This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. ( Learn how and when to remove these template messages) This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentially libelous. Find sources:  "Michael Dirr" –  news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (July 2023) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) This article may rely excessively on sources too closely associated with the subject, potentially preventing the article from being verifiable and neutral. Please help improve it by replacing them with more appropriate citations to reliable, independent, third-party sources. (July 2023) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Michael A. Dirr is an American horticulturist and a professor of horticulture at the University of Georgia. He is an expert on woody plants.

Education and experience

Dirr earned a Bachelors in Science degree in Plant Physiology and a Masters in Science degree in Plant Physiology from Ohio State University and a Ph.D in Plant Physiology from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, in 1972. Upon graduation from the University of Massachusetts, Dirr was an Assistant Professor of Ornamental Horticulture at the University of Illinois, Urbana, where he continued to work until 1978. He then became a Mercer Fellow at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University through 1979. In 1979, he became the Director of the University of Georgia Botanical Garden. In 1981, he returned to teach at the University of Georgia and was promoted to Professor in 1984. ^[1]

Dirr's Georgia Plant Introduction Program has introduced over 40 new cultivars into the nursery trades.

Michael Dirr retired from the University of Georgia in October 2003. He is now^{[ when?]} active in research and new plant development.

Publications

Dirr has published over 300 scientific and popular publications and has authored seven books. His book, Manual of Woody Landscape Plants: Their Identification, Ornamental Characteristics, Culture and Propagation and Uses has become one of the most widely adopted reference text in the education of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture. It has sold over 250,000 copies. Major works include:

• Dirr, M.A. 2011. Dirr's Encyclopedia of Trees & Shrubs. Timber Pres, Portland, OR (951 p). ISBN 978-0-88192-901-0 ^[2]

• Dirr, M.A. 2002. Dirr's Trees and Shrubs for Warm Climates: An Illustrated Encyclopedia. Timber Press, Portland, Or. (448 p.) ISBN  978-0-88192-525-8
• Dirr, M.A. 1998. Manual of Woody Landscape Plants. Stipes Publishing Co., Champaign, IL. (1453 p.)
• Dirr, M.A. 1997. Dirr's Hardy Trees and Shrubs - An Illustrated Encyclopedia. Timber Press, Portland, OR. (494 p.) ISBN  978-0-88192-404-6
• Dirr, M.A. 1997. Michael A. Dirr's Photo-Library of Woody Landscape Plants on CD-ROM. PlantAmerica, Locust Valley, NY. (4 CDs)

Awards and honors

• Silver Medal for Excellence in Horticultural Writing^{[ from whom?]}
• Jackson Dawson Medal for Outstanding Contributions to Plant Propagation ( Massachusetts Horticultural Society)
• Silver Seal (National Federation of State Garden Clubs)
• Medal of Honor (1993, Garden Clubs of America) ^[3]
• Scott Medal ( Swarthmore College)
• Honorary Doctorate (1998, University of Massachusetts Amherst) for significant contributions to Horticulture and the University.

References

Notes

Bibliography

External links

• Michael Dirr's Plants