Next Meeting

ALL SCHEDULED IN-PERSON MONTHLY MEETINGS SUBJECT TO CANCELLATION DUE TO COVID-19.

SOCIALLY DISTANT MEETING VENUES AND VIRTUAL MEETINGS ARE PLANNED...SEE CALENDAR.

Topic: 1. Fall Online Bloom Display Show Introduction and Member’s Bloom Submission Guide

2. What's Bugging You - Camellia Diseases and Pests

Speaker: 1. Diane Clark, Show Chair

2. Marty Clark
Where: Virtual by ZOOM, joining details to follow by email to members

Date: October 20
Time: 7:00 P.M.

Link to ACS "Insects and Diseases"

Events

Club members, watch your email for TCC November Online Bloom Display Show, Oct. 20 to Nov. 30, and other news.

Seasonal Comments:

A number of members and guests have asked where they can purchase camellias, particularly since TCC is not having a Fall 2020 plant sale. Local providers, in no particular order:

Transplanted Gardens, Wilmington

Pender Pines Nursery, Hampstead

Johnson's Nursery, Willard

Lowes Home Improvement

Home Depot

This is a season with possible heavy rain and wind from tropical systems. If potted outdoor plants get saturated by heavy rain, monitor soil and do not add more water until soil moisture has returned to a moderate level. For in ground outdoor camellias, maintain drainage for plants that may be in low lying areas or otherwise subject to excess water accumulation from rainfall.

In addition to usual storm precautions, protect yourself in the garden by avoiding broken overhead limbs, power lines, trip hazards, and other debris when re-entering the garden after a storm.

In contrast, Fall can also be a time of prolonged dryness with wind and cool weather, so watering may be needed. Some inland or elevated locations may need to watch for early frost, which may injure new plantings or open blooms.

Other Local Events

Art & The Bloom 2021

New Hanover Garden Club

January 7-10, 2021

See Facebook Announcement

Garden News

October Camellia Care

Check airlayers. They can usually be taken off of the mother plant by now. Put them in small pots with an appropriate potting or container growing medium (no fertilizer) and leave them in pots until spring.

Fertilization is not needed, but you can fertilize your landscape plants, if desired for root health, with a product labeled as 0-0-22.

Now is a good time to plant new camellias. Depending on your soil, you may want to include a soil amendment, e.g., compost or a 'tree and shrub' commercial product at 50 %.

Gibbing, i.e. treating blooms with gibberellic acid, may be done to enhance bloom size and advance blooming time . (Search gibberellic acid and camellias, or see ACS site.) DO NOT gib more than 4 or 5 bloom buds per established plant at a time. Repeat every other week to provide consistent blooming, e.g., for camellia shows or holiday use. Gibberellic acid is available on line or to members by sending a request to TCC email.

Another way to increase bloom size and limit damage from adjacent blooms is to debud if blooms are overcrowded, leaving 1 bud on the terminal end of a branch.

If you want to root hardened growth cuttings, September through November is the best time to do it.

It's now too late to prune most cultivars without cutting off bloom buds for the coming season.

Pruning to reduce excess density or to limit size will not harm the plant.