Ternstromia is a common shrub in our area that is commonly called cleyera...
It is used as a substitute for the photinias which are susceptible to the leaf spot. Its fragrance is not its 'calling card' but rather its quick growth and dense cover. The glossy foliage is a big plus too.

I would give your 1 gallon container at least a year before expecting bloom. They are late spring bloomers.
The sasanqua should have already bloomed by now. Either frost got them or as you suggest, the deer. Grrr!

Frost has not been a problem with my sasanqua camellias -- unless the temperature drops below 20ºF, when the flowers drop. But the buds don't and new flowers open whenever the temperature rises above twenty again.

I have had no problems with deer eating my camellia buds (ten of my camellias are growing in places where the deer can reach them). Last week, the deer ate a dozen primrose flowers but left the camellia buds and blooms alone.

I wonder if your camellias get enough water and light? I have bud loss when the plants dry out during the flowering season. One of my 'Apple Blossom' camellias lost its buds during the 2003/2004 winter. I noticed that it was being shaded out by overhead branches. I cut back the tree and 'Apple Blossom' had lots of buds and flowers this winter.

Don't hold your breath. The leaves are what it is grown for.

i saw ternstroemia trees down in south alabama. they were 40 ft tall with thick, massive trunks. i had no idea the ultimate height of this plant. i thought mine was large until now. LOL

The tag on my TG said 6' tall, 40 ft tall would be completely inappropriate. I guess I will have to prune it to keep it the size I want and if that doesn't work down the line I will have to move it. Another bad case of impulse buying at the nursery, I guess.

I looked at my tag again and it says slow growth to 6-8', eventually larger. I'm thinking I planted it in the wrong place and should move it now before it starts to send out roots. I wanted a cute little plant where I put it.

Never fear though, because as in bonsai, judicious pruning can maintain the proportions of any size plant. Ive seen Ternstroemia kept as a beautiful modest sized hedge.

-christian

40 ft. is quite remarkable. I have seen then above 6 ft. around here, but nowhere near 40 ft. One even 16 ft. tall would be considered big for us.

"May eventually reach 6-8 ft. but is usually seen as a rounded plant 3-4 ft. tall, 4-6 ft. wide" (Sunset "Western Garden Book")

I need to buy 100 of these for privacy hedge. The best price I found for 1 gal. is $3.97 ea. Has anybody seen them at a better price. I'm in north Georgia.

Clyera, I wish I could have bought mine for that. It was more like $10 for a gallon plant. Well, I guess I will leave it where it is, I was considering digging it up before it got established and moving it somewhere it could get taller.

they are one of the best hedge plants.....they tolerate shearing well. i wouldnt worry about them reaching 40 ft.

it is a common plant here in central alabama and most plantings would be a BIG problem if they all reached 40 ft. LOL

the 40 ft trees i saw where quite old. the were growing on the grounds of green camellia nursery in south alabama. the z9 climate seemed ideal for them.....as they were reseeding all around the base of the trees.

How old do you think they are? Camellia japonica that big, in Japan, are said to be centuries old. I once heard about a grove of bigger-and-older-than-usual camellias on the Washington coast, where they had supposedly grown from ballast ejected by whaling ships in the 19th century. However, I went to the area where they were said to be and had no luck.

if i recall correctly, the ternstroemias were 40-50 yrs old.

If anyone is interested in photos of very large Ternstroemias, try an image search under the name mokkoku, which is the Japanese name for the plant.

Must grow faster in the hotter weather of the South. Google has images of quite a few tree-sized ones in Japan.