I'd be interested in hearing from anyone who has ever had good luck with growing camellias as houseplants. I've seen photos of camellias grown in New England in greenhouses, and have heard of people in northern latitudes keeping their camellias outdoors in the summer and in an unheated room in the winter, but camellias are not well-suited to life as a houseplant in most home environments.

As for the dried out leaf buds, I would guess (without knowing what other variables might be involved) that your plants are being kept in a heated part of the house, and that the heat is drying out your plants. Even if the soil isn't too dry, the air may be both too warm and too dry. If you can find a cool, well-lit place for the plant, perhaps a plant mister could help you to trick the plants into believing they're in a cool, damp environment similar to their woodland origins.

Good luck,
Virginia

The conditions of the plants you received indicate that they did suffer damage during shipment, possibly from excessive cold. A few years back I sent a package of plants to a customer in JUNE and they arrived frozen. Not common for shipments going from Savannah GA to Texas in June. The problem is that if all of the leaves are damaged and fall off, the roots are probably damaged too. Camellias can take a good bit of cold, but not severe freezing temperatures. I'd scratch the bark near the root surface with your fingernail, if you see any green under the outer bark, you may have a chance. Don't over water - they have little water requirements since they don't have leaves. If the bark is not green when you scratch it, they probably will not survive.

you really have to give them a good supplemental light source in norther climates to keep them growing, because of shorter day length the farther north you go during the winter. if you don't give them at least 6 or so hours of day light a day in the winter time they become very unhappy campers.
TheItalian Garden