It will take longer to see flowers in shadier locales. I planted a one gallon 'Vernons White', in a spot with more shade than sun, on 12/11/01. Its first flower(for me) opened on 2/25/05! I also have a 'Professor Charles Sargent' planted(again more shade than sun and as a one gallon) on 1/9/02 that has yet to bloom.

I have what was labeled as Shishi(from Home Depot) and what I know to be Kanjiro, and since both became established, their bloom times always overlap. My supposed Shishi begins sooner than Kanjiro and flowers much more heavily, but at some point, both have open flowers at the same time.

1 gallon plants taking several years to get big enough to bloom after being planted out in home gardens common, sometimes even when they come from the nursery budded. Apparently environment provided by growers promote early, heavy bud set that stops occurring after plants experience more ordinary conditions.

I wouldn't.

I guess I'll just leave it alone and watch the show. The flowers take so long to completely open, outer petals are browning by the time the center has opened. I was wondering if it had fewer flowers by removing some buds, maybe the plant would have more "punch" to put into each remaining flower.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:504917}}

Patience,patience,patience !! Leave those buds alone !
You can find older camellias with ,literally,several hundred blooms on them.Some are open,some have yet to
open.Blooms(buds) are set way before the plant blooms,
therefore,pruning out buds won't help you.Any energy
used by developing flowers has already been sapped from
the plant basically.Sit back and enjoy.Also research
how long different camellia varieties last before"browning"
out.Also pick up the spent blooms and dispose of them to keep disease at bay.If you have a botanical garden or old
homes with camellias nearby,check them out.Don't trespass
however.I find this very hard not to do,especially around old homes that have huge camellias.Anyway,enjoy the buds,
flowers and beauty of your plant(s).Don'y be intimidated
by camellias and don't give up if you don't succeed at
first.They take time ,but last forever. Charlie.

Freak65: The flower I linked a photo of in my last post was badly browned last night. As I said, the tag said the camellia is hardy to 20 degrees and I know it didn't get THAT cold last night. I wonder if the rain just froze on the delicate flower petals. The pending buds and plant seem fine.

I live in a difficult climate and I've yet to see any neighbor with a camellia, in their front yard anyway. I did research quite a bit where the best location for this camellia was after I bought it, but didn't realize there were so many other types I could have chosen. I halfway expected this camellia to not make it but I think it's doing very well for only its second winter in the ground.

The "browning" could be the result of your bush having a disease commonly known as blossum wilt. You see more of it in humid areas. A healthy bloom should drop off with out any browning. Check around and see what is the usual treatment in your area. We spray here when the buds are formed and again if we have several days of rain.

I live in the Dallas TX area and am getting ready to plant my first camellia japonica 'rosea plena' from a 5 gallon pot. I almost got a 1 gallon (glad I didn't) It is loaded with buds. Do you think they will continue to open and bloom once planted in a morning sun/ afternoon location and given acid loving attention? Close my eyes and be patient?

Donna

It's a puzzle to me. What you plan sounds right but I'm no expert on camellias. I think Texas can be challenging, but go ahead and fight the good fight.

I will say that Kanjiro and Shishi Gashira which I planted last February are blooming right now, brightening the corner where they are placed. These were both planted as one gallon plants. I actually prefer to purchase smaller plants for my roses and perennials, so I followed the same rule with the camellias.

In the Pink still has never bloomed. It is going on its thrid year. Perhaps it blooms later in the year. Since it never has bloomed, I don't know when to expect it.

Every year if the plants are ready, you should detect flower buds formation in late September. When you purchase a camellia plant, you should also find one that has flower buds already.

If a sasanqua camellia is established in ground under proper care and enviornment, you should expect the formation of the flower buds.

In Feb as you posted this message, all the flowering was possibly done already. Hopefully you should have blooms during this flower season. Your area in Ca is one of the best areas to grow camellias.