Shirley Stackhouse was born into a nursery-owning family in Brisbane and studied at Sydney's Ryde School of Horticulture. Her gardening media career has included writing and illustrating a popular column for both The Sydney Morning Herald and Woman's Day, presenting a top-rating gardening show on Sydney radio and writing and illustrating several books. Shirley has been honoured as Horticulturalist of the Year by the Horticultural Media Association and been awarded an Order of Australia.