Mid-Atlantic Gardening: Camellia Growing, Propagating and Enjoying, 1 by Gitagal

Gitagal wrote:
This shows the shrub in the early summer, when it usually blooms.

As you can see the bare branches throughout--this is because the affected leaves have now fallen off-leaving the stems bare.
The new growths seem OK. It is the previous year's growths that always got this crud and then fell off...

Eventually--this affected the entire appearance of the shrub--it got all lanky and bare-looking.
That is when I cut it back.