A camellia shrub planted on the ground can survive temps less than zero degrees F; I have not seen any articles that discuss damage when in pots.

My concern is with the root system. Some leaf damage would not bother me provided the plant was discounted and HD refunded the money if the plant did not make it.

east central alabama, my readings in western lee county were just slightly warmer than auburn and came in at 10 degrees low and upper 20's high. i have a camellia in a large container that i have yet to plant and it seems to be undamaged, although i did move it to the carport the night before but i am not sure how much protection it got from wind since it is open on 3 sides. the soil was also completely frozen in that pot.
i also purchased a callistemon (probably rigidus, maybe citrinus) this fall and it is also still in the container. it was actually flowering when the vortex hit! on the carport, it seems to be o.k., too. a new shrub for me and i don't know much about them but articles tels me they can't handle temps like we had.
as expected, my sago's fronds (planted in the ground) are toast. it was about 4' in dia and i hope it will return this spring.

Hope the new babies make it Jeff. What is your container made of? I have seen some camellias in nice pots around a restaurant I go to quarterly or so. I assume they leave outside all the time. It is in a shopping center so I assume the s/c's landscaper takes care of the camellias. I would like to keep some camellias in materials of the same type but who knows what those things are made of. I would definitely prefer to keep the containers out of the garage if the container will not break to pieces if the outside temp is too cold for the material. That would allow me to have more camellias outside!!! Yeah!

This post was edited by luis_pr on Mon, Jan 13, 14 at 19:38

Camellias show they are dead from cold when they try to bloom and grow in spring. Before then they can look fine.

For a long time.

Hardiness of C. japonica varies with cultivar, some are damaged well above 0 degrees F.

In the ground.

Studies have found a tendency for potted trees and shrubs of diverse types to be around 20 degrees F. less hardy than the same kinds would be if growing in the ground.

The future is bleak.

My catch-phrase with camellias is"you never know".

If the roots are still okay, it may take a while, but the camellia will recover. If they aren't okay, you may not be able to tell right away, as bboy mentioned. New growth would be your signal to be patient, but that might not happen immediately, so do you have room for a plant you aren't sure about?

If this were a fairly hardy cultivar I really wanted and the price was right, I might give it a go, but for a "generic" camellia (I assume that means the species is either unknown or unnamed), I would advise leaving it alone unless it's just a few bucks, and you have the room and patience for taking on a possibly dead plant...