San Francisco Botanical Gardens

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C. japonioca 'Herme'

Camellias on the Move

By Angela Neal
Photographs by Barbara Tuffli
From the Camellia Journal June-August, 2006

Marjory O’Malley was legendary for the extensive, prized camellia collection at her home in Woodside, California. Some were lucky enough to visit her estate during her lifetime and walk around the undulating property in the spring sunshine. There, graceful reticulatas reaching twenty-five feet into the canopy of native California oak trees, supported huge jewel-hued blossoms on their limbs.

Camellias bloomed nearly year round at the O’Malleys, where even the horse jumps were made of sasanquas. It was an era, and a place, which many will remember fondly.

Looking into the future on one of those enchanted visits, it would have been hard to imagine the entire hillside of plants being removed and transported fifty miles by truck, to begin a new existence in San Francisco. But the unimaginable happened and San Francisco Botanical Garden received the gift of almost three hundred mature plants, hybridized, collected and cherished over a lifetime.

“The camellias on the O’Malley estate in Woodside represented fifty years of hybridization with really strong holdings of Camellia reticulata, in the most gorgeous reds and pinks. It was almost a camellia forest, with each plant exquisitely pruned and opened up so you could see the blossoms, like so few camellias are,” enthuses Scot Medbury, Director of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, who until recently was Director of the San Francisco Botanical Garden. It was he who oversaw the enormous logistical details of moving this “forest” fifty miles to San Francisco.

When Scot Medbury heard there was a possibility of bringing the camellia collection to San Francisco, he immediately jumped into action. “Perhaps a more prudent garden director would have said, ‘Well that’s very interesting but we are in the middle of a lot of things at the SanFrancisco Botanical Garden, and we will just have to decline’ – but this was just too good an opportunity and I thought, let’s see if we can do this.

“With time running out to save the camellias, I contacted Peter Good of Goodscapes. Peter is a landscape contractor who is a horticulturist first, and is very sensitive to plants. I knew he would be the right kind of person to tackle a project like this where you can’t really create specifications on how proceed to ensure success. What is going to matter is whether you have a green thumb, and knowledge to make sure these plants survive. Peter

pays attention to plant health – sprinkling the roots and all the other extra little things that a gardener who is attuned to the needs of their plants might do. Peter Good’s proposal was to hire a veteran crew based in Oregon who uses a ball and burlap technique for moving field grown or established plants. There would also be a high-end tree mover who had worked in the White House grounds.

“After the camellias were balled and burlapped they would be organized into groups to be easily deployed to four different sites in the Botanical Garden. This was a logistical challenge because they would come out of the garden in order of accessibility.

“Barbara Tuffli of nearby Atherton, created the matrix so we would understand all the complexities of the plants. If plants came out of shade they had to return to shade, and the same for those used to sun. There was also the size of the plant and the color of the blossom as we did not want some “tutti fruitti” technicolor scheme. Then also we paid attention to what species or hybrid they were, as well as the size of the root ball".
                                                                                                      Barbara Tuffli, coordinator of the move
                                                                                                  stands on the rootrball of 'Delores Hope'

Scot Medbury reviewed the plans which included companion plantings and new pathways. He concluded that he could take 230 of the 300 plants. They would have to make the fifty-mile journey by flatbed truck from Woodside to San Francisco. It was at this point that Sonja and Bill Davidow, the current owners of the O’Malley collection, generously agreed to underwrite the project.

The move began in February, 2005. “Giant trucks began showing up with these huge plants” recalls Medbury. “They were delivered all at once and were sitting above ground. There were just so many plants at one time. Then we had a heat wave with temperatures spiking to 75 degrees, even though it was the first week in February. We werevery worried because some winters it warms up and stays dry through the spring - which would have been a nightmare – so we nervously kept all the root balls damp. Then it began to rain again and, fortunately, became a wet spring.”

This spring, in 2006, one year after the gargantuan plan and undertaking, there was a celebration and dedication, including a tour of the O’Malley camellias in the San Francisco Botanical Garden. The largest group is located in the species garden near the moon viewing garden. This is the heart, and oldest part, of the Botanical Garden which began with four acres in l870, and includes the most famous trees including the Magnolia campbelli which was, for many years, the logo of the gardens. Many of the species camellias are clustered here, and behind them are some of the examples of the O’Malley hybridization. There are interpretive signs for visitors showing the six main flower forms, hints on growing camellias and descriptions of types of camellia.

A second group has been placed in an area called the perimeter garden. Here are many of the bigger reticulatas which are about 25 feet tall. As well as adding their beauty, they do double duty as a screen to the new underground parking at the De Young Museum. Another grouping went into the Zellerbach garden of perennials where the focus is on pastel colors – so only palest pastels were selected. A final group was placed along the path leading from the parking lot to the nursery.

“Credit for this move goes to so many.” says Medbury. “Barbara Tuffli was really the patron saint, along with the wonderful generosity of Bill and Sonja Davidow who were the primary donors for the project. Then there was a dedicated group from the San Francisco/Peninsula Camellia Society who spent hours working on tagging and labeling, and measuring. Landscape architect Jonathan Plant gave us several days of his time and helped us site the plants, in particular in the species garden. We wouldn’t let just anyone start throwing camellias at the landscape. I think he did a very good job of siting the plants. He is such an experienced and competent designer.”

The addition of the O’Malley camellias makes the collection at the San Francisco Botanical Garden one of the most extensive, varied and important ones on the West Coast. The gardens are open daily to the public and everyone now has the opportunity to see and share Marjory O’Malley’s very significant contribution to the world of camellias. Moving the huge camellias was quite a challenge.

The heavy equipment didn’t eliminate the need for a lot A crane was used to lift of spade work as the camellias were planted in the ‘Delores Hope’ onto Arboretum the Truck
Scott Medbury Receives Honors

Scot Medbury served concurrently as director of the 55-acre San Francisco Botanical Garden at Strybing Arboretum, where he was highly successful in creating programming that appealed to San Francisco’s diverse audiences and increased their use and enjoyment of the garden. He was the director of the San Francisco Conservatory of Flowers — a San Francisco landmark since 1878 — during a $25 million restoration and exhibitions upgrade that transformed it into one of Golden Gate Park’s star attractions and garnered the project more than a dozen awards.

In October of 2005, Medbury was named Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s sixth president.

In celebration of the American Association of Museums (AAM) 100th anniversary this year, Medbury, was chosen as one of 100 museum leaders named to the Association’s Centennial Honor Roll. Medbury is recognized particularly as a champion of botanic gardens, where over a nearly thirty-year career he has worked to innovate, improve, and expand upon how botanic gardens in the United States serve the public.