Sorry. No suggestions yet; just a few questions trying to identify the problem.

Could it be Camellia die back disease? Have you checked for cankers on dying branches?

What times of the year do you loose branches? Only in the Summer? Other times?

Is the soil moist when parts begin to show these symptoms? I am wondering if the soil goes through cycles of drought and moisture.

Did you cut the roots when planting in order to prevent the plants to grow root bound?

I have seen nothing unusual on the branches. These are young plants, I thought die back was more a problem with more mature plants. The problem persists throughout the year. These plants are in a wooded area and roots, consequently water could be an issue. But, that would seem to effect the whole plant, not just an occasional limb. Could it be fungi ? Thank you for your reply.

I have seen nothing unusual on the branches. These are young plants, I thought die back was more a problem with more mature plants. The problem persists throughout the year. These plants are in a wooded area and roots, consequently water could be an issue. But, that would seem to effect the whole plant, not just an occasional limb. Could it be fungi ? Thank you for your reply.

Do you suffer from a pest called borer insects?

Could there be a small pest that is damaging selected camellia roots? This may be hard to check as it would require extracting the plant from the planting hole so you can inspect the roots.

If water is a problem, yes, I would expect the problem to affect the area where there is little moisture first. It could affect the whole plant or not, depending on whether all roots are drying or not. You can check this possibility by testing the soil as soon as section begins to turn brown.

Camellias, like so many shrubs and other plants are often bothered if soil drainage is not quite good. You may have a problem with Phytophthora Root Rot.

The leaf blight etc. that got all the publicity awhile back is also caused by a Phytophthora sp.

Here is a link that might be useful: Camellia -- Ramorum leaf blight and shoot dieback

Eose,
Well, I have the same problem.
You stated it is planted in a wooded area.
So is mine. It bloomed this spring and I could see that slowly the branches are dying.
I have come to the conclusion that it is the trees and roots underground that I can't see that are sucking the life out of the small shrub.
Unfortunatley I also have sassafras trees in the woods and they are extremely hard to get rid of.
They are like bamboo with their runners under the ground.
I finally resorted to putting the camellia in a big pot.
Poor thing, but the ends of the brances that have leaves have nice leaves, so I guess there is hope.
This may not be what is affecting your camellia, but in a wooded area you never know what roots are under the ground attacking your camellias.
We will see if it lives better now in a pot.
I had nothing to loose.

I want to thank everyone for their reply. Here is what I have decided to do. To my knowledge there is nothing that can be done for true root rot, but it doesn't seem that it would take 2 years to destroy a plant. Mine seems to be at least still 50 percent perfectly healthy. I have increased the amount of supplemental water they receive by use of a sprinkler hose. I sprayed the plants with daconil followed a few days later with a liquid copper fungicide. Since the camellias go long periods between branch death, it may take a while to know if any of this helps, but I will report back on my success. Thanks again.

eose

Eose,
How are your camellias doing?
Have they improved?
Just curious.