They bloom in fall and winter -- that is the great thing about them! And you have picked two nice varieties. Here is a link to some planting tips. (See below.) The main thing I have found is to plant them high in a wide but shallow hole, so they will not later sink below grade. And use plenty of good planting mix (it is worth it). Give them plenty of water during dry spells for the first couple of years until they get established. Here is a link that might be useful: Camellia Planting Tips

Let the soil dry out completely should be your first step. Next, how often, and what are you feeding it? How often do you water? Is that where the plant is always located? Spots are fusarium or some other fungal disease. I'd have to look it up, but I will need more info first. You don't have black rings. That is a good thing.

I knew you'd find something! I'm going to order 4 of those Tommy Bahama chairs right not - NOT! Problem is, I don't think we can/should use natural materials on this porch. We had sea grass chairs at our old house, sold them before we moved and I know that's not a good material here. This is a big covered porch but we get wind driven rain here frequently. I had wood chairs out there for a short time and could see they would never last. That's why the Ballard chairs seem so perfect - man made resin wicker and powder coated metal, not just painted. I'm not even sure natural rattan would last but I've never owned any. May just have to take the table legs down 1 or 2" and open up my options. Or bite the bullet, pay full retail (shudder) and wait for the Ballard back order which means a summer without chairs. Thanks so much for sleuthing on my behalf. Lars, aputernut and oly - wish I could have you over for a beverage on the porch but you'd have to stand ;-)

Hi guys! Just a little update that I'm very happy about! The wood stain arrived today (the sanding paper and top coat haven't yet, but should by the end of this week). I had just about enough sanding paper to really sand one of the drawers to perfection so I did a test on it with the stain... and the colour I picked is really close to the original! It's still a tiny bit more orangey, but overall I'm super pleased. I took the pictures 20min after painting so I don't think it's completely settled yet, and it still needs that matte clear water based topcoat, so it's not the final colour/finish yet. Just very happy I haven't ruined this piece and will be able to restore it to my liking :) Sanded, new stain, original (it looks more orange on the picture.. in real life it's almost indistinguisable)