Severtal folks in Georgia and the West Coast have one from cuttings, I think. It is somewhat sensitive to the cold and some people have said it is a pain to propagate compared to other camellias. Germination or cuttings appears to be very easy but laaater on, the plants stops with growing and, if you repot them too quickly, you can loose it. So you can see, this is a problem for commercial growers.

If I were searching, I would start with Nuccio's. The shrub is also called camellia changii.

I only can give you some tips of cultivation of this stunning camellia. I'm in Europe (Northern Italy) an have several of chinese origin Changii plants from a few years. The seed-pods mature very quickly, thus most of seeds have immature embryos and one can get sprouted just a few of them. Grafting on japonicas, sasanquas, oleifera etc. is relatively easy and that's as yet the only way to obtain long-lasting plants. Blooming in non tropical habitats goes approx. from february to october with a peak from june to august. On my hands Changii does not like too rich substrates , fertllizers and lots of water: one must consider that the original ("yellow") soil of the native plants is poor in nutrients though well draining. My cultivation mix includes much pine bark (40%), pumice gravel, peat. At least twice a year the leaves are sprayed with copper oxychloride and the plant given fosetyl-Al. Last but not least, Changii likes even full sun....

Thank you both for your reply.
I'm going to contact Nuccios in the spring, to see if I can get one.
The plant itself is endangered, so I guess that is also contributing to the lack of availability.

Yes, Bought one from Nuccio's two years ago. As mentioned above it is difficult to propagate and so is available in small quantities and small plants."Camellia Nomenclature" lists it as Species "Azalae Wei" aka Camellia Azalea and Changii Ye'.
It is a very slow grower, but flowers are stunning. Mine, growing in Las Vegas, blooms successively, mid summer to fall, with usually only one or two flowers open at once.

I have one from Nuccio's in an unheated greenhouse where it has - along with other species camellias from there - been managing with little care other than occasional watering.

Trehane, Camellias - The Gardener's Encyclopedia (Timber Press, 2007), p. 33 lists and describes it under Camellia changii 1985, says

"Synonym: C. azalea Wei 1986. The latter is not accepted by the International Code of Plant Nomenclature, but that is the suggestive name under which this species gained prominence outside China"

and (in addition to more remarks and a description) has a color photo showing three flowers.

Camellia azalea was first brought into the country a number of years ago. It does not root well and does not grow well on it's own roots. Plants grafted on good root stock seem to perform well. It does bloom and in the summer but the plant can easily get nutrient deficiencies and will show heavy veining in plants that are not sufficient in certain elements. Because of the nature of the plant, it's difficulty in propagating it will probably never enter the lineup of regular gardening plants. It's potential lies in breeding.

Its a stunning plant, I have several, about eight in a grove. The price has come down a lot since I first bought mine, sometimes by at least 70%. Im not in America however and Im not sure why this is as grafting stock is often taken from the wild which cannot be renewable to the extent of the number of these found in markets across Southern China and Hong Kong and the rest of Asia never mind exported elsewhere.

The grafted trees are it's true very easy to grow, and with cutting success so bad will continue to be the mainstay of the species as a garden plant. They're as easy as any Camellia except they like full sun if your humidity is up to it and warm subtropical conditions, even tropical ones seem to work if you can keep the roots stock cool and the plant partly shaded. They need acid soils and love a nice deep mulch. Only problems that are encountered are on the very big grafting stocks (Camellia japonica) where they've grafted multiple small branches. The cut wood on the stock doesn't health over easily if at all and rots after a time instead so the grafts start to wilt and decay. The best grafting is a simple single top graft leaving no exposed wood on the stock, this is a long lived plant.

