page_title: Graham Stuart Thomas
section_title: Horticultural career
hierarchical_section_title: Graham Stuart Thomas / Horticultural career
caption_attribution_description: Geranium x oxonianum 'Claridge Druce'
context_page_description: Graham Stuart Thomas OBE VMH, was an English botanist, best known for his work with garden roses, his restoration and stewardship of over 100 National Trust gardens and for writing 19 books on gardening, many of which remain classics today.
  In his obituary in the Los Angeles Times, Clair Martin, rose curator of Huntington Botanical Gardens said: "Thomas set about preserving the heritage of old roses when many of them were on the verge of extinction".
context_section_description: In 1930, Thomas joined the then famous Six Hills Nursery in Stevenage, working under alpine expert Clarence Elliott. The following year he became foreman at T. Hilling & Co (Hillings), a renowned 300-acre nursery near Chobham, Surrey.
  It was while working at Hillings that Thomas met the formidable garden designer Gertrude Jekyll, then aged 88, when he wrote her a letter and she invited him for a cup of tea and a chat about gardening. She became a mentor to the young gardener, passing on her theories of garden design as an art. It was around this time that Thomas began to collect old shrub and climbing rose varieties, many of which had fallen out of favour because they only flowered once during the season.
  Thomas became partner at Sunningdale Nurseries – then the most revered nursery in the country – with Jim Russell. The partners became known for planting schemes that focused on form and foliage, as much as flowers. At Sunningdale, Thomas established his entire collection of roses. It was here also that he began introducing new or rediscovered garden plants – notable introductions from this period include the perennial Geranium 'Claridge Druce'. While Thomas would become associated with many other projects, he would remain a director of the Sunningdale nursery until 1971.
  Thomas's first important publication about roses was a booklet called The Manual of Shrub Roses, describing all the varieties, with advice on cultivation. In the foreword he described the booklet's aim as: "To bring forth these lovely things from retirement." His classic books on roses – Old Shrub Roses (1955), Shrub Roses Of Today (1962) and Climbing Roses Old And New (1965) followed and cemented his influence. They also provided much-needed information about the history and extent of the genus at a time when old varieties were being overshadowed by their repeat flowering and showier cousins hybrid teas and floribundas.
caption: Geranium x oxonianum 'Claridge Druce' was a notable introduction by Graham Thomas while he was at Sunningdale Nurseries
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