It is hardy for you in 7a. When planting under trees, make sure that the trees' roots are not shallow because shallow roots will compete with the camellia for moisture and food. Local nurseries can help you identify your trees and determine if they are shallow rooted. House and wooden fences offer some protection against cold winds and pests like bamby so consider those if you thin they are worth it. But walls leech lime with makes the soil alkaline, opposite of what camellias like. Plant them away, not close to walls. Maybe, 3 feet away or so?

I have a deer fence up so I am not too worried about bambi. We have tulip and oak trees and a small amount of beech. But the area I am thinking of has hydrangea and japanese anemone growing right now. So I am assuming the roots are not too in the way.

I have success with many camellias in the open.

Camforest lists April dawn as 6B.
According to Ackerman and others, one of the biggest dangers for camellias in the North is early morning winter sun. (The leaf heats up but the temperatures are still really cold and the plant can't supply the leaf enough moisture.)
I do have however an Adeyeka that does get some early morning sun and has bloomed nicely for four years.
They are most sensitive to sudden cold when they have come out of dormancy and have new growth. Different varieties do this at different times.

I planted April Dawn 2 years ago along with 3 other cold hardy camellias. My April Dawn did great this past winter. It is in a sheltered location, and does not get morning sun, but it was also left fully uncovered during the first big 20" snows and subsequent cold snap (many single digit nights). It had no die back and looks great now. I highly recommend this camellia for cold areas. Two others of my other camellias (Springs Promise and Snow Flurry) are also looking very good and had no die back. My Autumn Spirit did not fare so well. I will probably loose 1/3 to 2/3 of this young plant - but I am expecting it to come back.

I have April Dawn here in Providence (6B) and it's fine. No protection, but it's near a south facing wall and does get a little shade in the afternoon from a nearby holly tree, so the shade is year-round. I also have April Rose and April Remembered. For a fall bloomer, I have Snow Flurry. It's been around for at least 12 years and has never suffered any damage, even in the terrible January of 2004, when we had temps below zero (-6º one night!) or at or just a few degrees above zero for nearly three weeks. In addition, the daytime temps never went above freezing, and mostly were struggling to get to 20º, so that was a good test!

>Purchased 'April Dawn' this week and the flowers are truly breathtaking. I read that it is one of the hardy camellias so I am wondering if it will be ok to plant this in my woodland garden under very tall oak and tulip trees. The area receives just the right amount of light and moisture but I am wondering if the camellia will be ok not planted against a house or a fence.

Avoid putting it within the drip line of the tulip tree; its sticky drippings in the spring are an invitation for diseases to get started. The camellia doesn't need anything like a house or fence, though if a house or fence are somewhere not too far away, the resulting windbreak in the winter would be nice.

Most of ours are far from the house and they do fine that way. One thing you can do about the windbreak situation is to plant the camellia in a small grouping, so that all the plants within the grouping are somewhat more sheltered from the wind than they would be if planted totally alone as a single plant. All of ours that are far from the house do have some protection from other nearby large plants (rhododendrons, azaleas, and other camellias).

Best wishes,
Mary