Johnson’s Willow Dedication Ceremony

Join us and our esteemed guests from Lichfield, England as we unveil the plaque and dedicate the 6th generation descendent of the Johnson’s Willow.

The original Johnson’s Willow grew on the banks of Stowe Pool in Lichfield and is named for the writer Samuel Johnson who was so fond of the tree that he had a drawing made of it and published in a periodical that Elizabeth Graeme Fergusson had access to. Inspired by the drawing and the tree’s association with Johnson and several other Lichfield writers of the time, Elizabeth penned two “Odes on the Litchfield[sic] Willow” which appear in the Commonplace Book currently on display in the Keith House. In the Odes she uses the tree as a metaphor for the spread of civilization and culture from ancient Greece to Rome, throughout Europe and the United Kingdom and hopes that it will someday make its way to America.

In the second Ode she writes:

‘Oh may we hope some tender twig,
The Willow well can Spare
Some thriving, blooming, verdant, Sprig;
May yet be wafted Here!’

In her own way, Elizabeth, through her salons, did help to bring culture to America.

After many hundreds of emails, a two year quarantine at the USDA’s Plant Germplasm Unit in Beltsville, MD, release to Vassar College in New York, and journey to Graeme Park, we’ve fulfilled Elizabeth’s wish. And that is something to celebrate! Please join us pondside at Graeme Park at 6 p.m. for the unveiling of the plaque, some brief remarks, and reading of a bit of Elizabeth’s poetry.