Cultivating a dream.(Tom Wilson will retire from Firstar Corp.)(Brief Article)

Firstar executive re-pots career, buys garden center

When Tom Wilson told colleagues and family he was thinking of retiring from his 32-year career at Firstar Corp. to pursue a dream of owning a garden center, many doubted his sanity, much less his plan.

"My 85-year-old father was convinced I'd lost my mind," Wilson said. "He's come around now and thinks it's wonderful."

Wilson until July was president of private banking for Firstar Milwaukee, a division that handled the banking needs of wealthy individuals. He purchased Town 'n Country Garden Center, Racine, after two years of soul searching.

The decision wasn't the act of someone coming unglued, he said.

Wilson is an avid gardener who jokes that in spring, his bill at the local garden center dwarfs his mortgage payment. He said he began …