3/18/2023 0 Comments Cornus mas new haven![]() Large heartshaped leaf.Ĭornelian cherry ( Cornus mas) - small flowering dogwood tree, not really a cherry. White redbud ( Cercis canadensis ‘Alba') - small, native tree with white flowers along the branches in May. Very crisp and beautiful foliage all season. Emerging foliage in spring is reddish, turning to bluish green through the season. Katsure tree ( Cercidiphyllum japonicum) - large shade tree. Ornamental trees and shrubs that Dorthe Hviid, director of horticulture at the Berkshire Botanical Garden, recommends for the Berkshire climate include the following. He got American gardeners to realize the importance of woody plants in landscapes. "He's larger than life, very charismatic, but not boastful," Cary said. "He wants them to try to buy things that have been tested, so they won't be disappointed in what they plant in their garden."ĭirr's lecture is bringing in gardeners of all levels, from home to professional, from all over the Northeast, according to Cary. "Michael Dirr is concerned with people just buying these trees," she said. This means no one knows how the plant will hold up in specific climates or seasons. Hviid said Dirr will probably talk mostly about trees during his lecture, and about a topic he is very focused and passionate about these days - the creation and sale of new plants that haven't been fully tested before being sold in the market. "He has a nice local connection," said Cary. The large leaf magnolia (Magnolia macrophylla), a 20-foot tree with striking leaves almost 16-inches long, blooms in spring with long white flowers, almost two-feet across, carried high on the tree.ĭirr, who is currently a professor emeritus at the University of Georgia, spent some time locally when he studied at the University of Massachusetts for his PhD. Standing next to it is a huge 12- to15-foot sargent weeping hemlock ( Tsuga canadensis) with branches that bow downward, creating a mound that you can walk under into a secret world covered by thick branches. "Because he was able to write about it - that's what made him who he is today."ĭuring the walk and talk, Hviid said she hopes Dirr will discuss some of the more unusual trees in the botanical garden's collection - like the umbrella pine ( Sciadopytys verticillata), a beautiful evergreen with thick, long needles that Hviid believes was planted around the 1940s and stands a rare 20 feet tall. ![]() "Dirr is very sensitive to trees and really knows woody plants wells," said Hviid. This is the book she uses to help people decide what types of woody plants they might be interested in planting. Dirr's latest book, "Dirr's Encyclopedia of Trees and Shrubs," which he will sign following the lecture, has color photographs and not as many details about individual plants, Hviid said. The manual has only line drawings and is used by most to identify a woody plant, or to learn how to care for and grow a specific tree or shrub. ![]() "I really consider it the bible of woody plants." "The book brings a whole world of tress and shrubs alive, but is still scientific and technical," said Hviid. Hviid first learned about Dirr when she was in horticulture school and said she refers to his manual of woody plants at least once a week and has done ever since she was introduced to it in the 1980s. jumps from the surrounding vegetation and grabs one by the nape of the neck."ĭorthe Hviid, director of horticulture at the garden, will lead Dirr on a walk around the garden before the lecture with about 40 people. Those who know his writing are drawn to his warm observations of the natural word - he writes about the Pagoda Dogwood: "I was not absolutely convinced that I absorbed the true beauty of this species until late summer 1997 when, on vacation in Maine, Bonnie and I would surprise the tree during our frequent walks. Dirr, who was not available for an interview before press time, sold out the lecture weeks after the official announcement went out in December. at Monument Mountain Regional High School in Great Barrington. The garden will hold its annual winter lecture, "The World According to Dirr: Trees and Shrubs for the 21st Century," Saturday at 2 p.m. "He has had a significant impact on how people think about gardening." ![]() "It's very exciting that he is coming, because he is really well known in field of horticulture," said Elisabeth Cary, director of education at the garden. Among Dirr's impressive body of work, which spans 12 books, his "Manual of Woody Landscape Plants" is considered a standard for industry professionals - and his characteristic humor-filled anecdotes have filled the Berkshire Botanical Garden's Winter Lecture this Saturday beyond capacity. ![]()
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