both colours in stripes or blotches. I have never been told to remove single colour flowers and I can't see what good it would do as the variation carries through the entire plant. Have you asked your friend for the reason behind removing the red flowers?

Terry

[laura g]

i was 'advised' that red was the dominant bloom colour and if left to its own devices would 'take over' the bush.

however i have to agree Peers - i mean, i cant tell if they are red until they flower and that seems a bit late to stop any genetic type takeover shenanigans!!!!

must admit finding flowers v boring compared to the attempted growing of veg. am now bribing the kids to shake and sweep; however have vetoed my don's method - just kick the footie into it!

[nick the grief]

Wash your mouth out Laura G!!! How ba these posibly be boring compared to a green tattie top

http://warkcom.net/live/cme2011.htm

Only joking I grow both and my mum grew camelia's in her Home made conservatory she bought them from woolies for about 50p in a 3" pot & when she died they were in dustbins!!!

[Earthbabe]

Thought I'd tag this on here rather than start a new thread.

My camellia is a single stem at the mo. Do I need to pinch out the top now the flower has died?

[Alice]

I would Earthbabe. You want to get it nice and bushy.

[nick the grief]

They usually go on there own but I would trim it off on an angle just above a leaf joint like pruning a rose if it's tough wood or as Alice says pinch it out if it's still nice & green

[Earthbabe]

Thanks Alice and Nick I'll give it a whirl. It is putting on some new growth and I've just repotted it. Is there an optimum time. Sorry for all the Qs I can't find anything in any of my books other than it likes acid soil.

[nosferato]

hey all i have black spot on mine now i have looked for hours on google to find answer i have read i need to add iron but i feel hands on advice is allot better before trying something i have read. also the water issue camellias don't like tap water and being as I'm new to this i dont have a water butt and being as were in summer now i dont see the point of getting one just yet so my question is is there a tablet or solution i can add to a watering can so the water is more Ph friendly and will remove the minerals