Some deer are resistant even to the very toxic Kalmias. But there seems to be curious variability. As nearby as the suburbs of Philadelphia, people on the rhodo yahoo group say that deer will eat any and all rhododendrons. OTOH, my deer won't even take a bite of my rhododendrons or azaleas, barring one species, the Japanese R. kaempferi. But they haven't even liked that in the past year or so. Some cultivars of camellia they've periodically browsed, some they never have. It's odd. Deer behaviorists say they don't eat grass, but I'm convinced that by leaving the grass and some brush in a semi-swampy area of my yard high all winter, they eat that rather than my plants. I just can't believe that for a ruminant, lush native grasses and forbs aren't more desirable than lignin-filled, poisonous Ericaceae branches. Even if they can be detoxified, they still have to spend metabolic energy doing so. The most serious problem I've had w/deer in the past couple years are: 1) rutting against small to medium sized trees - one just knocked a whippy 6' Magnolia 'Vulcan' over, I think I righted it in time and 2) "sampling" small plants. They almost always seem to reject/spit out the plant, but if you're talking about something that is 4" high, that can be the entire top growth they destroy. It's the same with rabbits. There seems to be few ornamental plants they actually like the taste of. But they can be very destructive with their sampling. Longterm we really should do something about these antlered rats - like exterminating them from all but a few reserves - because they are irreparably harming what's left of fragile native ecosystems. Unfortunately, the hunting lobby insists that they be relatively easy to hunt, to satisfy their blood lust, and the moronic Bambi lobby goes apesh-t every time a municipality tries to control them. If New York City didn't kill its rats, they would be knee high and eating people's children and small pets. New York City is not a "natural" environment; but neither is the eastern third of the country in its entirety, and without higher predators that used to control them, deer are destroying native plant and animal communities. (Obviously I don't have a problem with people hunting deer where they are overpopulated. In that sense I'm probably helped by being in a rural area compared to somewhere like Northern Virginia. It's just that states "manage the herd" for the benefit of hunters, not the environment. What the Cristol article just touches on is that their ungulate "clear cutting" also favors invasives over natives, because invasives are less palatable to them. They help spread, for example, the dreaded Asian mile-a-minute vine, but they don't eat it.) Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/19/opinion/why-bambi-must-go.html This post was edited by davidrt28 on Wed, Oct 16, 13 at 19:55

Sorry to hear that, gypzee_mama. My overactive Golden Retriever did the same thing while chasing squirrels a couple of years ago. In my case, the plant died but it is hard to tell what will eventually happen since no two injuries are identical. Treat the plant with TLC, just as if it had been transplanted. You can put some Elmer's Glue on injuries where the dog damaged it so insects or fungal infections will not cause additional harm. Make sure the plant gets some sun; trim nearby bushes to allow sun to reach the camellia plants. Do not force the plant to awaken from its dormancy by fertilizing it now. In Spring, provide it fertilizer in the form of Liquid Seaweed, Fish Emulsion and/or SuperThrive only. Your plants are going to be in shock for a while and fertilizing plants that are in shock does not help. Seaweed and Fish Emlsion are weak fertilizers similar to coffee grounds. If there is leaf growth by May-June, add half a cup of cottonseed meal (or 1/2 what you normally apply) and fertilize no more for 2008. Maintain the soil as evenly moist as possible and keep 3-4" of mulch. If there is no growth by May-June, replace the plants. Good luck, Luis

i've grown this one for several years and agree with you that the flowers look like mini-roses early on. mine is at the edge of a wooded area and will be getting more sun after i finally clear out some of the under and over growth. she is a charmer and, if i recall correctly, is actually named for the daughter of a local nursery man in my area. it is either this shrub or perhaps another. could be the one i had named 'ashley eden' which was lost to drought some years back.

In cold Zone 6 in the NE, established/new camellias may sometimes temporarily loose leaves after very cold temperature drops, just like other shrubs do but they will leaf out later when temps warm up. But in Z7B, if there are no injuries, it would be a bit rare unless there were big dips. I have not had foliage issues due to temperatures as cold as 13F in January but, if a new, not-yet-established camellia did not have enough soil moisture before these wild temperature dips, it may have started leaf browning issues. Your big dips probably happened in Nov 22-23 ish; and Jan 21, 30-31-ish. The single digits in January of this year probably caused the problem for this shrub. Lack of sufficient soil moisture in the top 4" in a dry (warm or cold) winter may cause leaf drop. To prevent the loss of leaves and-or buds, I water deeply & mulch on the night before those very cold, wild temperature dips; or that you water on dry, warm winters where the soil has not frozen;.I maintain 2-4" of organic mulch. When I turned off the drip irrigation once during winter.... and forgot to turn it back on... I started to get browning of leaves during dry, warm, late winter months. Then, as blue bayou mention, there are leaf pests.... :o(... double sigh.... although they eat the leaves and not make a leaf suddenly turn brown without injuries unless a branch was eaten/damaged further below. Remember that this is a newly planted shrub so it needs to get water where the pot's potting soil is located. When watering, start near the base and water outwards around it and water only the soil, not the leaves. You can very carefully and lightly scratch some branches to see if you see "green". It should be time for leaf out this month. I suspect your are probably close to being done with frigid temps. Knock on wood!