One of the most impressive camellia gardens in the state is located between Hammond and Robert at the Hammond Research Station. This two-acre garden located under towering pine trees features over 450 named cultivars and about 200 unnamed seedlings or unidentifiable cultivars of Camellia japonicas (best known as camellias) and Camellia sasanquas (best known as sasanquas). Most of the camellias in this collection were planted in the late 1930s through the early 1950s.
The collection was planted by W. F. “Hody” Wilson, Jr., superintendent of the station from the mid 1930s until 1975. Mr. Wilson was a internationally-known for his camellia breeding during his time at the station. The two most well known selections of Mr. Wilson are ‘Manship’ and ‘Jerry Wilson’. Many of the camellias in this collection are from Mr. Wilson’s breeding program and may be the only one of its kind.
In 1999, the Tangipahoa Parish Master Gardeners took the clean-up and maintenance of the garden as a project. Susan Spiller, a former resident of Hammond until her death in 2001, was an enthusiastic master gardener who spent many hours cleaning up and caring for the camellias. A memorial camellia, ‘Sweet Jane’, was planted in the garden in 2002 in her memory.
The Camellia Garden will now continue at the Hammond Research Station due to an effort to provide educational and research support for the growing commercial landscape industry in the Florida Parishes. A future map of the garden and the propagation of the camellias are ongoing projects.
A Garden Stroll, co-sponsored by LSU AgCenter and Tangipahoa Parish Master Gardener Association, is held one Sunday afternoon in February. The public is welcome to walk the forest path and view glorious blooms of named and one-of-a-kind varieties of camellias.