Camellia

A big welcome to GoY Suzy!
That's a lovely camelia you've got

Thank you Sheilar, and for all your other lovely comments as well. Its a shame this camelia didn't come labelled with the variety! Unfortunately a lot (about a dozen) of buds fell off before flowering, but I think its because I planted it and should have waiting until it had finished flowering (read the label with instructions about a month after planting oops).

We've all done that!! I've got a camelia but it's two years now since it flowered. The buds form OK, then just drop off!! The leaves are very pale green too, so I don't think it's very happy.

I've heard that the buds fall off without opening because of lack of water in August/September when the buds are forming, also they don't like tap water if your water is hard like mine. My mum has a camelia and she doesn't do anything with it at all, just lets it get on with it and it flowers every year