Graham Stuart Thomas OBE (3 April 1909 – 16 April 2003), was an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 horticulturalist, artist, author, poet and garden designer.

He was born in Cambridge

Cambridge

The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...

 and studied in the University Botanic Garden at Cambridge University

University of Cambridge

The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...

. For thirty years he was Gardens Adviser to the National Trust

National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty

The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, usually known as the National Trust, is a conservation organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland...

 and in 1975 received the Order of the British Empire

Order of the British Empire

The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...

 (OBE) for his work with that organization. He supervised the restoration of some of the most famous gardens in Great Britain

Great Britain

Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

 including Mottisfont Abbey

Mottisfont Abbey

Mottisfont Abbey is a historical abbey and country estate in England. Sheltered in the valley of the River Test, the property is now operated by the National Trust. About 200,000 people visit each year...

 in 1957, Sezincote in 1968, and Eyford Park in 1976.

His autobiography, told in terms of the three gardens he successively owned, is told in Three Gardens.
In addition to the OBE, Graham Thomas was one of the sixty-three holders of the Victoria Medal of Honour

Victoria Medal of Honour

The Victoria Medal of Honour is awarded to British horticulturists resident in the United Kingdom whom the Royal Horticultural Society Council considers deserving of special honour by the Society...

. He was awarded the Veitch Memorial Medal

The Veitch Memorial Medal

The Veitch Memorial Medal, is a prestigious international prize issued annually by the Royal Horticultural Society .-Goal:The prize is awarded to "persons of any nationality who have made an outstanding contribution to the advancement and improvement of the science and practice of horticulture"...

 by the Royal Horticultural Society

Royal Horticultural Society

The Royal Horticultural Society was founded in 1804 in London, England as the Horticultural Society of London, and gained its present name in a Royal Charter granted in 1861 by Prince Albert...

 as well as their Gold Medal for his paintings and drawings, and the Dean Hole Medal by the National Rose Society. The Garden Writers' Guild

Garden Writers' Guild

The British Garden Writers' Guild, , is a trade organisation for professional garden writers, photographers, broadcasters and members of allied trades. The Guild was established in 1991 to improve the quality of garden writing, photography and broadcasting by improving links between the gardening...

 gave him a Lifetime Achievement Award in 1996. In 1983, a yellow rose was named in his honor by rose breeder David Austin.

He was probably best known for his work in gathering and popularizing old and new shrub rose

Rose

A rose is a woody perennial of the genus Rosa, within the family Rosaceae. There are over 100 species. They form a group of erect shrubs, and climbing or trailing plants, with stems that are often armed with sharp prickles. Flowers are large and showy, in colours ranging from white through yellows...

s. In addition to having an encyclopedic knowledge of horticulture

Horticulture

Horticulture is the industry and science of plant cultivation including the process of preparing soil for the planting of seeds, tubers, or cuttings. Horticulturists work and conduct research in the disciplines of plant propagation and cultivation, crop production, plant breeding and genetic...

, Thomas was an artist

Artist

An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...

whose paintings and drawings illustrate his many books. He was also a talented photographer, poet and musician who has been described as "one of the towering figures of the art and craft of gardening of all time".

His Books Include

• The Old Shrub Roses (1955)
• Colour in the Winter Garden (1957)
• Shrub Roses of Today (1962)
• Climbing Roses Old and New (1965)
• Perennial Garden Plants (1975)
• Plants for Ground Cover (1977)
• The Art of Planting (1984)
• Complete Flower Paintings and Drawings of Graham Stuart Thomas (1987)
• The Graham Stuart Thomas Rose Book (1994 - republication of Old Shrub Roses, Shrub Roses of Today, and Climbing Roses Old and New)
• Cuttings from My Garden Notebooks (1997)
• Treasured Perennials (1999)
• Graham Stuart Thomas' Three Gardens of Pleasant Flowers: With Notes on Their Design, Maintenance and Plants (2001)
• The Garden Through the Year (2002)