I don't know how it is in Washington, zone 8, but here, anything in bloom now would be considered as a Mid to late season bloomer. The Pink Perfection is doing well now. I have always thought of it as one of the last. Most of the C. Japonicas would be earlier. Alba Plena and Debutante are two of the earliest. They have been finished for quite some time.

With a little bit of planning, you can have camellia blooms for months.

'Daikagura' is one of the earliest blooming japonicas. In the Southeast, 'Daikagura' is frequently in bloom during the heat of September. In October and November, as the weather cools, its blooms increase; and they are dark pink marbled white. At least, that's one version of 'Daikagura.' 'Daikagura' sports freely. You may have a solid dark pink sport, or a light pink sport. The light pink sport has been propagated and named 'High Hat.' 'Daikagura' may be offered by retail nurseries in your part of the country. If not, you can order it from Nuccio's. Camellia Forest Nursery in Chapel Hill, NC, offers a number of excellent, new early flowering camellia varieties. They have an Internet site and a free catalog.

I'm in your zone. My Nuccio's Pearl is in bloom right now. I have a lovely pink one called Water Lily that bloomed in February. I have a white Sasanqua type called Mine-No-Yuk that bloomed in Dec and Jan.

Thanks for all the wonderful suggestions. I bought a Nuccio's Pearl this weekend. I'm looking forward to adding more camellias to my garden, especially since I discovered that "early" for camellias really means December-February in the Pacific Northwest! Wow, that really IS early!

I'm making a list of your recommendations, for my next purchase. I am having a hard time finding pictures online, though. Does anyone know of a web site(s) that have pictures?

Lisa

Actually Lisa, early can mean as early as October-November!
Mid is December-Feb. Late is like March-April. Sometimes in certain cultivars very very late like May!

There are some cultivars that bloom early to late.
I know Ole blooms very late. It's a hybrid.
Eventually I would like to have a camellia garden that blooms from October through May. I have no idea if this is possible in Southern California- already getting very warm.
But wouldn't that be spectacular?

Here are some places where you can go for LOTS and LOTS of pictures.

Italian site:
http://www.eisenhut.ch/list_en.php?where=c&o=0

Japanese site:
http://www.ykanda.jp/clist.htm
http://www.ykanda.jp/camellia.html

American site:
http://www.camellias-acs.com/Gallery/Gallery_Home.html

The Italian and Japanese site are really amazing.
Remember there are 3,000 cultivars so you won't be able to see everything- yes three zero's.
Some of them have 3, 4 or 5 different names- means that they are popular through the centuries.

I would get a catalogue from Nuccio's Nursery.
Also check out "The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Camellias"
by Stirling Macoboy. It's a very good starting place.

Thanks for the links, Michael! There are enough pictures here to keep me spellbound for days!

I agree, Camellia blooms from October through May would be spectacular! I hope to do something similar here, especially during the dull winter months. Camellias would surely brighten things up a little!

Lisa

I've been looking at hundreds of camellias.
I only like the formal doubles ... with a few exceptions.

I right click on the image and save it on my computer when I find something I like for reference.

What do you have so far?

I'm going to try to get some late bloomers because most mine are almost finished blooming... to be expected.
My Mrs. Tingly is still blooming, although they are half in size.

I prefer the formal doubles as well. The only camellia I have so far is the Nuccio's Pearl that I just bought. (It just bloomed, by the way, and the flowers are really beautiful.)

I'm looking for early & mid bloomers, as my garden needs color in the late fall and winter and early spring. I'd like a nice, deep red. I'd also like a fragrant camellia. Any recommendations?

Lisa

As far as I know there are no fragrant formal doubles.
I'm not attracted the fragrants available.
Just get some Jasmine.

Glen 40 is a good red. There are deeper reds but they are not formal doubles.

Glen 40 is nice! Thanks for the suggestion.

It's rare to find the really fragrant jasmine that's hardy in my zone, but I just ordered 12 fragrant roses, so that should fill my need for fragrance. It's just that camellia flowers are so luscious - they really should be fragrant!

Lisa

I just caught onto this thread. May I suggest, for fragrance, a variety known as "Kramers Supreme" a stunning large deep red peony form (not formal double) which is a frequent show winner. "High Fragrance" and "Scentsation" are pink but just as impressive a bloom. I have several of each. You should have no problem finding Kramers Supreme which originated at Kramers Nursery in Upland CA. Another great fragrant bloom is an old one known as "Herme" a/k/a Jordan's Pride in your part of the world, white with carmine streaks. One of my all time favorites. My camellias start blooming around September 1 and go all winter until May, we have some blooming now. I am nuts about them.

If you're willing to consider sasanquas, they start in late summer. Showa-No-Sakae (pictured somewhere in the gallery) has a particularly long bloom season. It starts in August/September and goes through January, by which time there are plenty of Japonicas in bloom.

An old white Japonica that came with my house starts blooming early in winter and amazingly still has new flowers opening in May, even in June and one year, July.

I bought my first camellia today. A one gallon size of Scentsation. I had thought that it was a sasanqua and thus an early bloomer.

My next-door neighbor has a large Camellia with extremely bad petal blight, and she doesn't clean up the old blooms. I am too lazy to spray, and I was hoping to avoid the petal blight by buying varieties that bloom before it gets really bad.

What is the bloom season for Scentsation? With a one gallon size, should I go ahead and plant it directly in the garden or should I let it live in a larger pot and coddle it for awhile?

Plantluvver you will luv 'Scentsation.' (I will post a picture of mine in the camellia gallery for you.) It is a mid-season bloomer, with a long lasting silvery pink anemone form bloom that is nice enough to win prizes at camellia shows. And the fragrance is a bonus! I have enjoyed mine so much, I grafted several for friends. Good going!

The Kramer's Supreme that I bought last year seemed to have very little fragrance. Certainly nothing remotely wafting.
Very beautiful, however.