If it was cold last winter it may have frozen and is now falling apart. When broad-leaved evergreen shrubs like this freeze it is a dehydration issue, if it wasn't cold there drying of the roots and top for other reasons might be the problem.

My first rule of camellia and hydrangea watering is to try to maintain the soil as evenly moist as possible, including during the winter months (I water less often though) as long as the ground does not freeze (a problem in coller zones only though). Lack of water or periods of drought/water can trigger bud drop. Overwatering can also be a problem so check the soil before watering if you are not sure. If you determine that watering is not an issue, consider the weather next.

Periods of cold spells followed by warm spells (repeat this ad nauseum) can also kill flower buds. In my area (DFW Metroplex), wild temperature swings can create bud drop if it gets REAL COLD just as the buds are getting ready to open. It does not happen very often but it has happened.

I can cover the shrubs to try and protect flower buds but if it gets too cold, covering may not help much. To protect the shrubs, I mulch them and water before a hard freeze. I do not fertilize after August but you could fertilize if the product has no/very low levels of nitrogen (N-P-K wise).

Japonicas are more susceptible to cold temp swings than sasanquas so consider sasanquas if your area has a lot of temp swings like mine can. You would think the local nurseries here would sell more sasanquas but people apparently prefer japonica blooms more so that is what is sold a lot over here. Early blooming japonicas (Pink Perfection for example) and sasanquas plus late flowering japonicas would skip the worst of these temp swings.

You can cut a bud in half to look inside. A flower bud that is brown or black can be considered dead and I throw them in the trash. Those that are part brown may open but it is hard to predict how the bloom petals will look.

Cold temps can also cause the plant to go to sleep and the buds to open later, as much as a month or two later. This is usually my problem. The unopened buds do not drop mind you; they just delay opening compared to other years.

A Debutante that I have is know to have started blooming in late December, stopped due to cold temps and started back in March one year. Pretty weird.

Japonica leaves are more sensitive to the sun and in some years, I will see some leaves turning bronze like in your picture (usually newer leaves) but this fades away on its own after a while. Insect damage like spider mites can also cause bronzing. In winter, I do not pay attention to this as I assume it is too much sun caused by shade trees that lost their leaves. In the summer, I spray roses and camellias for spider mites.

I have not seen those leaf scratches before. They may have been done a while back and the only good way of identifying the culprit would be to catch it in the act, which sometimes requires going out with a flashlight at night to see who is bugging the shrubs.

This year (this winter), we have had a high incidence of these temperature swings and all of my camellias have deferred blooming to later. Just on the first four days of the year, we went from to 70s to the teens and back to the 60s and 20s.
Where are you at? Are these "old" pictures? I noticed some green in the pictures that could be either regular grass, nice looking weeds or maybe mondo grass? :o)

Luis

Here is a link that might be useful: Camellia problems

Luis - That is really helpful. This is a Debutante and the pictures were taken yesterday. (Green grass is my lariope.) I live on the beach in Virginia Beach and we have mostly mild winters (8a) and can nearly garden year-round. Anyway, she's located under a myrtle tree and has drip irrigation through our hot months and we've had consistent rain both winters I've had her. So I'm thinking it is the temperature swings and maybe she just has a blight?? I haven't seen blooms open on her...even when I bought her she was looking shoddy but I tend to nurse everything back to vigor. She's put out beautiful new leaves and buds throughout the summer and then winter hits and the pics above happen.

Great to know about the sasqanquas...I went to our garden center yesterday after posting this and stood and stared at a Yule Tide long enough to make the staff think I was nuts. The single blooms just didn't do it for me. It's hard for me to let go of this girl.

Oh geez, and last night we had an unusual temp drop down into the teens...every leaf on her is now curled up this morning. The ground is moist underneath but I guess I should have covered her? There are so many in our area that are neglected and doing just fine. I expected a little lower maintenance. I even have her in a more protected corner than most so the wind wouldn't burn her. This really might have sealed the deal. I've never had a camellia before and I had no idea they could be so fussy.

I have one other location in even more shade...do you think I should try to move her to it? Or do you think she's probably dead with all of her curled leaves?

...come to think of it...November we had a very cold week (20's) then through December it was 50-70's. Last year we had the same. Maybe that really threw her for a loop?

Maybe the others in the neighbor are more established and so they were able to push through and open their blooms??

Gosh, they should not be fussy at all. I would think they would be fussy where I live due to the heat in the Summer. I have also skipped fertilizing on some years and it has not been a problem. As a matter of fact, my Debutante almost died some years ago due to me turning off the drip and not remembering to turn it back on in the middle of summer here! So it suffered but it was a tough shrub getting over that.

Check and make sure you are not overwatering (ie, make sure the soil is not kept too wet) as this causes root rot and the symptoms of root rot are similar to those of a plant that does not get enough water. I usually give them a gallon of water per week in Spring and 2 gallons during the summer with my clayish soil. I use drip and water once a week in the Spring/Fall, twice a week in the Summer and on-off during dry winters. You can insert a finger into the soil to a depth of 4" daily for about 2 weeks to monitor the soil. If it feels almost dry or dry, water. If it is wet, check out why. Those water amounts are for small shrubs, 3' or so.

Temperature swings that occur quickly, like from one day to the next one, are the ones which cause problems for the camellias (and for me!!!). But gradual swings do not cause damage or cause little.

Generally speaking, I observe that the bushes stop blooming, delay blooming or abort flower buds when they are hit with temps that quickly crash or zip back up.

For example: on Jan 1, we hit 70; then the temps crashed and on Jan 2 we bottomed around 25. On Jan 3 we climbed back to 63; 70 on the 4th. But then they crashed back to 21 on the 5th.

If the temp changes were more gradual, taking more days, that would be great for the camellias.

I know what you mean about Yuletide and sasanqua blooms. The singles sometimes do not do it for me either. But I am trying Kanjiro, Shishi Gashira and considering Leslie Ann (sp?) and Moonshadow. Yuletide blooms almost in the midseason for me (December). I had one that I cannot remember what happened to it upteen decades ago. Consider Pink Perfection too. It is a formal double pink japonica that starts blooming early in the season (at least it does on the West Coast) and keeps blooming sporadically thru the late season. It is another one that I am thinking of.

Monitor the soil humidity and, once the flower buds emerge, keep an eye on what is going on with blooms, moisture and weather until the blooms open. Make a note on a wall calendar or PC so you can refer to prior years.

Moving a stressed plant stresses it even more.
If you want to try for success, do it with a fresh new specimen.

I think you may just need a little patience. For me the main clue you gave was that it "looked shoddy" when you bought it. It can take 2-3 years for camellias to get established or re-established, and used to getting good care. The roller-coaster weather we've had this winter isn't helping things, I reckon.

The scratch marks look to me like the leaf may have had a little scale that someone scratched off with a fingernail- if you aren't scraping off scale, and those are new leaves, then it's probably some sort of insect damage. If this is happening on new growth, I would contact your county extension agent for help. If it's only the older leaves that look awful, I'd pinch them off a few at a time to trigger new leaf growth. But maybe not until the weather warms up...

Bud drop can result from inadequate sun, but also from the kind of temperature swings many of us have had this winter. Since the buds look brown like they'd had some cold damage, I'm guessing it's the weather.

At any rate, the plant looks healthy overall, and my guess is that it is still getting established in its new home. Good luck!