Mid-Atlantic Gardening: Camellia Growing, Propagating and Enjoying, 0 by Gitagal

Gitagal wrote:
I bought my beautiful, red Camellia in 1999 or 2000 at my HD. I knew nothing about Camellias--
but we got them in and I was willing to try. They were in 2 gal. pots.

There was a regular customer there named Bernie. He was quite the horticulturist.
He was right there when I was looking--and he pointed to the one I bough and said--
"Buy this one. It will be perennial"...The one I bought (the "Bob Hope") had dark green,
shiny leaves. The others there had smaller leaves and not shiny.
Some of you may remember me writing about Bernie re him giving me the Wintersweet Shrub.
My Bernie Bush.....

On mine, the flower buds form in Fall and live through the winter, slowly getting plumper.
Before blooming, they are the size of a large grape--and then they start opening and the red shows.
I am sure now (thanks Linda) that mine is a Japonica. It grows in bright shade and blooms in early summer.

Here is a nice close-up of its buds and bloom from 2006. It was, then, still a fairly young shrub.
Gita