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GREENSBORO -- The place where they dedicated Dr. Joe's statue Wednesday is a far cry from the scraggly bottomland where he first got the idea.

Back then, in the late 1980s, it was a swampy mess at the base of a craggy hillside, not far from a stretch of more salvageable property about to be developed.

Today, it's the unique and beautiful Bog Garden at Benjamin Park, a testament to Dr. Joseph Christian's vision and tenacity. And now it features a statue near the entrance honoring the retired Greensboro physician, the unrelenting creative force behind a transformation that is still unfolding.

"He is such a great ambassador for gardening," said John Chandler, a longtime friend who led efforts to erect the statue in Christian's honor. "He's an outdoorsman who loves to hunt but who also loves plant material. And he likes to save these native plants that we are losing to construction and development."

The statue, by South Carolina sculptor Maria J. Kirby-Smith, has been in place for a little while. But it got a formal installation Wednesday as Christian, Chandler, Kirby-Smith and about 50 of Christian's other friends and family gathered for a brief ceremony.

Christian said he felt tremendously honored by the bronze likeness, which depicts him in tall boots, with a shovel in one hand and the other bearing an "arrow alum" plant for replanting in the bog.

But the self-effacing Christian said he had "mixed feelings" about the imposing likeness.

"When I found out about it, I just didn't want it," he said. "I truly appreciate it, but I'd rather have more plants."

The garden contains 16,000 ferns, trees and other plants rescued by Christian and his "bog buddies," friends who accompanied him on his journeys statewide in search of native plants in threatened habitat.

The specimens were then replanted in the bog, land the prominent Benjamin family donated to the city.

The statue, paid for with private contributions, is the second artifact in the Bog Garden dedicated to him. The other is the Dr. Joseph Christian Serenity Falls , the man-made waterfall he dreamed up and nurtured to reality - including 160 tons of imported boulders.

Christian, 85, also has pursued sculpture as a hobby and has known Kirby-Smith for years. Her handiwork is visible throughout Greensboro in such other castings as the O. Henry statue outside the N.C. Trust Building at Bellemeade and North Elm streets , former Greensboro City Councilman Jimmie I. Barber at Barber Park and philanthropist Joseph M. Bryan at Bryan Park.

Kirby-Smith said recreating her friend's likeness in bronze had special meaning.

"He is a gentleman who is aptly named," she said. "He is indeed a Christian, but not a syrupy sweet one. ... He's just such an extraordinary person."

The sculpture may be new, but it has a familiar ring to anyone who knows Christian and his passion for nature, said Kathy Cates, director of the nonprofit Greensboro Beautiful, who also has helped Christian in his work at the bog.

"It's wonderful because it looks just like he is coming out of the woods carrying a plant and shovel," Cates said.

Christian said he is glad the plaque at the statue's base identifies him only as "Dr. Joe."

"Someone will be walking through there one day and he'll see it and say, 'Who's that guy?' " Christian said. "And someone else will say, 'Oh, just the guy who came up with the idea.' "

Contact Taft Wireback at 373-7100 or taft.wireback@news-record.com