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P. Allen Smith

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P. Allen Smith
Born (1960-03-12) March 12, 1960 (age 64)
Little Rock, Arkansas, U.S.
EducationHendrix College
TelevisionP. Allen Smith's Garden Home,

P. Allen Smith's Garden to Table,

P. Allen Smith Gardens

Paul Allen Smith, Jr. (born March 12, 1960)[1] is an American television host, garden designer, conservationist, and lifestyle expert. He is the host of three television programs. P. Allen Smith's Garden Home and P. Allen Smith's Garden to Table are distributed to public television by American Public Television.[2][3] His 30-minute show Garden Style is syndicated by The Television Syndication Company.[4] Smith is one of America's most recognized gardening and design experts, providing ideas and guidance through multiple media venues. He is the author of the Garden Home series of books published by Clarkson Potter/Random House, including Bringing the Garden Indoors: Container, Crafts and Bouquets for Every Room and the cookbook, Seasonal Recipes from the Garden, inspired by the abundance of food from his farm and a family of cooks. In 2014, Smith's television shows were successful at the Taste Awards with Smith returning to Little Rock with four Taste Awards. In 2015, Smith was inducted into the Taste Hall of Fame for his significant impact in the world of taste and broadcast entertainment.[5] Garden Home won a 2017 Taste Award for "Best Green or Organic Program".[6]

Life and work

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Born in Little Rock, Arkansas, and raised in McMinnville, Tennessee,[1] Smith is a fourth-generation nurseryman and horticulturalist. In 2009, Smith founded the Heritage Poultry Conservancy, an organization dedicated to the preservation and support of all threatened breeds of domestic poultry. He attended Hendrix College, graduating in 1983, and received a Rotary International Scholarship to study garden design and history at the University of Manchester in England,[1] where he also studied English gardens that had been visited by John Adams and Thomas Jefferson in the 18th century.

After returning to the United States, he entered the nursery and garden-design business with his family in Little Rock, Arkansas, where he focused on reviving interest in perennials. Smith also became a private tour guide to European gardens and started teaching gardening workshops, which then led to appearances on local television shows.

In the half-hour episodes of P. Allen Smith Garden Home, Smith shares lifestyle trends and stories of people who are making a positive impact in their communities. Some episodes are filmed at Smith's Arkansas Home, Moss Mountain Farm, near Little Rock, Arkansas.

Smith has also appeared frequently on The Weather Channel, the CBS Early Show, the NBC Today Show and other national TV programs teaching viewers gardening and design techniques. He has also written several books on gardening and contributes pieces to numerous publications.

Smith's design firm, P. Allen Smith & Associates, specializes in estate master planning, garden design and installation, with projects at public institutions, private corporations, and family estates.[7] He is a former Board Member of the Royal Oak Foundation[8][9] (the American partner of England's National Trust[10]) and has contributed to preservation efforts at Thomas Jefferson's Monticello and George Washington's Mount Vernon among other historic properties. He is a Certified Fellow of the Royal Horticultural Society[11] and is an Honorary Member of the Garden Club of America.[12] Smith received the Garden Club of America's 'Medal of Honor' in 2006 at the GCA's 93rd Annual Meeting Awards Dinner in Denver, Colorado.[9]

Homes

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Located in the historic Quapaw Quarter of Little Rock, Arkansas, the original Garden Home is a 1904 Colonial Revival cottage surrounded by a series of garden rooms designed by Smith. He purchased the house for one United States dollar and relocated it to a 15,000-square-foot (1,400 m2) vacant lot.[13] The bargain price was contingent on Allen receiving permission from the local historical commission to move the home from its original site and restore it elsewhere in the city. This garden was created to illustrate his 12 principles of design, the basis of his first book in the Garden Home series.

Smith also built Moss Mountain Farm, also known as The Garden Home Retreat, which is located on the banks of the Arkansas River.[14] It encompasses more than 500 acres of land dating back to 1840. The centerpiece is the cottage, built in the American Greek Revival style and constructed in an eco-friendly manner. Directly behind the cottage is the croquet lawn, which is framed by a summer kitchen and art studio. The surrounding garden includes a fountain garden that separates two wings of garden rooms filled with a mix of annuals, herbs, perennials, roses, shrubs and ornamental grasses. Beyond the flower gardens are orchards filled with heritage apple trees, stone fruit and blueberries, a one-acre vegetable garden, a bluebird trail, wildflower fields and a daffodil hill, which overflows with more than 300,000 daffodils blooming each spring. Various outbuildings, from barns to mobile chicken homes, are located throughout the grounds and surrounding pastures. Moss Mountain Farm is open to the public on select days and is available for hosting special events and weddings.[15][16]

Career highlights

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  • Host of public television series, P. Allen Smith's Garden Home
  • Host of P. Allen Smith's Garden to Table
  • Host of P. Allen Smith Gardens

