Camellia

Q:  I have had a camellia in a pot for the last 3 years and had a lovely flower display this year, however, the buds look brown and are still tightly closed.  Advice please.

A: This means that the plant dried out sometime last summer which doesn’t allow the bud to develop the next spring, i.e. now, because the stem is too narrow for the sap to push the bud to open.  I would suggest you possibly repot the Camellia into a larger pot using ericaceous compost and try not to allow it to dry out this summer, particularly between June and September when its forming next year’s buds.