jungle-plants

213: Weird & Wonderful Plants

This week, I’m speaking to Michael Perry aka Mr Plant Geek who’s new book Hortus Curious takes a look at the lesser known side of the plant world. If you follow Michael on social media, you’ll know he is always off somewhere exciting to meet unusual plants and his book profiles some of the most bizarre, interesting and occasionally terrifying plants the natural world has to offer. We talk about rare plants, useful plants, conniving plants, beautiful plants and plants you can only encounter safely from behind glass!

What We Talk About

The Pomato and Tomtato

What got Michael interested in weird and wonderful plants

The terrible gympie-gympie tree!

Which of the plants you are most likely to encounter in real life

Can any of them be grown in your garden or as houseplants?

The most attractive unusual plant

The rarest plant in the book

Ants and the Bullhorn acacia

Plants that might crop in the UK

About Michael Perry

Michael Perry, aka Mr Plant Geek, is a leading gardening personality. Formerly the new plants buyer for established seed house, Thompson and Morgan, he is now a presenter, writer, and broadcaster, with his own range of merchandise. He presents gardening on ITV’s This Morning, and on QVC and is a well-known social media presence. He won the GardenMedia Guild Social Media Influencer of the Year Award in 2020, the GMG’s Broadcast Award in 2021. 

Links

Hortus Curious: Discover the World’s Most Weird and Wonderful Plants and Fungi by Michael Perry – Dorling Kindersley Ltd, October 2022

Twitter (@mr_plantgeek) and Instagram (@mr_plantgeek)

Illustrations by US-based illustrator Aaron Apsley, who you can find @apsley_watercolor

Other episodes if you liked this one:

Poisonous Plants with Dr Elizabeth Dauncey

Episode 31: Poisonous Plants with Dr Elizabeth Dauncey

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