I've had this Camelia for many years and this is the first time it is gonna get away without major frost damage fingers crossed!
who is it?
anyone hot on Camelias?
springs are definatly getting milder. Just a few years ago I used to lose the young red foliage off my pieris to frost every spring. I havent lost any now for approx 3 years!
Dont know the camellia though I do love to see them. I planted one last year and it is growing well but there are no flowers on it this year ? :(
fingers crossed here too!! :)
Donation's one of the popular ones - not sure
Don't get put off by the first image, it's atypical.
http://images.google.com/images?sourceid=navclient&q=Camellia+Donation
Lovely to see it in flower, it looked so good in bud!
Yes I've always been put off trying them because of the frost damage problem.
If you can get them in just the right sheltered spot they really are beautiful
I've looked them up in my RHS Encyclopaedia and this is definitely not Donation - that's semi-double
Most likely is 'Water Lily' described as "an upright, compact cultivar with dark green leaves that bears formal, double, mid-pink flowers with incurving petals in mid to late spring"
This entry I found by Googling disagrees with the flowering time to make it even more likely to be yours http://members.tripod.com/~klok/EarlyCamelliasRhododendrons00.html Be patient while the page downloads and then scroll down, you'll find a photo of "one of the earliest Camellias to flower"
And here's another photo:
http://www.plusgarden.com/photo/plants/c/Camellia/Camellia%20x%20williamsii%20'Water%20Lily'.htm
my flowers stay in the cup shape never opening flat. thanks for looking
That could be to do with climatic conditions or the particular clone.
Shame you lost the label :( Don't spose you remember where you got it? Or whether it's likely to be fairly common or a less well known cultivar?
A few more to consider - I know you have so much time to spare lol
http://www.plusgarden.com/photo/plants/c/Camellia/Camellia%20japonica%20'Rubescens%20Major'.htm
http://www.plusgarden.com/photo/plants/c/Camellia/Camellia%20x%20williamsii%20'Debbie'.htm
http://www.plusgarden.com/photo/plants/c/Camellia/Camellia%20x%20williamsii%20'Dream%20Boat'.ht