Growing Zinnias

About the Presenter:

Peter Seabrook

Peter Seabrook MBE., VMH., AH(RHS), M.oH.(RHS) started working at weekends on a local market garden before starting secondary school. He grew sweet peas in his back garden to sell to the local florist and raised enough money to fly to Holland and visit nurseries there aged sixteen.

Peter was employed on seed trial grounds for two years before studying horticulture at Writtle College gaining the College Diploma in 1956. During college vacations experience was gained working in top fruit orchards, bedding plant and tomato nurseries, before doing two year national service were the army paid for lessons in floristry!

Returning to Cramphorn the seed and garden retail company, he worked in all areas of nursery production, mail order and shows becoming nursery director. Then after four years on the road for Bord na Mona, travelling in the South East of England and the Channel Isles as their technical representative, he became a consultant to leading wholesale nursery companies, a director of two separate garden centre companies and gave advice to many independent horticultural businesses.

His broadcasting appearances started with the BBC Radio Home Service in 1965 including In Your Garden and Gardeners' Question Time, then on to BBC Television from 1975 presenting such programmes as Gardeners' World, Pebble Mill at One, Chelsea Flower Show and in America over twenty years broadcasting coast to coast with PBS programme The Victory Garden out of Boston, USA.

Two of his books Complete Vegetable Gardener and Shrubs for Your Garden, the latter set to music and premiered in Sydney Opera House, have been published in more than ten languages.