Michael Perry (gardener)
TV gardener and author
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Michael Perry is an English celebrity gardener and podcast presenter. He presents a show, Michael Perry’s Garden, on QVC UK, and has appeared on ITV1’s This Morning and Channel 4's Steph's Packed Lunch.
Perry maintains a horticultural blog and co-presents The Plant Based Podcast.[1] He is a regular speaker at RHS flower shows, horticultural summits[2] and BBC Gardener's World Live[3] as well as presenting his Weird & Wacky Plants Tour showcasing unusual plants.[4] In 2015, he was listed in The Sunday Times’ Top 20 Most Influential People in the Gardening World.[5]
Education and early career
Perry enjoyed a career as a new product development manager at Thompson & Morgan, where he was credited for developing the 'egg and chips' plant, a grafted plant that produces aubergines and potatoes.[6]
Media work
Some of Perry’s first television appearances included The Alan Titchmarsh Show, Loose Women and Great British Garden Revival.[7] More recently, Perry has been an occasional gardening guest on ITV’s This Morning[8] and Channel 4's Steph's Packed Lunch[9].
In 2010, Perry began presenting gardening products on QVC.[10] 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.[11]
Perry co-presents The Plant Based Podcast with Ellen Mary, a gardening influencer.[12]
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.[13]
Awards
The website Mr Plant Geek was awarded a Gold Award at the 2019 and 2022 GardenComm horticultural press awards.[14][15] The Garden Media Guild named Perry as Social Media Influencer of the Year in 2020.[16]
Charity work
Perry regularly participates in charity work, including his annual appearances in a nude calendar for the benefit of charity Perennial, with a fundraising team named The Grubby Gardeners.[17] In his local area of East Anglia, he has worked with the charity ActivLives to renew flower beds in urban areas.[18] He champions gardening for mental health and wellbeing,[19]
Writing career
In 2022, Perry published his debut book Hortus Curious under publisher DK.[20]