Tributes flow to radio plant man

TRIBUTES were paid yesterday to Gardeners' Question Time panellist John Cushnie, who died on Hogmanay. He was 66.

Mark Damazer, Controller of BBC Radio 4, said Cushnie, from County Down, Northern Ireland, was a "towering figure" on the popular show.

He said: "He was a brilliantly knowledgeable panellist, but, much more than that, he laced every programme with joy.

"His acerbic wit was deployed with terrific timing against a wide variety of plants he did not like – always with an affectionate twinkle in his eye, and unrelenting sympathy for fellow gardeners."