I have a young Stuartia Psudo-camillia about 6' tall. There are no flower buds this year and I'm guessing that the tree is too young. Some of the leaves are starting to get a red tinge on the edges. Is this something to be concerned with? Also when can I expect to see flowers from this tree? Thank you for any suggestions. Joe
Needs to be kept moist but also requires good drainage. If fall is coming early may have a soil moisture problem or perhaps a nutritional problem. Flowering of seedlings varies, might bloom next year or not until double its current height.
Thank you for the quick reply. I thought I should post a pic or two to show you what I mean. I really want this tree to be healthy. Thank you for any help. Joe
It's normal for the new growth to be reddish before turning green, and a fine red edge to the leaves also. Not sure what would cause the spots.
Looks pretty typical - except the leaf structure seems wrong for S. pseudocamellia. You probably ended up with another species by mistake. Some stock sold are hybrids between S. pseudocamellia and S. monadelpha - perhaps you were supplied with one of those, the seed parent from which the batch was raised being an S. pseudocamellia that was crossing with an S. monadelpha planted nearby. Otherwise your picture reminds me of S. sinensis. This is actually more choice and rare than S. pseudocamellia so it is not necessarily a setback if you got that one instead! You could clip a shoot and look at the stewartias in the David C. Lam garden to see which it was most like. At one spot near the west entrance to the pedestrian tunnel that goes under Marine Drive they have three similar species conveniently planted near one another.
Ron B. Thank you for the great information. I am relieved that the tree looks healthy. I just searched S. monadelpha and you are right, my tree looks more like that than the pseudocamellia. Joe
If soil testing is available to you - down here I would approach the Cooperative Extension Service - you should think about having yours tested to see if some fertilizing of your tree may be in order. The same source is where I would also try and find out about the spotting of the leaves, if I became concerned.
