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P. Allen Smith's Biography

P. Allen Smith is an award-winning garden designer and host of the public television program, P. Allen Smith's Garden Home and the syndicated 30-minute show P. Allen Smith Gardens. He has emerged as America's most recognized and respected garden design expert, providing ideas and inspiration through multiple media venues.

As a fourth generation nurseryman who owned and operated his own garden center, Smith gained years of practical experience guiding the gardening public before he launched a career in television. After studying garden history and design at the University of Manchester in England through an International Rotary Scholarship and becoming a Certified Fellow of the Royal Horticultural Society, he returned to this country with the mission of inspiring Americans to embrace the joy of creating beautiful gardens.

Career Highlights

• Host of Public Television Series, P. Allen Smith's Garden Home, reaching 75% of US television homes
• Host of P. Allen Smith Gardens, a 30 minute nationally syndicated program broadcasting to 83% of U.S. households (8 seasons)
• Regular guest contributor on NBC's Today Show
• Author of the best selling Garden Home series of books published by Clarkson Potter/Random House:
  • P. Allen Smith's Garden Home: Creating a Garden for Everyday Living (February 2003)
  • P. Allen Smith’s Garden Home Journal (Spring 2004)
  • P. Allen Smith’s Container Gardens: 60 Container Recipes to Accent Your Garden (March 2005)
  • P. Allen Smith's Colors for the Garden: Creating Compelling Color Themes (Feb. 2006)
  • P. Allen Smith's Living in the Garden Home: Connecting the Seasons with Containers, Crafts, and Celebrations (Nov. 2007)
• The Weather Channel's exclusive gardener, hosting reports broadcasting to over 76 million homes
• Host of 90-second nationally syndicated gardening reports on commercial television news programs
• Author of PAllenSmith.com website featuring home and garden information and recipes
• Featured in national publications including Cottage Living, Southern Accents, Gardening Deck and Design, Fine Gardening, Garden Gate, Hobby Farm Home, Sustainable Home, and Gardening How-To, Woman’s Day, All You, Home

Awards and Recognitions

• Medal of Honor and Honorary Member of the Garden Club of America
• Garden Communicator Award from the American Nursery and Landscape Association (ANLA)
• Horticultural Communicator Award from the American Horticultural Society (AHS)
• Featured author at National Book Festival on the National Mall, Washington, DC
• Projects Odyssey Award presented by the Hendrix College Board of Trustees to honor achievements by alumni of Hendrix College
• Rotary International Scholarship to study garden design and history at the University of Manchester in England

Experience and Education

• Professional garden designer for 25 years
• Garden center owner and operator for 10 years
• Certified Fellow of the Royal Horticultural Society
• Board member of the Royal Oak Foundation, the United States affiliate of the National Trust of England, Wales and Northern Ireland