My japonicas produce earlier blooms, around Dec to Jan. During cold spells, they stop blooming and resume as late as March. Then the Spring rains come. They are still around. Just got myself wet with foliage because the leaves are soaking wet everywhere from this morning's rain. But since the camellias bloom earlier, the rains only cause problems with other shrubbery whose stems/branches are starting to bend/flop due to the rains. Try planting some cold tolerant Fall blooming camellias too for times like this one. And I hope you get more bloomage in Spring 2020!

No - think this is the last one for me. I tried them in Mass with limited success - had to cart Yuletide in and out and then finally lost it. I will stick with this one until it ain't no mo'. Thanks for your thoughts.

I tried two of the hardiest camelias I could find and they didn't make it past the first winter. And I tried babying it, didn't help. So sadly, I've crossed camellias off my list of plants to grow.

I think the one bud I had on this plant would have been fine. It was plumping up. It made it through winter and early frost possibilities which was a feat, I just couldn't protect it from the ceaseless rain!!

I have "April Blush" (2), "April Dawn" and "April Kiss". One Blush is 20+ years old, and has recovered from being killed nearly to the ground on two occasions. It is about 6 feet by 5 feet now, but was still mostly new growth the last two years and produced no buds for this spring. The other blush and the dawn and kiss all had several blooms this year. They are all about 10 years old. The plants themselves often have some damage, mostly brown leaves and some dead twigs, so I have to prune those out. Some of the buds may be damaged in winter, but most bloom fine in late April into May. I am in zone 6B here.

Quite interesting. I remember emailing someone in the NE who said that they loose leaves over there but the blooms were not affected and they leaf out fine for him.

Pv, since spring blooming camellias form their buds the previous season, the winter can kill or damage the buds, so even though the plant survives, none or very few of the buds will open, and often with flower damage. You might want to consider the fall blooming hardy varieties instead, since they grow and form buds during the summer and early fall. I have "Snow flurry" which I've had for 20+ years and it blooms for me mostly in November. There are many other even nice ones available now. Take a look at Camforest Nurseries (www.camforest.com). They have a whole area devoted to hardy (zone 6) camellias.

Hi Bill - Since you have had such good luck with the April series, I am going to stick with the dawn.... and hope I fare as well. It's a very healthy plant and is developing quite nicely. I do think the endless rain we had this spring really was the contributing factor to my bud falling off before opening. It seems happy in its current location so think I will leave it there. BTW, do you protect your camellias from winter winds? I did protect mine which may have helped it get through the cold. I will do so again this winter. Thanks so much for your thoughts on this lovely plant. PV

Pv, I don 't protect them. I know it probably would help against the drying winter winds, and I live in a particularly windy spot on a hill. But I just can't do the physical work of covering, etc. anymore. Your situation of having healthy plants, but losing buds, is typical in our borderline hardiness areas, because although the plants can survive, the buds, which form by the fall and have to sit out the winter, are often damaged by harsh winter weather and will just die and fall off and not produce flowers in spring. That's why I suggested taking a look at the many fall-blooming types that are available. Since the buds form and bloom in the warmer months, there is little danger of bud damage. Most of those will bloom in October or November in zone 6.

Thanks, Bill, for the info. I had no idea there were camellias that bloom in fall. Very good news!

For early bloomage, I prefer the sasanquas. The camellia oleifera, sasanquas, hiemalis, Camellia Autumn Series (Autumn Moon, Autumn Spirit, etc), Camellia Ashton Series (Ashton Pink, Ashton Supreme, etc) and the Camellia Winter Series (Winter Charm, Winter's Interlude, Winter's Rose) they are all advertised to bloom early. Interesting reading: https://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/17/garden/camellias-ready-for-a-cold-snap.html or https://camforest.com/collections/ornamental-camellias-1/feature_cold-hardy

deanna, the fall blooming ones may work well for you. Good luck with those if you try them!

Bill - I think I keep going back to the desire for the April series after re-reading your post. You do seem to have luck with them - they have survived for 10 years which is no doubt due to your gardening skills. I am in southern RI so at least a similar zone to you. So I have hope!! I have one camellia and budget constraints keep me at that - but I am tempted... :-) thanks again for your valuable input.