Hi Stone,
I planted the camellia by the evergreens on the 16th and it looks pretty good. The temperature dropped very low a few nights and the flowers that were open seem to sort of liquify, but the buds didn't get killed off. The soil is good, acidic, very good drainage and I planted the rootball a little high. I couldn't believe how deeply the soil was piled over the root ball in the container. I gently remove about 3" of soil until I saw what I think is the root flare. I'm still unsure how to tell what's a root flare vs adventitious? roots on shrubs. It's seems trickier than on trees.
The instructions I read had said morning sun was a problem in winter but good in summer/spring. Kind of a hard goal to achieve in my yard.
I put a frame around it with burlap as it is getting a lot of sun there right now and it's been cold and very windy. It isn't touching the plant at all so I don't think it's providing insulation, just a break from the wind and sun. In the spring when the dogwood leafs out, it will get mostly filtered sun, with a short burst of late afternoon sun. Hoping it is happy here! I'm still somewhat confused by these beautiful shrubs. I feel like the weather here will be too cold for their estimated bloom time of late fall/early winter. Wont be able to enjoy it much if I have to cover it.
