Flowering times vary with cultivar - when did these two bloom for you last year? Otherwise this does say "Flowers early" for 'Autumn Rocket'. Which to me means October in the Pacific Northwest: https://camellia.iflora.cn/Cutivars/Detail?latin=Autumn%20Rocket

And "early to mid-season" for the second one: Pink-a-boo-Cultivars-International Camellia Register (iflora.cn). So yeah I'd think they would be out by now most years. All the more so if you have instead the 'Yuletide' derivative promoted using the PINK-A-BOO registered trademark: Pink Yuletide-Cultivars-International Camellia Register (iflora.cn) . With both it and the parental variety seeming to be pretty consistent about being in color during December. But I've never kept records of this observed behavior - maybe some years they start up later. And this is one of those years.

Thanks Embothrium, Pinkaboo bloomed very early last year, for most of November. I can't remember when Autumn Rocket bloomed.

Sun exposure may also be a factor, Klark. The more sun the shrub receives, the earlier it may be inclined to flower. At least that has been my experience with sasanquas in our climate. Also, like rhododendrons and azaleas, adequate water when buds are being set (late summer) will ensure better flowering.

I can't remember when Autumn Rocket bloomed.

That's because it soon blasted off and went to the moon.

It is not odd anymore. When blooming is delayed, weather may have turned cold and forced the blooms to wait. I had a early blooming japonicas once start to bloom in January, stop looming when temperatures crashed, and resume blooming all the way in mid-March. But most times they resume after a few weeks; depends on the weather. I know now not to worry when these "delays" happen. As long as the flower buds are still a shade of green and not brown, do not panic; they will open when conditions become favorable enough for the plant. Large temperature fluctuations might cause bud drop so maintain the plants well mulched with 3-4" past the drip line and also water the night before the temperature crashes IF the soil feels a little dry-ish. I have also missed completely the blooming of some sasanquas when they bloom early; it is my fault as I was not paying attention and did not expect it. Then a neighbor says she saw it blooming... oh, brother.... Enjoy your blooms when you do get them.

I had a early blooming japonicas once start to bloom in January, stop looming when temperatures crashed, and resume blooming all the way in mid-March

Described by Malmo nursery catalogs from many decades ago as THE red camellia on the market Camellia japonica 'Cheerful' remains highly prevalent on local properties despite probably not having been in garden centers for a long time*. Growing under apparently suitable circumstances into a narrow tree over 30 ft. tall (Seattle tree expert Arthur Lee Jacobson measured one a few years back in the Montlake neighborhood of that city that was 33 1/2 ft.) it is also an abundant producer of small light red, formal double flowers. Which I have seen first appear as early as January, with some still opening on the same specimen in May. Yes: 5 months of bloom from a camellia, albeit with some interruption by killing frost in the early part of the sequence.

*I've been involved in local gardening and horticulture for over 50 years, had to dig around in available print literature to discover the name of this variety. As I never saw it for sale or even in a labelled collection

It is seems to be a common, weather delay in areas with mild winters that have fluctuating temperatures like mine near Dallas, Texas. Happened too in Atlanta, Georgia though. The japonica that had this issue was 'White by the Gate'.

Update: As of this morning half of the flower buds have fallen to the ground. There is one flower low on the plant that is trying to open. I guess if a sasanqua doesn't bloom when its supposed to, and then the buds endure 19F, they probably wont open? This is 'Autumn Rocket', don't know whats going on with 'Pinkaboo', that's in my neighbors garden.

Sasanquas that are trying to bloom this late in the season will suffer from bud drop if temperatures tend to fluctuate towards the warm side (70s-80s) and then, as temperatures crash well below freezing, the unopened flower buds might drop alongside. At least you have a some buds trying to open. The same thing might happen to early flowering japonicas under the same environmental conditions although it happened to me more with sasanquas than with japonicas. You can try to minimize the problem using mulch and ensuring you water the soil deeply before the temperature crash. If your weather is such that this happens often, consider replacing them with sasanqua cultivars that bloom even earlier. Unopened -but still green- buds may go dormant and re-try blooming in 2+ weeks, depending on the weather at that time. I have had waiting periods as long as a few months. Unopened brown buds are dead and can be removed manually. Dead buds may not brown out overnight/quickly though.

'Autumn Rocket' is described by various sources as quite early blooming. I posted here because I found it very strange that it didn't bloom in October and November.

If your local weather during those months was not too cold or unfavorable for blooming, I would question the claim of early blooming (at least in your area). Would you know the location of another pair of these cultivars nearby?

Bump.

See my edited comment up top for the latest 2023 update.

Bloom opening "progression is so weirdly slow". This is normal for camellias to take a while to open the buds but the process is disrupted when temperatures turn cold, whether that is in PNW or Georgia. If it were in the midst of blooming when temperatures crash, it would halt opening new buds until it warmed up, maybe 2+ weeks. This year is an El Niño Pattern for you so it should be warmer than normal and drier than normal so keep that in mind. You may need to water if above freezing and if the soil looks bone dry. Make sure now it is well mulched to conserve soil moisture (about 3-4" of organic mulch; spread it about 2 feet in every direction from the main trunk.

It has been a warmer and drier autumn, but certainly not dry, the entire garden is clay, the lawn is all gooey mud. 'Autumn Rocket' opened two flowers completely since my update, plus one partially opened...they were lovely...but, it was 25.7F this morning and those three flowers plus several others that were starting to open were destroyed. A lot more buds waiting in the wings, we'll see what happens. Freezes forecast for next three mornings.

So, much better performance than last year, but its clear to me that Autumn Rocket is quite late for a sasanqua and I'll be looking for much earlier blooming sasanquas to add to the garden.

Also, I looked at my neighbors two 'Pinkaboo' Camellias the other day and they look much worse, and even later than my Autumn Rocket, no buds popping at all.

Early bloomers sounds like the way to go when reliable blooming suffers reliably due to local weather in November for several years in a row.

Here in the Southeast, my mother taught me to plant camellias and sasanquas on the west side of something that would shield the plant from early morning sun during winter.

I've a 50 year old camellia, it's name forgotten, that is responding to the removal of that eastern protection:

3 years ago, the next door neighbor cut down a large dense tree on the east side of this camellia, but my tall closed board fence was still standing on the east side of the camellia. Being a little taller than my fence, this camellia's leaves that were exposed above my fence turned almost bronze in color, but otherwise looked healthy. I found a blog where a camellia gardener described visiting Spain and noticed the huge old camellias were growing in full sun and looked healthy, were floriferous and had bronze leaves. Therefore, I no longer worry about the bronze leaf color.

Several weeks ago, I removed the fence, which was the only protection this camellia had on it's eastern side. This camellia used to bloom every year in March, but it is blooming now in December. The bloom does not appear to be as large and the petals are not as loose looking as they appeared to be in previous years ...as if the bud was not fully formed enough to be blooming in December.