Lawrence Waterbury Johnston was born on 12 October 1871 in Paris, France, into a family of wealthy American East Coast stockbrokers from Baltimore.
An enthusiastic plant collector, he sponsored or undertook several expeditions in Europe, Asia, Africa and South America to bring back rare specimens.
[1] He was a close friend of socialite garden designer Norah Lindsay, whose home was nearby in Sutton Courtenay Manor, Oxfordshire.
At Serre de la Madone he turned terraces of vines and olives into a garden bright with drifts of agapanthus and strelitzia.
From 1945 Johnston spent more time at Serre de la Madone, and in 1948 the National Trust acquired Hidcote.