Yellow leaves

Dear Anne, I am a very new gardener. The leaves of my angel's trumpetsand iceberg roses are turning yellow and my camelias are not blooming. Please help! Kelly

Anne's Response:

I am going to assume that all of these plants are growing outdoors, probably in North Carolina. The yellow leaves at this time of year are expected although by February I would not expect the Angel's Trumpet to have any leaves. It should have been killed to the ground by cold weather. If the plant was mulched well it should start putting up new growth by May. The Iceberg roses may still have a few leaves if they were in a protected spot but again I would expect them to have defoliated by now. Roses get pruned back in late February. Camellia japonicas bloom in March most years although many have bloomed early this year with our mild winter.