Gary Lewis

Phoenix Perennials has been owned and operated by plantsman Gary Lewis since 2004 and run with the help of the talented and dedicated Phoenicians.

Gary Lewis has had a lifelong passion for plants. While completing a Masters of Science degree in Botany, Gary became the owner of Phoenix Perennials on his 28^th birthday. Since that time, he has greatly expanded the business into a dynamic, award-winning, destination nursery for Western Canada with over 5000 different plants a year, many of which are grown at Phoenix Perennials from plant material sourced from around the world. In 2013 Phoenix Perennials launched Canadian mail order to bring their unique plant selection to a broader audience and now ships more than 3000 different plants a year to avid gardeners from coast to coast to coast.

Gary is a regular speaker at garden clubs and has appeared many times on radio and television. He has written for a variety of gardening magazines including Fine Gardening and in fall 2022 his encyclopedia, The Complete Book of Ground Covers, was published by Timber Press. This compendium focuses on 4000 different ground covers for the temperate gardening world accompanied by 650 photos from his international travels. The book won the Gold Laurel award from GardenComm and was translated and published in Japan in Spring 2024.

Among his many other awards, in 2013 Gary was selected as Communicator of the Year by the BC Landscape and Nursery Association and in 2017 was the recipient of the Retail Sales Award from the Perennial Plant Association.

Gary has lead garden tours to New Zealand, South Africa, Ireland, England, France, Holland and Belgium, and Western Australia.

> Learn More About Gary in the Podcast Section