Julie, let me tell you the symptoms - the underside of the leaves turned black although there was white & black on top. We used NEEM but you have to be sure to spray the entire plant & both sides of the leaves. Neem is a natural alternative to synthetic pesticides & that is why I chose it. We sprayed it twice after we noticed the problem.
Congratulations, Sherrie! Your patience (and persistance) has been rewarded. Sadly, I cannot grow camellias at the beach. My soil is much to alkaline for them.
Sherrie, two types of camellias are seen most often in Florida, the sasanquas and the japonicas. Sasanquas generally do better in Central Florida because they are earlier bloomers and japonicas can often get blasted by heat for us. I'm not enough of a camellia expert to tell from your picture which type you have. Comparatively speaking, japonicas tend to have larger leaves and flowers. If you know the cultivar name of your plant, you could look it up that way. There's a very good overview
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http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ep002