With Michael Dirr at last week ’s Plant WNY event
The true celebrities of the reality of gardening do n’t appear on HGTV or gladhand at menage and garden show . They ’re busy find young plant , guarantee enquiry undertaking , and writing the reference books that shape the backbone of every serious gardener ’s library .
I fuck that Michael Dirr was considered the foremost authority on Tree and other woody plant , and I own hisEncyclopedia of Trees and Shrubs . But I did n’t realise how revered he is among garden professional person until I saw him at aPlant WNYevent trade show and education sidereal day here in Buffalo . He delivered an inspiring keynote address about baronial trees , and talk later about new hybrid in the existence of shrub . Dirr promotes the planting of big spectre trees for all the benefit that we know about , but I was most concerned to see his recommendations of trees that would add to the variety of our urban and suburban tree canopy , help to compensate for the species we ’re turn a loss to pest and disease .
With Michael Dirr at last week’s Plant WNY event
Dirr ’s breeding program has introduced over 150 plant , many of them hydrangeas , which , despite the stock breeder ’s love of trees , have made the biggest impact on American consumers . But he continues to advocate for baronial trees and consults for arboretum throughout the country . He mouth at length about his connection with businessman Roger Milliken , with whom he planted thousands of trees throughout South Carolina .
Although I had get hold of Dirr via email about a possible interview , it was almost impossible to get near him . finally , however , we were able to get a few question answered in between his rule book sign language . I also spoke to Bonnie Dirr , an artist who has done illustration and paintings for many of her husband ’s script and helps him lean their personal garden in Georgia . Here are some excerpts from those discussions :
What Tree are being overplanted by householder and developers?Bradford and other Callery Pyrus communis , and too many shitty maple . Bradford pears , in special , have strive epidemic proportion . I was once a proponent but am now churn up by what I see in the eastern and southeasterly US .
What trees are being underutilized?Any oak . Bonnie and I discovered an just - columnar swamp white oak , Beacon ( Quercus bicolor x Quercus robur ‘ Fastigiata ’ ) , that boast bronze new emergence turn shiny morose green and a beautiful yellow in autumn . It ’s really tough too — thrives in slopped soil . And how do you beat the Tupelo ( Nyssa sylvatica ) ? We have a pocket-sized Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree in the garden and the fall color is a beautiful glistening red . I also have it off the new plane trees ( Platanus x acerifolia ) and Kentucky Coffeetree ( Gymnocladus dioicus ) . It look gangly in younker but matures attractively with great winter bark .
If you had to pick one hydrangea above all the cultivars you ’ve been testing , which would it be?For macrophyllas , Bloomstruck . Here ’s the mickle — it pass through 50 days of minus F in Minnesota and flowered like a petunia throughout July and August . For arborescens , the Incrediballs have strong stem . For quercifolia , “ Munchkin , ’ ‘ Ruby Slippers , ’ and many others .
Bonnie Dirr talked to me about the Dirr home garden .
How did you remediate your garden for planting — tilling or building up?We bring in manure and compost , and dig it in for the hydrangea . For the perennials we add , but in some country we had to use a pick to get through the red clay . Michael digs and mulch ; I mostly prune and water — we use atomiser interest and drip irrigation wherever we can .
Are n’t you adding to your garden at a time when many would be downsizing?He cognise the developers would cut down the Nyssa next doorway , so he bought the lot — originally we had an Accho , now it ’s three and a half . We line up peace in the garden . Even as students , we always had a garden .
And which are your preferred plants?I ‘ m a paniculata fan ; I have it away how they change color . I also screw Nipponese maples , and I ’ve come to appreciate euphorbia — they’re interesting .
littler association like Plant WNY do not always have the resources to bring in big figure like Dirr , but it ’s all-important that they do so whenever they can . Dirr ’s passport and ebullience will filter down through the landscapers and nursery people of Buffalo to their clients and customers . The answer is more thinking planting and maybe even more noble trees .
