Don Odom Shadow, a fourth-generation nurseryman, passes away at 84

Don Odom Shadow, 84, a distinguished fourth-generation nurseryman, horticulturist and conservationist from Winchester, Tennessee, passed away Nov. 11, 2024, according to his obituary.

Born Oct. 19, 1940, to the late Hoskins A. and Minnie Lee (Odom) Shadow, Shadow was renowned for his contributions to horticulture and his commitment to wildlife conservation.

As owner of Shadow Nursery in Winchester, he transformed the family business by introducing rare and unique plants to the U.S. market. His domestic and international travels led to the discovery and cultivation of plants ideally suited for diverse American landscapes.

Shadow, a graduate of the University of Tennessee with a degree in horticulture, was also dedicated to animal and wildlife conservation, raising and caring for rare and often endangered species. His farm was home to more than 600 animals across more than 60 species, including Bactrian camels, zebras, water buffalo, red pandas, rare Nubian wild donkeys, bearded pigs from Borneo and multiple species of cranes. He collaborated with national zoos and breeders, sharing his expertise to preserve these rare species.

Shadow served on the U.S. National Arboretum Advisory Council and the boards of the American Horticultural Society, Southern Nursery Association, Tennessee Nursery and Landscape Association and the International Plant Propagators’ Society.

His numerous accolades include the Garden Club of America’s Medal of Honor, the American Horticultural Society’s Commercial Award and the Southern Nursery Association’s Slater Wight Memorial Award.

The Southern Nursery Association also established the Don Shadow Award of Excellence to honor individuals committed to expanding knowledge and use of innovative plants.

Read Shadow's full obituary here.

© Shadow Nursery

Read the profile we wrote about Don in 2011 as part of his HILA recognition below:

On July 10, 2011, at the OFA Short Course in Columbus, Ohio, the GIE Horticulture Group honored representatives of all 50 states for their outstanding contributions to the horticulture industry and to their communities. The recipients of the inaugural Horticultural Industries Leadership Awards represent several branches of the industry.

Don Shadow, owner of Shadow Nursery in Winchester, Tennessee, received the national award for industry development.

Plant fanatic

Ever the giver, Don Shadow’s passion has benefitted the entire industry. Saying Don Shadow has a passion for plants is an understatement. Shadow has spent his entire career seeking out and developing new plants for the U.S. nursery trade.

His endeavors have taken him across the country and overseas looking for plants that would thrive in domestic landscapes.

“I focus on species and cultivars that I describe as new and useful,” he said. “These could be plants that are ideally suited to a particular location due to their color, form or growing environment.”

Shadow is not afraid to share his knowledge or pass along samples of new varieties he’s trialing.

Given his dedication and charitable nature, Shadow is the inaugural winner of the GIE Media Horticultural Industries Leadership Award in the Industry Excellence in Industry Development category.

But GIE Media is not the first to laud Shadow for his leadership.

True horticulturalist

“Don has made us all better plantsmen,” said Michael Dirr, retired University of Georgia professor and Nursery Management contributing editor. “His powers of observation and memory are, without equivocation, unrivaled. He has been at the forefront in promoting new and useful plants.”

Dirr said Shadow welcomes anyone wanting to visit or learn about his collections.

“He has opened his nursery to anyone who cares to visit. I have had many people tell me they show up at Don’s unannounced and he graciously tours them through.

“His engine goes day and night. The energy is contagious. He’s truly a remarkable man.”

Shadow enjoys seeking new plants in Japan and the United Kingdom, because he knows space there is limited. This is where he can find new varieties more suited for today’s smaller U.S. landscapes.

“Smaller spaces need trees and shrubs that match the scale of those spaces,” he said. “Large trees just don’t work in the smaller landscapes we’re now seeing in many new home developments.”

And, of course, ornamental characteristics are another priority.

“Colorful blossoms and foliage continue to be important,” he said. “I’m also seeing interest in plants with colorful or exfoliating barks, or branch structures that are attractive in the winter landscape.”

Long history

A fourth-generation nursery grower, Shadow received a degree in horticulture from the University of Tennessee and started Shadow Nursery in 1973. He later served on the Board of Trustees at the university for nine years.

He’s served in many facets with state, regional and national trade associations, and he’s currently on the Advisory Council of the U.S. National Arboretum in Washington, D.C.

He received the Medal of Honor from the Garden Club of America and the Individual Commercial Award of the American Horticultural Society. He’s also a member of the Tennessee Nursery & Landscape Association Hall of Fame.

The Southern Plant Conference recently enacted its Don Shadow Award to honor industry members that demonstrate industry excellence.

Shadow varieties

Shadow has helped introduce and popularize many dogwood varieties. His latest is Cornus x ‘Celestial Shadow’. A variegated sport of ‘Celestial’, it features bright-green and gold streaks on the foliage and also appears highly resistant to dogwood anthracnose and mildew.

Viburnum dilatum ‘Asian Beauty’ is a linden viburnum with dark-green foliage and cherry-red fruits.

‘Tennessee Gold’ is a new yellow-leafed tulip poplar. Liquidamber styraciflua ‘Slender Silhouette’ is a new columnar sweetgum that’s beginning to take the industry by storm. It grows around 50 feet tall but only 5 to 6 feet wide.

Shadow discovered the ‘Slender Silhouette’ mother plant growing along a lakeside. Struck by the unusual form, he took cuttings and returned to the nursery to root them.

Oddly enough, this variety was almost not meant to be. When Shadow returned to the lake a few months later, he’d found that someone had cut the tree down with a chainsaw to create a cover for fish.

Large menagerie

Many in the nursery field don’t also realize that Shadow’s passions do not end with the plant world.

He also has a collection of more than 60 exotic animal species he refers to as “alternative livestock.” These include deer, cattle, swine, birds, zebras, camels and tapir. Shadow works closely with zoos and other breeders, regularly sharing tips from his success as a private breeder of these rare animals.