Your camellia is newly planted and is, of course, going through the process of establishing itself--developing its root system, among other things. It is not uncommon for newly planted camellias to look wretched. The plant is also getting ready to begin its growth cycle, which explains the yellowing leaves. They are getting ready to fall off the plant and be replaced with new leaves. A newly planted camellia requires time--a year, sometimes several years, to establish itself. Several years may pass before the plant begins to bloom reliably. What you need to do is leave the camellia alone, except for keeping it well-watered, while the plant establishes itself. If you keep obsessing over your precious camellia and doing all kinds of things to it, you are going to kill it. While your attentions to the plant are, no doubt, well-intentioned, they are misguided. The excessive attention will do the plant in. At that point, I say let it rest in peace and be free from your smother love.

Judy, the foam protects them from any chemical you might use. If your hydrangea is the size you describe, you can spray away the foam with water, or take a paper towel, wipe them off and squash. You're going to find a little green to yellow-green soft nymph inside the foam. The nymph is sucking sap, causing the distortion. And when you're done with your hydrangea, you can come and do my lavender - they are covered this year, along with the hardy fuchsias :)

I read this thread and kind of marvel. The effort people expend to grow plants in a hostile climate. I bought a $5 sago 40 years ago when I bought my house, it is over six feet tall The male flower is (like) two feet long, every year for at least the past 15 years. A flush consists of at least two dozen fronds , (or leaves) if you prefer. I have successfully raised and given away probably three dozen pups broken off from the parent plant. Most survive, maybe 80% but some don't. It gets cold here, we are at 1700 ft. elevation and freezes some years but I have never had a sago show damage from frost. Plumaria, that's another crap shoot, but the sagos do very well here. I have managed to keep twenty pups that are well established and in the ground. In other words, this climate is very agreeable for sagos and they are common all around here, seems like everybody has at least one? I'm not rubbing your nose in it here; I salute the effort to grow (what is almost a tropical), in a climate which is not suitable. Good luck. LB PS no coconut palms here, lots of King Palms but by far the most popular and numerous palm in this area is the Queen.

The white stuff are whiteflies and their eggs, we have an infestation problem with them in South Florida. Whiteflies are from the tropics and can carry a disease called tomato yellow leaf curl virus. Leafhoppers also carries it. Once your plant is infected with leaf curl virus, the plant will almost stop growing and not produce anything, there is no cure. I'm not saying whiteflies definitely carry the virus, they may not, but it is something I've very wary of. I was not able to grow tomatoes for the most of 2015 because of them. Whiteflies like warm temperature so there are much less of them during the cooler months. They prefer shade, warmth, and protection from wind. They are attracted to nightshade plants, the virus infect nightshade plants such as tomato, pepper, goji, potato, basil. But they are attracted to a wider variety of plants while not infecting them, like the "bidens" plants (common lawn "weed"), brassica crops, banana and other type of leaves that may provide good shades. This season growing tomatoes in spring with the cooler temperature I have less problem with them. Also with mulching and keeping the plants healthy reduces my pests issues. I notice whiteflies like to attack the lower sick leaves, so I pruned them and maintain a good airflow in the bottom.