There is extraordinary phenotypic variation in flower form and leaf shape in Camellia azalea. This is true even given the limited small number of plants left in the wild and their otherwise lack of true genetic variation. Some have small very open flowers others have large tall fluted wine glass shape flowers just like a large magnolia, lots in between. Variation in size and shape of flower is quite considerable but also the colour of the red. Some are more on the pink side of red, others pale faded out red, some more on the orange side but the best are a deep vibrant scarlet with the large fluted upright blooms. Size and shape of leaf and plant shape also vary.

There is simply no other Camellia like it so it will always be a stunning garden plant in it's own right as a species. Unfortunately Camellias and their hundreds of selections and crosses cannot compare to the best of Camellia azalea in a straight comparison. So crosses or hybrids tend to diminish the flower shape and the unique vibrant colour. C. azalea could in theory however impart the forever blooming characteristics onto the rest, though as of now not many of these crosses have exhibit that characteristic in any way to the degree of the species. Alternatively with repeated back crossing the ease with which ordinary Camellias can be propagated could make for an easily propagated C. azalea eventually. I think the latter is where efforts should be concentrated so something more or less exactly like the best of the species can be enjoyed far more widely and relieve pressure on wild populations for grafting stock. A white with the best shape and size of a C.azalea bloom would of course be extremely lovely!

I've seen some hybrids of it that were quite distinctive and beautiful, and had the ever-blooming trait.

Really! Thats interesting who is growing them I would love to see those!? So far no one is marketing such a plant.

That's all I'm at liberty to say.

I bought a C. Azalea from Vancouver, BC last month for CAD$30. It is a small plant, only about a foot tall, but has grown a number of new leaves since and even has a swelling flower bud. It seems to love my bark-based, highly aerated mix. Though, mine does not seem to be grafted, as the main trunk is thin at the surface level, and there is no discernible grafting joint.

It is not a secret that camellia breeders in the US are working on hybridizing C. Azalea. For example, here is a slideshow that shows what Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania has done. Wait a few years, and I’m sure some of those new hybrid cultivars will be released.

Yes Im afraid the ever blooming habit of Camellia azalea having been successfully introduced into ordinary Camellias remains unsubstantiated. There have as vvasabi says been a number of successful crosses no secrete. The Chinese have also made some but calling them everblooming as they have done because they've simply made the cross doesn't make it so. Hybridising doesn't seem the difficult part.

Vvasabi I've seen a few like you describe and have also thought they were on their own roots, very thin trunks however on closer inspection have always managed to find the graft, though this is sometimes quite difficult with these as a very fine "patina" develops on the bark but also because both stock and graft are so thin it's a very smooth graft. It would be amazing of course if yours is on it's own roots and thriving. For part of the year the wild population is seasonly flooded, so water doesn't appear to be much of a problem, though the dense soil appears to be quite dry most of the rest of the time and water penetration is difficult. Just some of the few snippets of information available, not much Im afraid.

You are right. I think I found what appeared to be the graft. It is very smooth, though, and I wonder what camellia species is used as the rootstock. Like what you described above, I have read about c. japonica scions grafted onto a large c. oleifera rootstock not lasting for a few years. I am hoping that my grafted c. azalea will last long.

My specimen does seem very easy to care for so far. It is on a condo balcony and gets about 4 hours of sun. Summer is not hot at all here (and rather chilly) this year, so I water it about once every 10 days. It grew 5 new leaves at the top since it arrived a month ago, and the flower bud is steadily swelling.

Thanks for your post although I find myself alarmed that plants apparently grown in native soils are moving with such frequency from China to Europe...might well explain the P. ramorum outbreak in the UK. I knew, for example, that some Indian nurseries in the Himalayas were supplying Cautleyas and Roscoeas to the UK, but would have assumed they were growing in some kind of sterilized media.

Yes these soil born pathogens can be a problem. I've never had a problem with the roots myself, they seem very robust and mostly grown in local soil of the region where Camellia azalea grow wild. I think what Kiwoncelo had was a problem with the graft. Its unclear but a cross section of the stem and graft might have shown more clearly what was up. Some kind of disruption with the flow in the vessels.