"the last 2 years they’ve started to open the tips of their buds months before they should be blooming." - It is completely normal for all types of camellias to produce flower buds months well ahead of the time when the flower buds actually open. Each cultivar's flower bud will develop from late summer to sometime in the fall and open at a different/appropriate time for that specific cultivar. Camellia sasanqua flower buds will typically develop and open flower buds in the summer/fall months, whereas Camellia japonica flower buds will develop flower buds in the fall and these will open later, anywhere from late fall through spring (April-May) depending on the cultivar, your geographic location as well the current local winter conditions.

Flower buds can be damaged by cold temperatures. The flower buds can either fall/drop to the ground or turn completely or partially brown. Flower bud drop can -for example- occur when there is an environmental shock such as a large temperature drop from the 80s to below freezing in less than a day. If the flower buds turn completely brown due to cold damage, they are dead and will either fall quickly to the ground or not. Partially browned out flower buds may or may not open; it is difficult to guess what will happen with partially browned buds as it depends on the extent of the injury.

To protect the plants and minimize the chances of flower bud problems, I maintain 3-4" of organic mulch all year around the plants, stop fertilizing 3 months before my average date of first frost and I also water deeply before temperature drops well below freezing. Small, quick temperature drops to freezing or slightly below, followed by warmer temperatures in the morning hours normally do not cause problems.

The camellia plant usually survives occasional temperatures as low as +10° to 0°F. Camellia flower buds are damaged at temperatures below +10° to +15°F. Dry soil conditions promote flower bud injury. Open camellia blossoms normally are damaged at temperatures below +26° to +28°F.

If your local winter temperatures are such that flower bud damage occurs often in most years, that indicates to me that the cultivar has a blooming time that is not appropriate for your location and one should consider using a cultivar that blooms earlier (before the flower buds are winter damaged in your area). Camellia sasanquas are the earliest blooming camellias, starting somewhere in the fall (varies by cultivar). Camellia japonicas and hybrids can start to bloom anywhere from December to April. If damage to japonicas tends to occur in March, consider using cultivars that open blooms before March (some of the earliest blooming ones open flowers in December).

Camellias that are blooming may not have flower bud issues but may also temporarily delay opening more blooms for a few weeks (or even as long as a few months) if climatic conditions suddenly get very cold.

From your pictures, I noticed that the soil appears to be dry and does not have any or much organic mulch. That may dehydrate the plant in winter or when drying winter winds occur. You may want to see if maintaining the soil moist at all times as best as you can and mulch help in future winters. I am assuming that the soil has not frozen where you live.

Note: the first year that you got them, the plants were forced to bloom early by the wholesaler so they would arrive blooming at your local plant nursery. That is what wholesalers of all plants often do, not just camellia wholesalers.

where are you .. big city name ....

are Cs used in your area.. or are you pushing zone on these ...????

can we see pix of the whole plants .. they look VERY DRY ....

plants dont look at calendars ... they bloom when they are damn well ready to ... so id forget about when they are supposed to do anything ...

but winter can be a desert .... and perhaps your plants need water .. sufficient to work thru whatever cycle they are on ...

what if any fert do you use.. excess fert can screw up natural cycles ... just an idea ..

more info please ...

ken

From the pics it looks like you live in a hot and dry interior part of California. Even at the Huntington, the Camellias grow with overstory protection of ancient Quercus agrifolias et al. Something to be aware of. These are plants of woodlands in an Asian monsoon climate, with > 5" of rain each summer month. Your climate has ca. 0 inches of rain each summer month...

Hello Everyone, sorry for not responding sooner, but thanks for the great feedback. I’m in the Dan Diego area and everything is on drip irrigation. I am guilty of not keeping up with my mulching. I was wondering if I might have over fertilized and will cut back on it this season. So weird though, I have three camellias that are opening their tips early but not entirely flowering and I have four that are flowering and but opening completely!

The time to keep an eye on your camellia flower bud production starts in the summer and ends when the last bloom opens. Observe if no flower buds develop or if they develop and not open as both scenarios have different causes. Check soil minerals (problems due to sandy soil for example), the amount of sunlight in spring/summer, unusual weather conditions (temperature that gyrate more than 30-40 degrees in one day, etc.), pests, inconsistent watering, etc. Maintain the soil as evenly moist as you can with no long periods of dry soil, wet soil, dry again, etc... Water when the soil feels dry if you insert a finger into several spots and the soil feels dry at a depth of 4". That is the typical depth of camellia's shallow, tiny and fibrous roots. Here in Texas, drip irrigation does not exactly keep the top 4" of the soil properly moist so, in the summer, I sometimes hand water. Make sure that the drip goes all around the plant so the roots on the back get some moisture in the summer. I keep watering during dry winters too. Lack of mulch may dry the top 4" easily in your summer months. With a smaller root system or with a weaker DNA, this plant may suffer more than the others.