His name is Bob Flowerdew (appropriate for a celebrity gardener, don't you think?) He's in his early 50s, has a waist length braid and is one of the few long-haired guys we see on TV over here, however infrequently. We could do with a few more like him.
I recently came across an interview with him and it reminded me of when I saw him on TV the first time. Everyone in the room but me was laughing and going, "Look at how long that guy's hair is." I, on the other hand, was going, "Wow! Look how long his hair is!" Three years later, my hair was about 18 inches long. I then had it all chopped off and kept it short for about ten years, but now it's longer than ever.
Anyway, here's a pic of him.
http://www.gardeningcelebrities.com/bob-flowerdew.htm
I recall a friend telling me Flowerdew uses clay to wash his hair and sure enough a search turned that up. There are a few points where his hair is mentioned in an article from The Times Online. Flowerdew says "I havent cut my hair for 15 years. I wash it with a whisked egg, beer or clay shampoo, which works like fullers earth, picking up oils and dirt."
He also mentions some other aspects of his hair in the last two paragraphs- "Dreams were one reason I started growing my hair. It struck me hair might possibly act as an aerial, and I made notes to see if my dreams changed as it got longer. Since Ive been growing it, my dreams seem more sensible, more like real life." The mention of how his wife braids his hair for him every night is a tender picture. Since it would be messy from sleeping I would think she does that to prevent tangles overnight rather than for him to wear the next day. His braid certainly looks neatly done on the page you mentioned, Viking.
Elizabeth
Flowerdew article from The Times Online
I thought it looked really good on him and he was one of the reasons I decided to grow mine originally. That would have been about 15 years ago. I've been trying to teach my other half to braid, but unsucessfully so far. I have to do my own.
Hi Viking I checked out that link and the guy does have a cool braid which is quite long.I never heard of him before until now but I guess there are many unknown longhairs who are sort of celebrities.It also sounds like you've been up and down with longhair.Glad to hear that you intend to keep it for the long haul.I remember a post by you some time ago where you posted a pic and I was wondering if that was you.The pic was of a guy in black shorts with a T shirt stuffed in the waist band and he had shoulder length blonde hair.Looked really cool I thought.Anyway thanks for the gardener link.Mark
I haven't posted any self pics yet, so that wasn't me. I've been posting for a while, but reading for longer and didn't see anyone else use this name. Have I picked someone else's nickname?
Hi Viking.No I don't think I've seen any other person use that name here except you.As for that pic I described maybe I was wrong and someone else posted it.Since I saved it I'll post it here just for fun.Whoever it is though is a great looking longhair:)Mark
While I think Bob Flowerdew's name is just TOO, "over-the-top" to be true; he is indeed an awesome gardener and garden writer. My favorite book of his is on the topic of companion planting (in other words, how to do effective organic gardening by knowing which plants naturally help ward off pests from each other, etc.)... Unfortunately, I loaned that book to a friend who never returned it, --- so I forgot the title of that book (lol)!!
- Ken in San Francisco
Those are the types of friends you don't want to hang onto! :¬)