Amongst a few other camelias which all behaved themselves, one with
red-ish blooms had relatively few which opened fully.

Is there a straightforward diagnosis?

Could be they were damaged by frost at a critical point in their bud
development, whereas the buds on the other camellias weren't so well
developed at that moment and came through unscathed.


Many thanks for the replies.

On balance, it looks like frost is more likely to have been the
culprit - they were vicious and prolonged here whereas rain through
the winter was unexceptional.

At least it looks like it wasn't of my doing, or not doing!

I have had a similar problem with mine so all the answers have been
interesting. One person living nearby said that I had not watered them
enough during the winter, !!!!

kate