GOVERNMENT SERVICE
He graduated in 1973 , and worked for a time with Alberta Coleman at a President Kennedy-inspired AmeriCorps VISTA program in Lexington , which was basically a program with little money trying to help people who had even less . “ Alberta is one of my lifelong great inspirations and mentors ,” Bush said .
From there he went directly to where a sociology degree and an interest in horticulture might logically lead : A hands-on landscape crew planting flowers , shrubs and trees for the iconic Hillenmeyer Nurseries in Lexington . His crew boss was Omer Barber , who gave the new college-graduate kid an exceedingly hard time for two months . Bush just shut up and did his job . Omer Barber was not going to defeat him .
The future turned brighter one day when Bush and Barber took a break , bought a six pack of beer , and went to visit one of Barber ’ s buddies in the Port-A-Can business — a man lovingly called Roy “ Shit-Hauler ” Martin . As Martin complained about the downside of his business , Barber likened that to working with Bush . Barber then leaned over and winked at his rookie . Their bond was made . Horticulture it was .
Success did not follow directly . Moving back to Louisville , Bush and a buddy , Richard Hopkins , began a business with the shameless name of Peat-Rose Landscaping , with the Cincinnati Reds baseball star getting no residuals . “ It lasted a couple of years ,” Bush said . “ We learned a lot working for neurotic housewives and bankrupt building contractors .”
KEW INTERNSHIP Moving on , Bush , using some Louisville Anglophile influence , won acceptance for a year ’ s worth of study at the sainted Kew Gardens in England . “ I was in way over my head ,” said Bush . “ I was a sociology student .”
Hanging out with the best gardeners in the world was more proof that he had made the right decision . Upon his return , he opened his beloved Holbrook Farm and Nursery in Fletcher , North Carolina , with a mail order catalog more a wish list of what every gardener wants no matter the real needs . He also got to write the fun and flowery copy .
Yet exotic-nursery love and profit are rarely a match . Bush earned a small salary , but no real money . His marriage to Ali Mathews ended there , but their relationship gave him his daughter , Molly , and a grandpa-loving granddaughter , Story . Fifteen years after it opened , in a painful decision for him and his employees , he sold Holbrook and moved back to Louisville .
“ I ’ ve gotten very useful information from GWA . I write catalog descriptions and a few trade magazine pieces for Jelitto Perennial Seeds . The best lesson I learned : Don ’ t Write Anything the Reader Won ’ t Read .”
“ We all shed some tears over that ,” he said . “ I wondered if I was going to have to get the pickup truck and some hand tools again .”
ROOTED RELATIONSHIPS
Allen Bush was too well known in the wide gardening world , too knowledgeable , too accessible , too good a guy and travel companion to wander off in a pickup truck .
He settled in with his new , wife , Rose . The perfect garden mate , her Rose Bush name is a frequent source of amusement . Klaus Jelitto of Germany ’ s Jelitto ’ s Perennial Seeds quickly hired him to sell seeds . Bush began exploring the world , including two trips to China , seeking new plants to market . His companions would include Dan Hinkley of Monrovia , Georg Uebelhart of Jelitto , Kurt Bluemel of Bluemel Grasses and Hans Hansen of Walters Gardens . He also expanded his family with stepson , Cooper Francis , who lives in London . “ He and Molly both have green thumbs . They cut their teeth while growing up collecting Rudbeckia ‘ Goldsturm ’ seed for Jelitto from neighborhood gardens ,” Bush said .
In 2011 he was given The Award of Merit by the Perennial Plant Association — its highest honor . His writing roots also flowered on The Human Flower Project , a worldwide blog of human relationships with the floral world , garden magazine articles , and more recently on Garden Rant , a blog dedicated to about anything a gardener has in mind or spirit .
Ten years ago he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis , a disease he has managed with optimism and medicine . “ It ’ s a blessing , really . I kind of had to put my life in perspective ,” Bush said .
He still travels to meet horticulture buddies , including GWA events . “ I ’ ve gotten very useful information from GWA . I write catalog descriptions and a few trade magazine pieces for Jelitto Perennial Seeds . The best lesson I learned : Don ’ t Write Anything the Reader Won ’ t Read .”
He and Rose have created a garden paradise around their Louisville home . More recently they purchased an old hideaway farmhouse and 47 acres of land near rural Salvisa , Kentucky . They visit every week . They ’ ve created a pollinator meadow there , planted hundreds of trees , walk the nearby woods and river ’ s edge . Sociology can include nature , too .
Retired Louisville Courier-Journal columnist and author Bob Hill is owner of Hidden Hill Nursery & Sculpture Garden in Utica , Indiana . He enjoys rare and unusual plants , gathering with garden friends and the quiet solitude of a screened-in back porch . His academic honors include being the tallest kid in his class 12 years in a row .
13