THE COASTAL GARDENER:

Japanese camellias are the queen of winter gardens in Orange County, so the next two or three months is when we all love to drool over them. Their glossy, evergreen leaves, large variety of sizes and shapes, and relative ease of care have made them a focus in many local gardens. It is the common Japanese camellia varieties, with their large, multi-petal flowers, that will dominate much of our flower scene for the next three or four months.

As most any gardener who has one knows, a mature, well established camellia in a garden is a surprisingly low maintenance and durable plant, often surviving with almost complete neglect. I can point out some large camellias on the old El Toro Marine Base that haven’t been watered or fertilized in nearly seven years. They’re fine.

In fact, my experience has led me to conclude that if you are struggling to grow healthy camellias it’s more likely because of something you shouldn’t be doing, not something you should be doing. I’ll explain.

Foremost, camellias are surface rooting plants. No, their roots aren’t large and buttress like a ficus. So you won’t see the roots. But it is these small, delicate feeder roots, all in the top two or three inches of soil, that do almost all the work for the plant. Don’t disturb these roots.

If you welcome this first bit of knowledge, many of a camellia’s other cultural needs will make sense to you. Most notably, since the tiny feeder roots of a camellia are just beneath the soil surface, never cultivate beneath a plant; not to dig in fertilizers, not to plant annual flowers and especially not to just to make the soil look pretty. I’m still dumbfounded; why do gardeners still think scratching the surface of their garden soil is a good idea?

Since we mentioned fertilizers, this is another area where you may be doing something that you shouldn’t be doing. Japanese camellias set their flower buds along their stems and the process begins about Labor Day, a bit earlier for a few varieties and a bit later for others, but early September is a good benchmark. Once these buds are set, a camellia stops growing leaves, stems and roots — completely.

You see, a camellia isn’t like most of your plants, which grow and bloom simultaneously. Camellias spend half their year producing foliage, stems and roots, from about April until September. Then they switch modes: During the other half of the year, from about September until April, they produce buds and beautiful flowers.

The trouble is that when fertilizer is present, principally nitrogen, at any point during the flower portion of the year, the camellia doesn’t know how to deal with it. Unfortunately, the result of this misapplied fertilizer is to see your prized camellia buds on the ground, unopened. What a tragedy!

Finally, as most of you who grow camellias already know, these are acid-loving plants. This means they need to be maintained in soil with a low pH. For most you, the soil pH outside your window is about 7.0 or 7.5. Camellias want a pH of 5.0 to 6.5. On countless visits to gardens I see camellias with pale foliage and stunted or little new growth. Camellias should have deep, dark green leaves, not pale leaves. These plants don’t need more fertilizer. Fertilizing isn’t the problem. The true problem is that the soil is not acidic enough. I wish I could shout to each of these gardeners with pale, stunted camellias “Don’t keep feeding your plant, that’s not the problem. In fact, that may be causing more problems. Lower the soil pH — make the soil more acid — and your camellia will turn dark green and start growing again!”

What’s the best way to lower soil pH? Not necessarily with fertilizer, although when you do feed you should use only organic cottonseed meal or a similar acid-forming product. The best way to get your soil pH down is to consistently maintain a surface mulch with an acid planting mix. These mulches are usually labeled Azalea-Camellia Planting Mix on the bag. Just keep a nice two- to four-inch layer of this over the roots of the plant; remembering not to cultivate. In a while, your camellia will be deep green and growing again.

To learn more about camellias, different varieties, their care and their culture attend a free meeting of The Orange County Camellia Society or attend its big Camellia Show this Saturday and Sunday. Find out more at www.occamellias.org.

ASK RON

Question: I want to plant a yellow rose. There are dozens to choose from, and everyone has a different opinion of which one is the best. I promise, you’ll be the final word. Whatever you suggest, I’m doin’ it!

Angie

Costa Mesa

Answer: Wow, what power; and what responsibility you have granted me. I dare not provide a flip answer. Oh yes, definitely I suggest a relatively new variety called ‘Julia Child.’ It has everything; stunning, well-formed flowers that open slowly, a strong fragrance, and a nice, well-branched habit and great disease resistance. Yes, that’s the one.

ASK RON your toughest gardening questions, and the expert nursery staff at Roger’s Gardens will come up with an answer. Please include your name, phone number and city, and limit queries to 30 words or fewer. E-mail [email protected], or write to Plant Talk at Roger’s Gardens, 2301 San Joaquin Hills Road, Corona del Mar, CA 92625.

RON VANDERHOFF is the Nursery Manager at Roger’s Gardens in Corona del Mar.