You’ve probably already heard that one of my mentors, Dr. William C. Welch, passed away last month.  You may have read his obituary, my tribute article to him, or one of his numerous gardening books.  He was probably the most prolific garden writer Texas ever produced, certainly within the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, my employer.

His first book was Perennial Garden Color (1989), the first book  on perennials specifically for the South. Then came  Antique Roses for the South (1990), the first book on old garden roses for the South. Then he and I wrote The Southern Heirloom Garden (1995).  After that, he and his friend and former L.S.U. college roommate, Dr. Neil Odenwald, penned The Bountiful Flower Garden (2000) about homegrown cut flowers. He and I then produced  Heirloom Gardening in the South (2012). After that, he co-wrote The Bulb Hunter (2013) with another understudy, Chris Wiesinger. And finally, he I collaborated to publish The Rose Rustlers (2017) telling the unique, untold story the Texas Rose Rustlers and the beginning of the famed Antique Rose Emporium.

In addition, he wrote numerous magazine articles including those for Neil Sperry’s Gardens, Texas Gardener, and Southern Living. In addition to awards for his garden writing, he won pretty much every horticulture and education award available including those from the Texas Nursery and Landscape Association, The Garden Club of America, and the Southern Garden History Society who awarded him the Flora Ann Bynum Medal and the William Lanier Hunt Award in addition to the title of honorary director.

Greg and Bill in Charleston

But these aren’t the things I want to share with you, however, as you can find all of his accolades elsewhere.  I want to share with you something much more personal about how he changed my entire life.

I first met Dr. Welch when he came to speak about the history of roses to one of my undergraduate horticulture classes at Texas A&M in the 1980’s. I was so enamored with his lecture and knowledge that afterward I raced straight to his office to tell him how interested I was and made rose rustling my first venture when I went back home.

Before long, I had received my degree and was headed to graduate school at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches the very year friend Dr. David Creech was to start his famous arboretum there.  Literally, the day before school started, however, Dr. Welch called from Texas A&M and asked me to take the Horticulture Clerk position in downtown Dallas, answering hundreds of gardening questions, eight hours a day on three horticulture-dedicated telephone lines in the Dallas Extension office. Annual salary: $13,333,33. He and Director of Extension Horticulture, Bluefford Hancock assured me it would be good for my career, so I took their advice and moved to Dallas. I was literally the first Dallas County Master Gardener!

Bill at Twin Oaks

That fall I returned to Texas A&M to begin my Master’s degree in horticulture and work in the Extension Horticulture office as the Extension Assistant in Horticulture where Bill had me write my first articles for the Texas State Horticulture Society newsletter. Yes, he literally made me become a garden writer and hopefully one day I can top the late William Lanier Hunt who once told me he was then the oldest living continuously active garden writer.

Bill soon introduced me to Pam Puryear, had me join the newly formed Texas Rose Rustlers, and start work with him and Mike Shoup landscaping and opening the one-of-a-kind Antique Rose Emporium.  Pam was the first in a very long line of eclectic, influential, and inspiring individuals he would introduce me to in my career.  My life and profession would have never been the same had our paths not crossed. As a matter of fact, I went to school to be a nurseryman or a landscaper, two professions that I still love and admire.  Back then my idea of landscaping was a St. Augustine lawn punctuated by Asian jasmine, red tip photinias, and poodle tree waxleaf ligustrums.

Pam, Greg, and Bill in San Antonio

Beginning with that phone call, Dr. Welch taught me a plethora about my profession, people, and plants.  Not just any plants, but unique, special, and time-tested plants. Bill knew good plants, good people, and good design.  He was just as talented with interior design and floral design as he was with landscape design.  Other than his L.S.U. buddy, Dr. Odenwald, I never met anyone so good with both plants and design.  Landscape architects and horticulturists unfortunately seem to repel each other.

Both of my parents were teachers, but I didn’t plan on being one. Bill changed that too.  I truly love teaching, both youth and adults.  Bill inspired me to embrace them both making folks horticulturally healthier and happier through the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service.

It certainly doesn’t end there, however. Thanks to Bill, I became lifelong friends with the late Flora Ann Bynum, became a lifetime member of the Southern Garden History Society, and now serve on the board of directors just like he did. Next year we’ll host the annual meeting in Washington, County Texas, just like he once did.  Thanks to Bill, I restored several historic homes and gardens just like he did.  And thanks to Bill, I attended LSU for a year working on a PhD and taught horticulture there for a year. Things didn’t go well and I made a mess of it while I was there, but I left with the same appreciation for Louisiana plants, food, and people.  While there I even met the Cajun who would become my wife some 30 years later. Bill married an LSU girl and of course, I married an LSU girl.

Bill’s garden in College Station

I can never be as gracious or as good at design as Dr. Welch was.  I will never be as smooth with influential folks or garden club ladies as he was.  But I will most definitely live the rest of my life with sincere gratitude for every garden he showed me, every plant he shared with me, and every person he introduced me to.  Lest you think he shared all his expertise and influence on me, he didn’t.  He shared with all from rich to poor, from young to old, and from student to professional.  We all live in a more beautiful world because he not only created one but taught us how to create our own.