Too early for my japonicas. But I suspect I will get no blooms (or few blooms) due to the exceptional drought in the area. I will be glad to maintain alive the shrubs that I already have.

I have a northern lights sasanqua that has had its first flower. I have had hellacious water bills but worth it seeing the flowers. And even with all the watering I did I still see a decrease in the number of buds on many of the japonicas and the sasanquas. But am thankful for every flower. I bought the northern lights about 4 years ago. A nice 1 gal. size. It is over 4 feet and nice and bushy yet with that sprawl. I clip it lightly to make it more bushy. It seems to work. Last year it bloomed for about 6 weeks. Super loaded with buds now. I was a little shocked to see the flower and it was on the back side of the plant. So I gave it a good watering yesterday. It is just so dry.
James in Florida.

I think I must praise our 'Pink Dauphin' sasanqua for its earliness of bloom every year. In spite of the drought and with no irrigation, the 'Pink Dauphin' was in bloom during the last week of August, with flowers that were reduced in size, but not in fragrance, by the late summer heat. As the heat moderated in September, the appearance of the flowers improved; and for several days, it was covered with a lot of attractive pink blooms that attract bees, wasps, and several other insects. This sasanqua "tree" is over forty-five-years-old and has never been headed back. It's huge, with a colony of seedling surrounding it--all with the early-blooming tendency of their "mommer." Nearby, is a _Camellia sinensis macrophylla_--a large-leaf tea-that, at the end of September, is filled with attractive white flowers that nod downward.

'Autumn Moon' bloomed the first year, using energy from the nursery. That was several years ago. No buds or flowers this Fall. And 'Red Jade did the same, but went for about 4 years, then, this Summer it loaded up with buds of next Spring.
'Crimson Candles' faithfully blooms for me.

I'll have to investigate the plants mentioned above. August is really early to see a camellia bloom! If you think about how late some japonicas flower one could almost have camellias in bloom the whole year.

Do y'all find that the early bloomers are earlier than years past? I've got flowers on two Yuletides already and last year they didn't have their first flower till Halloween. Actually the Sparkling Burgundy I mentioned in my first post didn't start blooming last year till Oct. 13, so it is much earlier this year too.

Not yet. Most of mine are japonicas but all are still not blooming. The Arboretum has more sasanquas and it would be a good place to see if they are blooming early/earlier.

We have liftoff: Narumigata and Setsugekka (both sasnquas) started opening blooms over the past couple of days. For us, this is early--we used to see the first blooms in November.

normally, my first to bloom will be 'shishi gahsira' and 'pink snow' but neither of those are showing color yet.
however, i bought this one from the horticulture dept. of auburn university this summer. they are calling it 'first lady' (the cultivar name has been lost over time). these were propagated from a row of large, old shrubs on the grounds of the university president's home. said to grow quite tall and not so wide, the flowers are 4" wide, pure satin white with small, very dark green foliage. she is quite a beauty, i think. i believe i detected a slight fragrance, too, but not sweet. i have yet to plant the shrub; normally wait until cool weather.
{{gwi:513297}}

Jeff,
That is a very pretty sasanqua. It looks a lot like that old standard sasanqua cultivar, 'Setsugekka,' except for the apparent absence of a trace of dark rose shading on the tips of its petals.

I now also have blooms on Two Marthas, and And Northern lights is showing dozens of flowers and opening buds. My shishi gashira is not blooming yet either but is full of buds. Also Yuletide is usually my first bloomer but has no color showing all buds still tight. First lady is beautiful.
James in Florida

the more i look at my plant, i am inclined to agree with jay. the rose shading does appear on some petals (perhaps that feature fades with the age of the blossom?) and it is obvious on the unopened buds. i have never grown 'setsugekka' but this one closely resembles the photos i have seen. i might bring it to the attention of someone in the horticulture department.
{{gwi:513299}}
{{gwi:513300}}

Jeff,
We have four 'Setsugekka' sasanquas. The oldest two plants were K-Mart Flashing Blue Light Specials grown from gallon pots and, in our garden, date from the mid-nineteen sixties. One of those is very tall and tree-like, with waxy dark-green foliage. The blossoms are large and have a marked degree of crepiness (sp.?).

I now have flowers on yuletide and bonanza and sparkling burgundy. You just can't go wrong investing in camellias. They just get better every year. I am thankful for every dollar I spent on them. I have more to get planted. And every time someone post a good photo of a different one I want one of those too.
James In Florida