Neil Sperry is a

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

gardening Gardening is the practice of growing and cultivating plants as part of horticulture. In gardens, ornamental plants are often grown for their flowers, foliage, or overall appearance; useful plants, such as root vegetables, leaf vegetables, fruits ...

and

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 ...

expert known for his books, magazine, radio program, and annual gardening show. Sperry was born and raised in

College Station, Texas College Station is a city in Brazos County, Texas, situated in East-Central Texas in the heart of the Brazos Valley, towards the eastern edge of the region known as the Texas Triangle. It is northwest of Houston and east-northeast of Austin. ...

About Neil Sperry
Neil Sperry's GARDENS, retrieved 2008-11-30 where he graduated

A&M Consolidated High School A&M Consolidated High School, also known as "Consol", is a public high school located in the city of College Station, Texas, United States. It is classified as a 5A school by the UIL. The school is part of the College Station Independent School D ...

Salutatorian Salutatorian is an academic title given in the United States, Armenia, and the Philippines to the second-highest-ranked graduate of the entire graduating class of a specific discipline. Only the valedictorian is ranked higher. This honor is tradi ...

and

Student Body President The student government president (sometimes called "student ''body'' president," "student ''council'' president" or "''school'' president") is generally the highest-ranking officer of a student union. While a student government group and a class p ...

. He attended

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

and earned horticulture degrees from

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

. He married his wife Lynn in 1967, and they now live in

McKinney, Texas McKinney is a city in and the county seat of Collin County, Texas. It is Collin County's third-largest city, after Plano and Frisco. A suburb of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, McKinney is about north of Dallas. The U.S. Census Bureau l ...

. While in high school and at Texas A&M University he owned and operated a nursery. From 1970 to 1977, he worked as a Horticulture Specialist for the

Texas Cooperative Extension Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service was formally established in 1915 after the 1914 passing of the Smith-Lever Act and in conjunction with Texas A&M University. Originally named Texas Agricultural Extension Service, then later Texas Cooperative ...

. Neil Sperry hosted a radio show on Dallas station KRLD 1080-AM for over thirty years. On his February 13, 2010 broadcast, Sperry informed his audience that KRLD was exercising a 180-day opt-out clause in their contract. His broadcasting there ended in summer 2010. He now hosts a show on WBAP. Two of Sperry's books have become favorites of Texas gardeners. His ''Complete Guide to Texas Gardening'' (published 1982 with a second edition in 1991), has been popularly known as the "boot book," in reference to its cover art. It remained a primary reference for Texas gardeners until the publication of ''Neil Sperry's Lone Star Gardening'' in 2014. This 344-page book contains comprehensive plant listings and more than 800 photographs taken by Sperry, an avid photographer.http://www.neilsperry.com and ''Neil Sperry's Lone Star Gardening: Texas' Complete Planting Guide and Gardening Calendar''

Publications

* ''Neil Sperry's Lone Star Gardening: Texas' Complete Planting Guide and Gardening Calendar'' (; copyright 2014) * ''Neil Sperry's Complete Guide to Texas Gardening'' (), "the 4th best-selling gardening hardback in American history." * ''1001 Most Asked Texas Gardening Questions'' () * ''Complete Guide to Texas Gardening: Landscapes, Lawns, Fruit, and Vegetables'' (

ASIN Asin Thottumkal (born 26 October 1985), known mononymously as Asin, is a former Indian actress who appeared predominantly in Tamil, Hindi and Telugu films. She is a trained Bharatanatyam dancer. She has received three Filmfare Awards. She beg ...

B000MAMD7G) * ''Gardening GreenBook Just For Texas'' (ASIN B000O7Y9ZG) * ''Neil Sperry's Gardening GreenBook'' (ASIN B000O825ZQ) * ''Neil Sperry's Texas Gardening'' (ASIN B0017GX06W) * ''Gardens'' magazine (1987-May/June 2015)Neil Sperry's Gardens Magazine
retrieved 2008-11-30 * ''Neil Sperry's Gardens'' electronic magazine (July 2015- )

Radio

* ''Texas Gardening'' (1980–present), a paid-programming weekly talk-show on KRLD and 60 other radio stations. On July 10, 2010, his talk show on KRLD moved to WBAP. Neil Sperry broadcast 1,573 weekends during his tenure at KRLD.

Newspaper

* His weekly gardening column appears in 20 Texas newspapers.

Recognition

* American Garden Communicator of the Year (American Association of Nurserymen) * American Garden Communicator of the Year (United States Land Grant Universities) * Man of the Year in Texas Agriculture (The Texas Cooperative Extension of Texas A&M) * Member,

Texas Radio Hall of Fame Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by bo ...

, inducted October 18, 2003. * Volunteers of the Year, McKinney * McKinney Citizen of the Year, 2003 * Collin County Living Legends, 2007

Charitable Work

* Avenues Counseling Center past board president *

Serenity High School Serenity High School is the oldest substance-abuse recovery public high school in Texas.Piloto, Connie, "Serenity may be model for other schools Fate of financially shaky campus unclear despite national attention." Dallas Morning News. 2002-10-16G ...

advisory board * Crape Myrtle Trails of McKinney, chair * Denton State School Chair, Volunteer Services Council board

References

External links

Neil Sperry's website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sperry, Neil American garden writers American male non-fiction writers Living people People from College Station, Texas Ohio State University College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences alumni American horticulturists Radio personalities from Dallas Year of birth missing (living people)