Garden graced with Dodd seedlings from Georgia | Culture | Summerville Journal Scene

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Garden graced with Dodd seedlings from Georgia

Published Tuesday, December 27, 2011 2:42 PM

Summerville Journal Scene ®

Photo Provided

A Camellia propagated by Dick Dodd.

When two French horticulture students completed internships recently at Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, they left behind a garden that honors a Georgia man who spent a lifetime growing thousands of camellias from seeds.

Nearly 100 plants that were cultivated by the late Richard E. “Dick” Dodd are in a small garden designed by Coralie Beaune and Baptiste Salliou, students from the Versailles National School of Landscape Architecture near Paris.

Before his death in 1995, Dodd spent most of his life growing camellias on his Marshallville, Ga., farm.

Tom Johnson, Magnolia’s director of gardens, said camellias grown from seeds are genetically different from the parent and most of them are not attractive. But Dodd choose the best flowers to propagate.

Johnson said that one hundred of the Dodd’s camellias have been planted in what will become a one-acre garden near Magnolia’s historic camellia garden. “This garden will eventually have thousands of unnamed camellia varieties, all of which can be show winners,” he said.

Dodd’s widow, Claire Dodd, said, her husband did not create the garden to draw attention to himself. “Publicity meant nothing to him,” she said. “He wouldn’t expect anything like this. It was a hobby for him. He just enjoyed it, and it made him happy that other people came to see his garden. As far as I am concerned and the children are concerned, (the garden at Magnolia) is a very nice honor,” she said.

Magnolia took cuttings from the Dodd camellias and grew them in the greenhouse then relocated them when they were large enough to plant in the ground. Johnson said the Dodd camellias in the new

Magnolia garden were grown from cuttings taken in June 2009. Additional cuttings from the Dodd garden will be collected in July 2012.

Unlike many camellia hobbyists, Dodd did not submit the new varieties he created to the American Camellia Society to be registered.

Miles Beach, director of Magnolia’s camellia collection, said, “Having seen the Dodd seedlings in bloom, Magnolia Plantation is very fortunate to have been given access to the Dodd camellia collection of the original plants. Many of the Dodd cultivars are worthy of recognition on an international basis.”

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