Mid-Atlantic Gardening: Camellia Growing, Propagating and Enjoying, 0 by ibartoo

ibartoo wrote:
Gita, if you have checked the undersides of the leaves and there is no white "cottony" look to them, then it is most likely caused by a virus.
Tea Scale like the one in the picture can be controlled with an insecticidal spray. ( I like safer by bayer). When the ambient temps are below 70, you can also use something called Volck oil spray. The oil spray will control the insects that cause the scale. I don't like to work with Volck.

The other possibility is the virus and there is really no control that is reliable other than cutting it back and letting it re-grow. You can try giving it magnesium, ( epsom salts ) 2 TBSP/gallon along the drip like of the plant. That will green the leaves up, but it won't help the splotching. The virus is not contagious to other plants, but it will be present in any sport or cutting from that plant.

The last possibility is that all evergreens must replace their leaves. They don't do this all at once, so some of the leaves begin turning yellow and falling off while others seem unaffected. This is just it's natural course. I have gardenias that do this annually.

As for rooting: August is the best time of year, but they can be rooted now as well. What I like to do is set up a forsythe pot and put it in my greenhouse for the winter. I stick the cuttings and keep the water in the center pot and they will survive ( very slowly rooting) until spring when they can be put outside.
I am planning to take some cuttings today, so I will try to show you in pictures what I do.
One other thing you can do to root them this time of year is to take hardwood cuttings after the plant goes dormant for the winter. If there aren't any buds set for next year's growth, you won't have to worry about losing your flowers.

I hope all this is helpful.
I agree with Mike. I have had several that I have had to cut back like that. In your picture with all of the blooms, it looks as though there were so many buds, it weighed the branches down.
Have a great day,
Linda