Anyone who's ever gardened elsewhere will tell you that. It's not like back East . . . it's not like England . . . it's not even like Florida". Pat continues, "Even people who have never gardened anywhere else soon realize how different Southern California gardening is; all you need to do is flip through any book on basic gardening to realize that much of its advice just doesn't apply here."
No. One of the most common mistakes of camellia culture is incorrect fertilization. First, camellias are light feeders, needing only modest amounts of nutrition during the year. The fertilizer used should be an acid forming type, rather than a standard all-purpose blend used in most other parts of a garden. Organic cottonseed meal is perfect for feeding camellias and is usually the primary ingredient in most fertilizers labeled for azalea and camellias. However, fertilizer applied now will have a strong likelihood of doing more harm than good and may shock the plant, causing the flower buds to fall off before they open. Instead, wait until the plant has finished flowering, usually about March or April and give it a light feeding at that time. Regardless of what the label on the fertilizer package says, never dig in the product or cultivate under a camellia. This will damage the tender surface roots and is another cause of bud drop and other problems.
