Sorry - I posted this response to someone else's post. Here it is again. Thank you for your quick responses. The trees were here and appeared to be mature, or nearly so, when I moved here 8 yrs ago, 2002, (south central PA). They were probably planted by landscapers when the house was built in 1998; I do not have any information on their species, origins, age, planting or soil conditions or care from 1998 to 2002. As I mentioned, they appeared to be in good health until the past couple of years. The winters here are cold and snowy/icy - last winter we had epic snow and the winter before was nearly all ice storms; the summers are sometimes dry sometimes wet sometimes both, typically hot and humid; this summer was quite dry for a while then wet. The trees are on a slope along with other ornamental shrubs and ground cover, and they get a lot of sun. There is no mulching around their trunks. I have done nothing to them except keep them watered during draught times, and this spring some large dead branches were removed. It is night time right now, so I could take some pictures during the day and also look more carefully at the leaves and areas you mentioned. Again thanks.

Maria, the formula we use to keep our cut flowers healthy is based on doing a gallon at a time, but you can figure it out into maybe a quart or pint to make up and keep in a sealed jar. For a gallon of flower food, use 2 Table spoons of white sugar, 2 table spoons of white vinegar, and 1 tsp of liquid bleach like cholox. We mix it is hot tap water. The amount of white vinegar can be varied according to how acid or alkaline your water is. I seldom use it because our water is soft, and one of my customers had trouble with it attraacting fruit flies! But if you have hard water it will make it much easier for you stem to absorb it. The bleach will keep the water from fermenting with the sugar in it. speaking of fruit, reminds me of another florist trick. Did you know the ethelyene given off by fruit will abort flowers in a bulb, and turn fresh flowers old real quick? SO NEVER STORE YoUR BULBS IN A FRIG WITH FRUIT OR VEGETABLES, AND NEVER set them by a fruit bowl on the table! Be careful even of eating apples and leaving a core in the waste where you work. Hope these tricks help your babies to better health!

All of my camellias have bloomed early. I have a white powderpuff that often doesn't bloom because the flowers come out in late January and are usually hit with a frost or freeze. It is now in full bloom and has been for a week or so. My purple firespikes are now starting to bloom; this is about a month or two early for them. My Cape Honeysuckle usually has a few blooms now if it there hasn't been a freeze. It has been in full bloom for about six weeks now. Also, my porterweeds are still flowering. This is very late for them. They decline quickly in cool weather and shut down entirely with a freeze. Now they are still in full bloom mode. Very unusual weather, but it is going to change soon.

Thanks it froze and didn't show up after posting so I figured it didn't work now I can't erase it