Too much sunlight and alkaline soil( likely in Dallas area) would cause the problem.

You need to provide the proper environment for camellia to grow. They need very early morning sun for less than 3 hours or filtered light. You can plant it at north side of your house. Use lots of organic soil conditioners and potting soil at the root zone area. If the soil is very poor of old cotton field, you can grow it in a raised bed. Use only camellia fertilizer fortified with chelated iorn solution. Then it will turn into lush green.

at12bian, I agree too. I live near DFW Airport and soil acidifiers are something one has to constantly apply in most areas of the Metroplex; that includes applying them during the winter months. To see which of both issues is a problem or if both are, start with the problem that is easier to detect/fix: the soil Ph Level.

Check your soil Ph with those cheap measuring PH tools sold locally in nurseries or the big chains. They are not as accurate as a lab test but they should be "close enough". If it reads 7 or higher, add some type of acidifier that will lower your Ph Level. Re-check in 1-2 weeks (this is n-o-t a fast process) and re-apply as necessary.

During this time of the year, I like using a product called 'Green Light Iron and Soil Acidifier' because it contains no nitrogen (its NPK Ratio is basically 0-0-0) and will not trigger a growth spurt in my camellias/gardenias and azaleas. I bought mine several years ago, probably at Lowe's or Calloway's/Redenta's.

After the Ph Level goes down to a level around 6 or less, see how lush the leaves look. If they still appear to be yellowed out then you know that sun light is now the issue. To correct that, you could move the plant to a shadier location. That is the faster solution but is more disruptive.... although this is the best time of the year for moving plants around. I have also seen some people place a special mesh above plants to reduce the amount of sunlight that hits the plant; people in Louisiana did that when their azaleas/camellias/gardenias lost their cover. You could use that approach until your oak tree grows and shades the area where the camellia is planted. A man-made structure of some type could also be an alternative to produce the shade needed here.

I have some camellias planted under crape myrtles and a maple tree in such a way that they will provide shade starting around 10-11am in the summer; the rest are on a north facing wall where they are almost always shaded but the area has a lot of indirect very bright light.

All plants face north and the bad weather in the last 4 years has not been an issue. The cold is not an issue here but freezing rain and hail are. They will affect your plant a bit more more since it has no protection on all four sides. I usually have no advance warning of hail so freezing rain is what I try to protect the plants from instead.

My buds were not affected by the bad weather. However, I have noticed that last year, some of my sasanquas bloomed by mid-November and this year.... well, I am still waiiiiiiitiiiiiiiing...

Luis

Thank You so much for all that information. For the ice pellets we got I did end up putting a plastic bag over the plant, so far the buds have not come off, so keeping my fingers crossed. I think I may try that sun shade idea as well as trying to adjust the ph of soil. vs moving the plant. I have 2 gardenia's next to the camellia and they are not looking so hot either again in need of the same soil and light. Luis I have to ask but how many times a year are you adjusting the soil, just want to know what to expect. Thanks again for all the info!!! Hoping for green leaves, and a bloom.

Alicia

Throughout the rest of the year, I maintain 2-3" of pine straw mulch (which is acidic), apply organic compost (once in Spring) and add some Maxicrop Liquid Seaweed For Acid Loving Plants (the blue bottle versus the usual green bottle) 2-3 times a year.

As a result, I rarely may get an incident of iron chlorosis with camellias (once in the last 3 years). Maybe all that has helped or maybe it is because camellias naturally tolerate s-o-m-e alkalinity.

The hydrangeas and gardenias tend to be more problematic; I may have to apply an Iron Acidifier 1-2 times a year for those. But I do not do it pro-actively. Only when the leaves show the typical yellowing symptoms.

Merry Christmas!

My normally December-flowering sasanquas finally bloomed two weeks ago. That is what happens when we get some cold spells: the plant shuts down and postpones bloomage until later. Do not be surprised if it happens to you too sometimes. Luis