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The Drag Queen Gardener
Thursday 28 September 2023 at 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm
Join Tom Leonard, aka Daisy Desire the Drag Queen Gardener, someone who brings “the couture to your manure”.
Tom Leonard is a trained horticulturist from Warwickshire, who happens to have a passion for drag. After a break up in 2019 he decided to get an allotment, where his love of gardening grew (and so did his love for high heels).
Tom has his Level 2 Royal Horticultural Society Practical Gardening qualification, and is currently working for Isola, an award winning garden design company – maintaining and installing gardens across the Midlands, Warwickshire and the Cotswolds.
2021 and 2022 saw Tom appearing as Daisy Desire at a number of major shows, including the RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show and the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Daisy is now an established friend of the Royal Horticultural Society. Both Daisy and Tom have broken industry boundaries presenting on some of the biggest gardening stages in the country, hosting segments on Channel 4’s Stephs Packed Lunch and most impressively, BBC One’s Gardeners’ World.
When it comes to Daisy Desire, The Drag Queen Gardener, she’s bringing some sparkle to the horticultural world. The gardening world was calling out for something fresh and now they have got it. She set out with the aim of promoting the mental wellbeing benefits of horticulture. She wants to encourage people to go outside and get growing, whilst not being afraid of being different – do whatever makes you happy. Daisy is fast becoming a well-known contoured face in the gardening scene, for all the right reasons. Her joyful personality and refusal to take life so seriously has proven a tonic to audiences of all ages across the country.
The Telegraph: “A revolution in horticulture”
The Times: “As it was, the most colourful item on the main avenue was the vision in bubblegum pink that was Daisy Desire, the Drag Queen Gardener. She was the human equivalent of a giant fuchsia hanging basket. Her disco pink bag was emblazoned with the words: ‘I didn’t ask your opinion’ – I think we knew that.”
Book your place
- Bristol University students – free
- Bristol University staff – £5
- Standard entry – £12
Booking is essential.
For Bristol University staff or standard entry click here.
If you are a Bristol University student, click here for your FREE tickets.
Contact us
If you have any questions contact us at botanic-gardens@bristol.ac.uk or call 0117 42 82041