Camellias on University of Florida Campus

The campus of the University of Florida located in Gainesville, Florida is home to more than 625 camellias. They are located at ten different sites, all but two of which are open to the general public. The largest single grouping can be seen in the 4.8-acre Wilmot Botanical Gardens situated on the UF medical campus at 2023 Mowry Road. More than 400 camellias, with 270 different cultivars, are located at this site. Many of the specimens comprise two specialty gardens within Wilmot Botanical Gardens, the Gordy Camellia Garden and the newly created Mendenhall Family Camellia Walk.

In the summer of 2020, Wilmot Botanical Gardens was officially added to be American Camellia Trails program sponsored by the American Camellia Society. This program, which spans the Atlantic, Gulf and Pacific Coasts, promotes public gardens containing significant collections of camellias. This national recognition is enjoyed by 57 public gardens across the United States, but by only two other botanical gardens in the state of Florida.

The second largest grouping of camellias on the UF campus is located within University Gardens on Museum Drive. This site is home to 150 camellias planted between 2018 and 2021. All were obtained from the former private garden of Clarence and Lillian Gordy, recently of Ocala, Florida. Many rare and unusual cultivars can be found at the University Gardens site.

Gerson Hall, a College of Business facility, located on the northeast corner of the UF campus, is home to another 28 camellias. Again, all of these cultivars were transplanted from the Gordy camellia garden in 2019. Additional campus sites that allow unlimited access to the camellias include the west side of Fifield Hall (13 cultivars), the south side of Mehrhof Hall (10 cultivars), Facilities Services (Building 700) off Radio Road (28 cultivars), and the newest parking garage (Parking Garage 5) on Gale Lemerand Drive (5 cultivars).

Limited access is possible by appointment only for the 32 camellias that are planted at the Dasburg House, the residence of the current president of the University of Florida. All were relocated in 2019 from the Gordy garden in Ocala, Florida.

Finally, a total of ten camellias from the Gordy garden were added to the grounds at the Earl and Christy Powell University House in 2021.

The following lists by site provide the common names, species and bloom season for the camellias located at each site. Only identified camellias are included for each list; unidentified camellias have been omitted.

Camellia Sites on UF Campus