Is my beloved camellia a goner?

I have a camellia that has bloomed very well for 20 years, but it is thinning out this spring, losing leaves and developing bare branches. I fertilized it but it hasn’t made a difference. It had developed blight on the blossoms. Should I just remove it?

Camellia are wonderful plants, but they do develop problems sometimes as they age. Yours is under the drip line of the house, an unfortunate location. I would remove it. While you were mulching it, you noticed fresh sprouts coming up from the roots, a nice farewell gift. These can be dug out and grown into separate plants and replanted. They may have to be potted up for a year or so before you want to put them out in the landscape. Remember to keep them in the shade. They will be identical to the mother plant and healthy.

Like all camellias, they will want a shady spot, with well drained, amended soil and mulch on the surface.

I am finding fresh broken branches on the ground. Are squirrels chewing them off?

No, this time the rodents are not at fault. This time the damage was cause by a beetle called the twig girdler. Present across much of the country, these beetles lay their eggs near the tip of the branch and then cut the branch with beaver-like skill until it is almost completely severed. It hangs there until a strong wind comes along and snaps it off. The beetle prefers that happens in late summer when her larvae have matured … then they pupate in the soil and the next generation begins. If you look very closely with a hand lens, you can find the hole where her eggs are laid.

Losing a branch tip here and there does no significant damage to the tree. It’s just part of the balance of nature. You can thwart her plans by scooping them up and putting them with your yard waste.

I would like to plant a bottlebrush tree. Can you tell me about them?

Bottlebrush trees do very well here as long as you meet their very specific needs. They are drought-tolerant once they are established, so they should never be planted under the drip line of your house. If we get one inch of rain, plants in the drip line get 10 inches of rain with the runoff from the roof — not a good place for a drought-tolerant plant.

They also need at least 6 hours of direct sunlight a day. They will grow without that sunlight level, but they will not flower well.

You can grow the standard-sized bottlebrush, which will reach 15 feet, or the dwarf “Little John” or “Better John,” which reach 3-4 feet and spread out as much as 5 feet. In any case, be sure to place in a well-drained site since poor drainage is a key reason for plant failure.

They don’t have many pests and can be pruned to shape after flowering, usually in late summer. Take care to avoid high-nitrogen fertilizer,s which will stimulate growth and overflowering.

These plants are a favorite of hummingbirds and birds for their nectar. The flowers are useful in cuttings.

A friend gave me some sticks cut from her plumerias. What do I do with them?

Plumeria are easy to root and easy to grow. Dip those sticks in some rooting hormone (available at most any nursery) and plant them in a pot of moist potting soil. Place the pot in the shade and give it a few weeks and the roots will anchor those bare sticks. The leaves will sprout out of the tip of the sticks and the plant will begin to grow. Gradually move it into the sunlight and stabilize it either in the ground or a pot. I keep mine in a pot because they are not cold hardy. Fertilize it with a high-phosphorus fertilizer. Make sure it is in a well drained site.

Mites, scale, mealy bugs and white flies may attack it. Horticultural oils and soaps can take care of them if the temperatures are not too high.

When the temperatures drop in the fall, mine come indoors after a quick spray of horticultural oil. They have dropped their leaves by then. They sit in a closet or a bathroom, unwatered, for the months of December through February and are beginning to sprout green again in early March,a cue that they are ready to move outdoors.

Plumerias are the fragrant flowers of leis you are greeted with in Hawaii.

Becky Wern is a Master Gardener with the Duval County Extension Service and the University of Florida/IFAS. For gardening questions, call the Duval County Extension Office at (904) 255-7450 from 9 a.m. to noon and 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. and ask for a Master Gardener.