Michael
Dirr has published over 300 scientific and popular publications
and has authored or coauthored seven books. His Manual of Woody
Landscape Plants; Their Identification, Ornamental Characteristics,
Culture, Propagation and Uses, Fifth Edition, 1998, Stipes Publishing,
is the most widely adopted teaching and reference text in the country
and has sold over 300,000 copies. With Dr. Charles Heuser, he produced
The Reference Manual of Woody Plant Propagation, which has become
the standard reference for plant propagators and the standard text
in many propagation courses. Dirr’s Hardy Trees and Shrubs
with 500 species and 700 cultivar descriptions accompanied by over
1,600 color photographs was published by Timber Press in 1997. Two
CD-ROMs, The Photo-Library of Woody Landscape Plants , with 7,600
photographs encompassing 3,600 plant types, was released by PlantAmerica
in 1997 and The Interactive Manual of Woody Landscape Plants was
released by PlantAmerica in 2001. Dirr has received numerous awards and honors during his career including the Silver Medal for Excellence in Horticultural Writing and the Jackson Dawson Medal for Outstanding Contributions to Plant Propagation from the Massachusetts Horticultural Society. He has received the Silver Seal from the National Federation of State Garden Clubs, in 1993 the Medal of Honor from the Garden Clubs of America, the Scott Medal from Swarthmore College, the Educator of the Year Award (1998) from the Georgia Green Industry Association, and the Linnean Award from Chicago Botanic Garden (1998) for outstanding contributions to horticultural taxonomy. Teaching awards include the L.C. Chadwick Outstanding Educator from the American Nursery and Landscape Association; Outstanding Teacher from the American Horticultural Society (2000); Outstanding Teacher from the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES) (1998); and the Brooks Award for Outstanding Teaching from the CAES (2000). Outstanding Teacher Award from the undergraduate Horticulture Club on several occasions. |