Peta "Bunny" Guinness (''née'' Ellis; born 16 December 1955) is a British chartered landscape architect, journalist and radio personality who is a regular panellist on the long-running

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

programme, ''

Gardener's Question Time ''Gardeners' Question Time'' is a long-running BBC Radio 4 programme in which amateur gardeners can put questions to a panel of experts. History The first programme was broadcast in the North and Northern Ireland Home Service of the BBC at 2 ...

''. She also writes a weekly column in the '' Sunday Telegraph''. She presented ''The Great Garden Challenge'' on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

in 2005. Guinness gained a BSc honours degree in

horticulture Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...

Reading University The University of Reading is a public university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as University College, Reading, a University of Oxford extension college. The institution received the power to grant its own degrees in 192 ...

, after which she qualified as a landscape architect at

Birmingham Polytechnic , mottoeng = "Do what you are doing; attend to your business" , established = 1992—gained university status1971—City of Birmingham Polytechnic1843— Birmingham College of Art , type = Public , affiliation = ...

(now

Birmingham City University , mottoeng = "Do what you are doing; attend to your business" , established = 1992—gained university status1971—City of Birmingham Polytechnic1843—Birmingham College of Art , type = Public , affiliation = ...

). She was awarded an

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...

by the University in 2009. She exhibits regularly at the Chelsea Flower Show, where she has won six gold medals. Her core business, Bunny Guinness Landscape Design Limited, is based near

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...

in the East Midlands of England. She was listed in ''House & Garden'' magazine in 2021 as one of the top 50 garden designers in the UK.

Family

Her father was Squadron Leader Peter William Ellis, DFC and her mother Barbara Helen Stockitt (née Austin). She married Kevin Michael Rundell Guinness in 1976, a member of the Guinness brewing family. Her mother is sister of rose breeder David C.H. Austin, who named a rose after her. Her daughter, Unity, has a degree in landscape architecture and works with her. Her son, Freddie, decided to pursue a different path and is studying medicine at St. George's College, University of London. Bunny is a nickname given by her family; as a baby her dark eyes made her resemble a currant bun.

Bibliography

*''Gardener's Question Time: All Your Gardening Problems Solved'' (with co-authors John Cushnie,

Bob Flowerdew Bob Flowerdew is an organic gardener and television and radio presenter. He is a regular panel member of BBC Radio 4's ''Gardeners' Question Time''. He has nearly an acre of garden in Dickleburgh, Norfolk, England, where he lives with his wif ...

, Pippa Greenwood,

Anne Swithinbank Anne Swithinbank (born 1957 in Belvedere in Kent) is a trained horticulturist and freelance gardening broadcaster who has written several books on gardening, including ''Gardener's Question Time: All Your Gardening Problems Solved'', ''Gardeners ...

, and photographs from The Garden Picture Gallery and others, paperback, 325 pages, Bookmart Limited, 2005, ) *''Family Gardens: How to Create Magical Spaces for All Ages'' (paperback, 128 pages,

David & Charles David & Charles Ltd is an English publishing company. It is the owner of the David & Charles imprint, which specialises in craft and lifestyle publishing. David and Charles Ltd acts as distributor for all David and Charles Ltd books and cont ...

, 2008, )

References

External links

Official website
Alumni of Birmingham City University Alumni of the University of Reading British television presenters Living people English gardeners 1955 births

Bunny Rabbits, also known as bunnies or bunny rabbits, are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also contains the hares) of the order Lagomorpha (which also contains the pikas). ''Oryctolagus cuniculus'' includes the European rabbit sp ...

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