Camellia petal blight

akirlu remarked that the problem with camellias is that the flowers are so ugly as they die. Ah, but they don't necessarily have to be, I replied. The problem is camellia petal blight, which turns them that horrible brown, also causing them to die early. Uninfected flowers flowers will drop to the ground in a lovely shower of pretty petals. Unfortunately, it's rare to see an uninfected bush, at least around here.

For a couple of springs I have valiantly collected every blossom on my camellia that showed signs of browning. My bush did look much better, but I keep failing at the true control: raking out all of the accumulated debris under the bush and replacing with a thick layer of fresh mulch. This spring, I have totally failed at even the blossom collection. Maybe this will be the summer I replace the mulch instead. Stay tuned for exciting updates!