Last weekend included a quick trip to Marietta, Georgia, to celebrate the 80th birthday of our long-time plant friend, Ozzie Johnson. Ozzie is a life long garden designer and consultant in the Atlanta area, as well as a career volunteer at the Atlanta Botanical Garden. Ozzie has traveled extensively through China, Vietnam, and Japan, searching for new ornamental plants. He’s also been instrumental in connecting US nurseryman to their Japanese counterparts. I’ve had the pleasure of visiting Ozzie’s 1.5 acres plant-mad garden since the 1980s, and have also accompanied him on a month-long botanizing expedition to Yunnan, China in 1996.
Ozzie works mostly under the radar, but primarily through his association with the wholesale nursery Itsaul Plants, has been responsible for a number of introductions including Mahonia ‘Soft Caress’ (w/Itsaul Plants 2006), Mahonia ‘Marvel’ (2015), Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Lemon Daddy’ (2005), Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Big Daddy’ (2002) Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Little Echo’ (2015), Begonia ‘Basket Case Pink’ (2013), Begonia ‘Plum Paisley’ (2013), Begonia ‘Flirty Girl’ (2015), Begonia ‘Smooch’, Begonia ‘Sterling Moon’ (2020), Begonia ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ (2022), Begonia ‘Harvest Moon’ (2022), and Petunia ‘Colorsplash’ (2002).
Ozzie’s next talk near JLBG will be on April 19, 2025, when he is scheduled to speak to the Piedmont Chapter of the North American Rock Garden Society.
Congratulations on a plantsman’s life well-lived!
Ozzie’s girlfriend, Lisa Bartlett (flowery dress) was the event organizer and hostess
Looks fun. When can we’re expect an PDN improved, hardier Soft Caress?
In the works
Ozzie is wonderful. Wish I could have been there and that I lived closer. His garden is one of my favorites.