In 1975 Roger Phillips began his life's major work of photographing and publishing pictures of the world's garden plants. He set out to develop an encyclopedic collection of books to show the difference between plants as diverse as mosses, roses and annuals. His first book, Wild Flowers of Britain (1977), was a huge success, selling 400,000 copies in the first year. He since wrote over thirty additional volumes (often with his co-author Martyn Rix) selling over 6 million copies worldwide.

Roger has written and presented two major six-part TV series on gardening (BBC & Channel 4). Famed for his ebullient personality and garish red glasses, he was a well-recognised figure in the world of gardening. He received an MBE for his work on London's garden squares. Roger Phillips died in November 2021.

Martyn Rix is a leading botanist, plant collector, gardener, independent botanical advisor and writer. He and award-winning photographer Roger Phillips have collaborated on over twenty-five books such as Vegetables.