Carol Klein

Carol Ann Klein (born 24 June 1945) is an English gardening expert, who also works as a television presenter and newspaper columnist. In July 2023 the Royal Horticultural Society named Klein as the RHS Iconic Horticultural Hero 2023. Early life Born in Walkden, Lancashire, in 1945, Klein attended Bolton School but left school when she was 15. Interviewed for Lancashire Life in 2014 she recalled: "I think I was quite close to being chucked out. I loved art and biology but in those days you had to choose between the two subjects. I was fed up about that." She wanted to go to art school but her father would not allow it and she ended up selling buttons and stockings at the Kendal Milne department store in Manchester. Her love of gardening was inspired partly by her grandfather, whose allotment she enjoyed, and partly by her mother. Klein trained as an art teacher and taught in schools in Shepherd's Bush, London before moving to Devon. There she lectured at North Devon College and taught art at South Molton Secondary School and Community College before setting up her own plant nursery, Glebe Cottage Plants. She exhibited at more than 200 Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) shows and began exhibiting at the annual Chelsea Flower Show in 1990, where her displays won a total of six gold medals.