Background
This site received several emails asking for advice about camellias. Here are some of them asked and answered during 2001 and 2002.

Q: We have a large camellia (2 metres) tall which we want to move to another part of the garden. When and how do we do this? (NSW Coastal)
Camellias are regarded as shallow rooted plants. Their roots generally go down a foot or two into the soil, and spread as far as the canopy. Because of this, you must be careful when moving that the roots are disturbed as little as possible. Shovel around the root base, and then tie up in black plastic or hession. Then move via a wheelbarrow. The best time of year is after flowering, but if you have a hot summer, Autumn may be better. A large camellia which has been moved may not flower the next season due to minor shock, but, depending on the cultivar, it should recover fully after that, as long as the soil and other conditions are met.

Q: I have a bed of red roses and want red camellias to flower with them in the bed. Which variety should I choose? (Victoria)
Roses and camellias do not normally flower at the same time of the year; camellias are generally winter/spring, and roses in summer. However, some roses are recurrent, which means they also flower in Autumn, and sasanqua camellias flower in Autumn. So, if your roses flower in autumn, look for an early flowering red sasanqua (not Yuletide - which is usually late).

Q: My camellias are dying. They are in the lawn and the end of the garden. It is wet and boggy there, but I was told they would do well there because they are from England.
It is a common 'urban-myth' that camellias come from England originally. Some camellias have been bred there, and the original camellias that came in the 1800s mainly came from England and Europe, but wild camellias are actually found in China, Japan, and other closely situated Asian nations. And the one thing camellias hate is being in a wet spot. They prefer well drained soil, where the roots can take in the moisture required.

Q: I planted four camellias in our x-vegetable garden. They now have yellow leaves and some are looking sickly. Why?
Camellias are acid loving plants. Vegetables prefer alkaline soils.

Q: My camellias never flower. In Winter, when my neighbours camellias flower, they just have large brown hard buds; like huge nuts on them.
Your camellias are probably in the family of sasanquas, which means that they flower in Autumn, and it is then that you should be looking for flowers. The 'nuts' you described are seed pods, which means that your camellia did have flowers in Autumn, which the bees cross-polinated. When the seed pods open, the seeds will drop out.