Michael Perry is an English celebrity

gardener A gardener is someone who practices gardening, either professionally or as a hobby. Description A gardener is any person involved in gardening, arguably the oldest occupation, from the hobbyist in a residential garden, the home-owner suppleme ...

and podcast presenter. He presents a show, ''Michael Perry’s Garden'', on

QVC UK QVC UK is a television shopping channel broadcast from the United Kingdom to the United Kingdom and Ireland. It was formed in 1993 when QVC, Inc. agreed to a deal with Sky TV to create a UK version of the US channel. "QVC – The Shopping Chan ...

, and has appeared on ITV1’s ''This Morning'' and

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

's ''Steph's Packed Lunch''. Perry maintains a horticultural blog and co-presents ''The Plant Based Podcast''. He is a regular speaker at RHS flower shows, horticultural summits and BBC Gardener's World Live as well as presenting his Weird & Wacky Plants Tour showcasing unusual plants. In 2015, he was listed in ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

''’ Top 20 Most Influential People in the Gardening World.

Education and early career

Perry enjoyed a career as a new product development manager at

Thompson & Morgan Thompson & Morgan is an independently-owned company based in Ipswich, Suffolk. Founded in 1855, Thompson & Morgan offer English plants, seeds and sundries worldwide through their websites. The U.S. division of the company was sold to Gardens Alive ...

, where he was credited for developing the 'egg and chips' plant, a

grafted Grafting or graftage is a horticultural technique whereby tissues of plants are joined so as to continue their growth together. The upper part of the combined plant is called the scion () while the lower part is called the rootstock. The succ ...

plant that produces aubergines and potatoes.

Media work

Some of Perry’s first television appearances included ''

The Alan Titchmarsh Show ''The Alan Titchmarsh Show'' is a British daytime chat show presented by Alan Titchmarsh. It was first broadcast on ITV on 3 September 2007 until 14 November 2014 and aired on weekday afternoons. The show's main focus is the "Best of British" them ...

'', ''

Loose Women ''Loose Women'' (previously known as ''Live Talk'' from 2000 to 2001) is a British talk show that broadcasts on ITV1 weekdays from 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm. The show focuses on a panel of four female presenters who interview celebrities, talk about ...

'' and ''

Great British Garden Revival ''Great British Garden Revival'' is a British documentary television series that was first broadcast on BBC Two on 9 December 2013. The series was presented by Monty Don, Carol Klein, Joe Swift, Rachel De Thame, James Wong, Tom Hart Dyke, Chr ...

''. More recently, Perry has been an occasional gardening guest on ITV’s ''This Morning'' and Channel 4's ''Steph's Packed Lunch'.'' In 2010, Perry began presenting gardening products on QVC. He later became a regular gardening expert on the channel. He presents ''Michael Perry’s Garden'', with his own curated range of products and editorial. Perry co-presents ''The Plant Based Podcast'' with Ellen Mary, a gardening influencer. In 2022, Perry hosted a 'plant dating' pop-up at the Lucky Club Mayfair, in collaboration with The Joy of Plants. Attendees were given the chance to find a houseplant that matched their lifestyle, before taking it home.

Awards

The website ''Mr Plant Geek'' was awarded a Gold Award at the 2019 and 2022 GardenComm horticultural press awards. The Garden Media Guild named Perry as Social Media Influencer of the Year in 2020.

Charity work

Perry regularly participates in charity work, including his annual appearances in a nude calendar for the benefit of charity

Perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

, with a fundraising team named The Grubby Gardeners. In his local area of East Anglia, he has worked with the charity ActivLives to renew flower beds in urban areas. He champions gardening for mental health and wellbeing,

Writing career

In 2022, Perry published his debut book ''Hortus Curious'' under publisher DK.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perry, Michael 1979 births Living people English gardeners English television presenters