I agree, it looks normal. On the Antiques forum, someone asked about their 'Crepuscule' and I wrote a post about how my 'Jaune Desprez' grew last year from a similar-looking band. Generally, when you receive an own-root band, the growth it has is what you'd see on the pruned-off-for-cuttings part of a mature plant -- so the thinner outer stems. These "baby canes" will feed the plant, and when the roots have enough reserves, a stouter cane will emerge that's more typical of "from the ground" substance. You may find (as I have, with my bands from last year) that the original growth it had when you received it will gradually fade away as the rose continues to push thick new canes. For many of mine, I simply pruned them off this year if I felt there were enough new shoots coming from the base -- they were flopping on the ground by now, anyway. :-) ~Christopher Here is a link that might be useful: What is up with this Crepuscule I received?

I am not sure how much water they are getting but it sounds like not enough. You said they are watered 3 times a week; 10 minutes of sprinkler watering. Any idea how this translates to gallons per watering? If there is no "lack of water" problem with the soil as you suggest, I think you need to get an appropriate diagnosis from your Agriculture Extension Service or universities rather than via the Internet. There is nasty fungal infection making the rounds in California the last few years called Phytophera Ramorum and I hope that is not what the trees have. You may remember about 5 years ago when the government issued a recall of all camellias shipped from California to other states in order to prevent/minimize the spread of the disease. I am not an expert on this disease but someone in CA should be able to assist since a correct diagnosis is important. The little information that I remember indicated that the disease sometimes produced leaf spots that, in some camellia varieties, were not visible unless you viewed the leaf from below. I did not see any spots on your photos but these were mostly photos of the top part of the leaves. I hope you do not have any spots on the underside of the leaves. If you send leaf samples for analysis, I would include a few fallen leaves, some of the affected ones and healthy looking ones. If the trees are of the same variety, send the samples in a single bag. Otherwise, separate the samples by variety as camellias respond differently to this organism. In the meantime, apply good sanitation techniques and water well. Throw any fallen diseased leaves in the trash. Do the same with any other plant debris. Replace the mulch with new mulch. Maintain good airflow around the plants. Do not overwater. Water the soil only and do it early in the mornings. Water again (1-2 gallons) when a finger inserted to a depth of 4" feels dry (or almost dry). Clean with 1 part bleach 9 parts water solution any pruners used on these three trees. Post again if there are any new developments, Luis

I think if you post on the discussions section, you will get a better response. I think your second one is also Golden Tiara. People who know much more than I do can help...move the post over there and see.

You can't get a good appraisal from just pictures. And be aware that there are 2 kinds of appraisals...one for what the piece is "worth" and another for what you could sell it for, quickly....and usually one is about twice the other. a good appraiser will cost you something, and for your purposes may not be worth the cost. Say an appraiser comes to your house....charges you say $300, says the piece is worth $6,000 but for quick sale only about $3,500....and you do manage to sell it on Craig's List for $1500....is that worth it....net $1200 selling a piece that would be worth $6,000 in the proper venue?