Morning sunshine during frost is murder on camellia flowers.

bboy, is it just the sunshine or does the rain make the flowers brown too? I bought a camelia last year and have kept it in a pot to bring it out onto the patio when it starts blooming. If I don't have to keep it under the eaves I would be happier. btw boxofrox it is really happy in its pot and is loaded with buds. It has spent the summer in the shade of a tree where it was automatically watered.

I don't know if you all have Camellia petal blight in the PNW to the same degree that we have here in California, but if spent petals are not kept picked up, it spreads the blight and will always result in brown petals as well. This seems to be a much worse problem on C. japonica cultivars, and C. sasanqua types are much less affected. For sunnier spots, there are also some selections of sasanqua camellias that are even recommended for full sun here in California, but they all do as well with just morning sun or bright shade. The earlier bloom season and typically single petal forms may also stand up to the rains better in your climate.

Dotty,

I get something in my head and I just do it :-) I went and bought two today....'Scentsation' and 'Tom Knudsen'. I'll watch them really closely and after they bloom, move them over to the north side of my house with the other camellia and my growing collection of hydrangeas. I'm hoping the 'Scentsation' combined with my daphne odoras and sarcococcas will make my front entrance pleasantly odiferous.