That said, this is a timely post as I was going to ask about camellias that tend to be frost resistant in Spring. Most of mine are currently Sasanqua. I need some Japonica that tend not to get frost bitten or shaggedy looking when fried by frost.

As you are, no doubt, aware, there are thousands of named and registered camellia varieties, many of which are well-suited to garden use in our climate zone. Take a look at the Camellia Forest Nursery's Website (www.camforest.com) for excellent information on the cold-hardy cultivars they have available for mail-order. David Parks runs this Chapel Hill nursery, and his father Dr. Clifford Parks is a world renowned authority on camellias. Dr. Parks has worked extensively to develop cold-hardy landscape camellias, many of which are offered for sale by Camellia Forest. Camellia Forest also offers many of the Ackerman camellia hybrids that have been bred especially as cold-tolerant landscape plants.

'Berenice Boddy' is another highly reliable _Camellia japonica_ cultivar that's commonly available in the local nursery trade. It's a light pink semi-double that blooms in February for me. It can stand the cold. It sets a lot of seeds, and you will have camellia seedlings surrounding the mother plant. (Oh, horrors! esh-ga will be thinking, "Invasive! Invasive!"