Q: I planted a camellia sprout from my mother’s yard in Savannah and it has grown like crazy. I want to root cuttings to give to my daughters but they don’t root. Is there something I could do better?

A: I’ve been successful “air layering” a camellia in my back yard. Air layering involves wounding a pencil-sized stem, applying rooting hormone, then wrapping the wound in damp sphagnum peat moss to stimulate roots to grow. I found clear instructions at AIR LAYERING FOR DIFFICULT-TO-ROOT PLANTS. My preference is to wrap the moss with aluminum foil after the plastic wrap.