Publications

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Smith has authored the following books:

  • P. Allen Smith's Garden Home (2003)[17]
  • P. Allen Smith's Container Gardens: 60 Container Recipes to Accent Your Garden (2005)[18]
  • P. Allen Smith's Colors for the Garden (2006)[19]
  • P. Allen Smith's Living in the Garden Home: Connecting the Seasons with Containers, Crafts, and Celebrations (2007)[20]
  • P. Allen Smith's Bringing the Garden Indoors: Containers, Crafts, and Bouquets for Every Room (2009)[21]
  • P. Allen Smith's Bulb Garden: Colorful Blooms & Lush Foliage (2010)[22]
  • P. Allen Smith's Rose Garden: Roses for Every Garden (2010)[23]
  • P. Allen Smith's Seasonal Recipes from the Garden (2010)[24]
  • P. Allen Smith's Veggies & Herbs: From Garden to Table (2010)[25]

Awards and honors

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References

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  1. ^ a b c Hendricks, Nancy (September 9, 2020). "P. Allen Smith (1960- )". Encyclopedia of Arkansas. Central Arkansas Library System. Retrieved November 5, 2020.
  2. ^ "Garden Home".
  3. ^ Garden to Table
  4. ^ "Garden Style". 4 November 2015.
  5. ^ "2015 Taste Awards".
  6. ^ "Taste Awards". Archived from the original on 2009-12-08.
  7. ^ "P. Allen Smith". P. Allen Smith & Associates.
  8. ^ "The Royal Oak Foundation". www.royal-oak.org. Archived from the original on 2014-02-21.
  9. ^ a b "P. Allen Smith Garden Home". Archived from the original on 2014-02-23. Retrieved 2014-02-09.
  10. ^ "National Trust". nationaltrust.org.uk.
  11. ^ "RHS Gardening". www.rhs.org.uk.
  12. ^ "The Garden Club of America". www.gcamerica.org.
  13. ^ "P. Allen Smith - The Viking Classic", www.vikingclassic.com, 2011, web: VC-GHR, noted "Overlooking the Arkansas River Valley, the Garden Home Retreat... 500 acres of a farm dating back to 1840."
  14. ^ "P. Allen Smith | Chefs | PBS Food", PBS.org, 2011, webpage: PASchef.
  15. ^ A Beautiful Place, Moss Mountain Weddings (2013) and Moss Mountain Farm Weddings, P Allen Smith (2013)
  16. ^ "Private Events - P. Allen Smith". pallensmith.com. 4 November 2015.
  17. ^ Smith, P. Allen (2003). P. Allen Smith's Garden Home. photographs by Jane Colclasure (1st ed.). New York: Clarkson Potter. ISBN 9780609609323. OCLC 50339529.
  18. ^ Smith, P. Allen (2005). P. Allen Smith's Container Gardens: 60 Container Recipes to Accent Your Garden. photographs by Jane Colclasure and Kelly Quinn. New York: Clarkson Potter. ISBN 9781400053438. OCLC 55960841.
  19. ^ Smith, P. Allen (2006). P. Allen Smith's Colors for the Garden. photographs by Jane Colclasure (1st ed.). New York: Clarkson Potter. ISBN 9781400053421. OCLC 58791281.
  20. ^ Smith, P. Allen (2007). P. Allen Smith's Living in the Garden Home: Connecting the Seasons with Containers, Crafts, and Celebrations. photographs by Jane Colclasure and Kelly Quinn (1st ed.). New York: Clarkson Potter. ISBN 9780307347237. OCLC 133465549.
  21. ^ Smith, P. Allen (2009). P. Allen Smith's Bringing the Garden Indoors: Containers, Crafts, and Bouquets for Every Room. photographs by Jane Colclasure and Kelly Quinn (1st ed.). New York: Clarkson Potter. ISBN 9780307351098. OCLC 225852333.
  22. ^ Smith, P. Allen (2010). P. Allen Smith's Bulb Garden: Colorful Blooms & Lush Foliage. Hortus. ISBN 9780983115403. OCLC 701020120.
  23. ^ Smith, P. Allen (2010). P. Allen Smith's Rose Garden: Roses for Every Garden. Hortus. ISBN 9780983115427. OCLC 754960994.
  24. ^ Smith, P. Allen (2010). P. Allen Smith's Seasonal Recipes from the Garden. photographs by Ben Fink (1st ed.). New York: Clarkson Potter. ISBN 9780307351081. OCLC 482579287.
  25. ^ Smith, P. Allen (2010). P. Allen Smith's Veggies & Herbs: From Garden to Table. Hortus. ISBN 9780983115410. OCLC 754956900.
  26. ^ "Order of St John | the Gazette".
  27. ^ "Taste Awards". Archived from the original on 2009-12-08.
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