Graham Ross (horticulturalist)
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Graham Ross AM (born October 1947) is an Australian
horticulturalist Horticulture (from ) is the art and science of growing fruits, vegetables, flowers, trees, shrubs and ornamental plants. Horticulture is commonly associated with the more professional and technical aspects of plant cultivation on a smaller and mo ...
, author, television presenter and radio presenter. In 2011 he was presented with London's
Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr ...
's
Veitch Memorial Medal The Veitch Memorial Medal is an international prize awarded annually by the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). Goal The prize is awarded to "persons of any nationality who have made an outstanding contribution to the advancement and improvement ...
(VMM) in recognition of his contribution to gardening and horticulture in Australia. The VMM is an international award issued annually by London's
Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr ...
. Ross is only the fourth Australian to receive the VMM since its inception in 1870. He is the only Australian in history to have been appointed a Life Fellow of the prestigious
Royal Botanic Gardens Kew Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. An internationally important botanical research and education institution, it employs 1,100 ...
Guild, London.


Career

Ross's career began in Sydney during the late 1970s when he started presenting gardening segments and programs for
ABC Television ABC Television most commonly refers to: *ABC Television Network of the American Broadcasting Company, United States, or *ABC Television (Australian TV network), a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Australia ABC Television or ABC ...
in 1978. He appeared on the
Seven Network Seven Network (stylised 7Network, and commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is an Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, ...
's '' 11AM'' in 1980 as well as on '' Seven National News'' as a horticultural reporter. He was gardening editor for ''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...
'' for four years and worked on ''
The Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot Plasma (physics), plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as ...
'' for 10 years. Originating as a weekly segment each Wednesday on Mickie de Stoop's afternoon program, Ross commenced presenting his own three-hour Sunday morning gardening program on radio station 2GB in 1980, which is now one of the longest running, and highest-rating programs in Australian radio history. Ross has been with Australia's Seven Network, Channel Seven since the mid-1980s. Most of that time he has spent at Australia's number one lifestyle show, ''Better Homes and Gardens (TV series), Better Homes and Gardens'', on which he has presented over 900 episodes. Ross was awarded the
Veitch Memorial Medal The Veitch Memorial Medal is an international prize awarded annually by the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). Goal The prize is awarded to "persons of any nationality who have made an outstanding contribution to the advancement and improvement ...
of the
Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr ...
in 2011. In 2014 he won the Australian Institute of Horticulture's Golden Wattle Award for the advancement of the profession of horticulture in Australia through 'sustained exemplary conduct as a professional horticulturist'. Ross has received treatment for several skin cancers and prostate cancer and cites his experience with chemicals in the early days of his career as a motivating factor in his interest in organic gardening.


Australian Garden Council

In November 2015 Ross was instrumental in the establishment of th
Australian Garden Council
with a focus on the promotion of gardening, garden education and garden tourism. According to Ross, it was motivated by his view that, "For too long gardeners and horticulturists, the essence of a multi-billion dollar domestic industry, have been ignored, taken for granted and undervalued in Australia business, government, educational and community circles". David Glenn (garden designer), David Glenn, Timothy John Entwisle, Tim Entwisle from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne, Melbourne Royal Botanic Gardens and gardening writer Trevor Nottle were also named as members of the founding council. Ross described the goal of the new council as being to "reinstate gardening on to the national agenda". In September 2016 an article in the Brisbane Courier Mail revealed that the Australian Garden Council had given its backing to a project called Australis, an extended gardening festival proposed to be held in 2020. Ross was quoted as saying "the AGC strongly supported Australis" which has elsewhere been described by one of the key protagonists as a "a catalyst for future urban developments" In a reference to the ongoing contest around where the event was to be held and the role of property development in the proposal, the Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate said he was "unwilling to give away public land for this proposal". By 2019 it was apparent that the bid to establish the event had failed. In the lead up to the 2019 federal election it was announced that the Australian Garden Council was to be awarded $490,000 to fund a "four year program to promote horticulture skills and careers".


References


External links


Ross Garden Tours

Sandra and Graham Ross' Gardening Tips

Instagram
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ross, Graham Living people 1947 births Australian gardeners Australian radio presenters Australian television presenters Veitch Memorial Medal recipients