Tom Johnson is a lifelong horticulturist. Tom’s love of working with plants developed while he was being raised on a truck farm in middle Georgia. As a member of the Future Farmers of America in high school, Tom oversaw the redesign of downtown Perry, Ga. The landscaping of the area won for the city a prestigious national award.
At age 16, Tom went to work for a local garden center and landscaping company. After high school, he attended Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College where he majored in plant propagation.
In 1985, when President Jimmy Carter began building his presidential library in Atlanta, he enlisted Tom to help oversee the building of the gardens. That experience lead to Tom being selected for the design team for the buildings and gardens.
During the development of the Carter Center Gardens, Tom apprenticed for five years under world renowned Japanese architect Kinsako Nakane. Tom is one of only a handful of Americans to have had this opportunity. Later, Tom worked under Shiro Nakane, Kinsako’s son.
After 15 years with The Carter Presidential Center, Tom returned to middle Georgia to become the national horticulturist with the American Camellia Society. For the next eight years, Tom managed the society’s camellia collection at Massee Lane Gardens, the society’s national headquarters. In that role, Tom traveled the “Southern camellia belt” advising garden and camellia growers on cultural and propagation issues.
While at Massee Lane, Tom was approached by Drayton Hastie Jr., one of the owners of Magnolia Plantation and Gardens in Charleston. Hastie had attended several of Tom’s lectures. Tom’s presentation was not limited to the preservation of old azalea and camellia varieties, but he also spoke passionately about the Romantic Garden and its style.
Hastie was so impressed that he spent the next several years coaxing Tom to become Magnolia’s executive director, where his responsibilities included the restoration of America’s oldest romantic-style garden.
Tom was charged with returning Magnolia to the vision the Rev. John Grimké Drayton had when he began designing the gardens for his homesick bride in the mid 1800’s. This project launched Tom on a worldwide search for azalea and camellia varieties that predated the 1900’s.
Tom’s association with some of the world’s greatest gardens and horticulturists was fruitful for Magnolia. The gardens garnished the honor of being the first garden in America approved to receive interns from Versailles’ school of landscape design in Paris. Magnolia also took the lead in the creation of the Great Gardens of America Preservation Alliance, a group of gardens, colleges and individuals interested in the preservation of older varieties of azaleas and camellias.
Tom is a sought-after speaker across the South. He uses his Southern charm and humor to promote the preservation of America’s azalea and camellia collections and the Romantic Gardening style.
