Keynote Annual Meeting


Dirr to


... his book Dirr’ T


r s Har dy


ees and Shrubs is considered to be a “Bible” for those in the nursery and landscape business.


Our keynote speaker this year is Dr. Michael A. Dirr, professor of


horticulture (retired). Dr. Dirr has introduced more than 100 new plant varieties to the horticultural world and, through his lifelong passion for plants, has inspired generations of students, gardeners, and professional horticulturists. A professor of horticulture at the University of Georgia, Michael Dirr is a legend in the horticultural world and has tremendous energy for teaching about plants, writing about plants, and especially for growing plants. Michael worked at a nursery and garden center to pay his way


through university while earning his bachelor and master of science degrees at Ohio State University. He went on to earn a doctorate in plant physiology at the University of Massachusetts and began his


GrowingMEGreen


teaching career in 1972 as an assistant professor at the University of Illinois. Dr. Dirr has published more then 300 scientific and popular papers


and articles. His teaching, lectures, seminars, garden study tours, and plant introduction programs have contributed enormously to greater horticultural awareness, and his book Dirr’s Hardy Trees and Shrubs is considered to be a “Bible” for those in the nursery and landscape business. He has received numerous awards and honors during his career,


most recently the Liberty Hyde Bailey Medal from the American Horticulture Society. Today, he travels widely to lecture, teach, and form new opinions of plants.


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