Chris Canaan's Bio

Chris has a great passion for exotic plants, exotic places and Africa in particular. He has been growing plants since he could walk, on leaving school at the age of sixteen his passion for ice skating took him to an olympic level at speed skating, where he represented Great Britain in the olympics, aswell as sports he has been a glass blower, fashion designer, artist, sculptor and gym instructor.

Akamba was founded in 2002 after years of growing hardy exotic plants but never being able to buy them locally, Chris decided to source and import them himself, The plants combined with a love for African art created the perfect recepie for an African garden centre.

All the African art is fair trade, Chris and Kel know all the artists and their families on a personal level and work very closely with them to achieve the standards and finish required for the western market.

The plants at Akamba are often cold grown without the aid of vast green houses, this helps them thrive in our chilly British winters.

During the years at Akamba Chris has worked on many TV gardening programmes such as Challange Tommy Walsh, Garden Invaiders and has featured on BBC Gardeners World.