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
Transcript content.