^.^......! Oh my, welcome to my world, I can commiserate. Those newly planted camellias make nice play things. Wait until your friend discovers your freshly sprouted seeds, they make nice crunchies. Let me tell you about the time I bought several prized new grafts at an auction -- they were still in the pots waiting to be planted ... !

In answer to your question, do you know whether your plant was actually 3 different liners that were all planted in the same pot and grown out?? Some nurseries do that to create a more bushy looking plant. If that is what you have, I would suggest you keep them separate -- you may wind up with 3 plants instead of one.

Camellia roots do not like exposure to dry air, especially this time of year. Depending on how long the plants were out of the ground, and how much soil was lost around the roots, you may be able to save them.

The key is getting them back in good well draining soil quickly, water them well of course, and consider putting a drip line on them until you see how they do. You might also try to mist the leaves to keep them hydrated until the roots can bounce back, if that is possible. I would suggest you even consider re-potting them, separately, and keep them in a shady place for a little while.

And then hope!

Thank you forrestal. You obvously have had much more costly losses than I! I'm not sure about your question about the liners but I do know they are like three seperate plants. So I think they are as you said. Right now they are in a shady place with a little morning sun. But the leaves at the top of the branches look bad. I'm still ot sure if I should cut them down to help the plant put more energy into repairing itself or if the new leaves will bloom on the dying branches.

Yes the withering of top branches is a sure sign of root damage -- the roots cannot support the foliage right now and the plants are struggling to survive. You may need to give the plant(s) a haircut to balance out the root loss. And if possible, keep a drip irrigation on the root zone, making sure the soil is well drained. Do the best you can, then keep fingers crossed and hope the plants recover, or at least one of them!