Some of these mutations are caused by changes in the DNA while others are caused by a virus. It seems your plant is going back to its true normal pink blooms. It is an interesting problem. If a virus caused the mutation and it is not active (or as active as before), this may be causing fewer peppermint blooms. I am not aware what you could do now (other than replace the shrub) so I am eager to see if anyone knows of a way to kick start the peppermint blooms again.

I had a similar surprise too. I bought a small striped camellia called Eleanor McCown that started doing giving me striped and pink blooms on its second/third year in my garden. Unfortunately, the dogs had "other plans" for the shrub so I am not sure what it would look like now.... mostly/all striped, mostly pink, etc.

Dear jrdarrah,
If your camellia is the heirloom variety 'La Peppermint,' one of its characteristics is to sport. Your plant has probably sported to its alterego--'Brilliant (South).' These two varieties are listed in the _Camellia Nomenclature Supplement_. There's probably not much you can do about the situation, short of pruning away the 'Brilliant (South)' portion of the plant.

Dear luis_pr,

The same thing happened with your 'Eleanor McCown' camellia. The pink version is probably 'Catherine McCown,' a sport of 'Eleanor McCown.'

Some cultivars are so unstable they may have three different types of flowers all on the same bush.

i bought a 4 ft plant about 15 years ago when it was not blooming....and its all pink (brilliant) and has never sported back to la peppermint. however, i bought a plant that was labelled as lasca beauty...and its 'la peppermint'. HA!