Michael Dirr is the guru of woody plants. Beginning in 1975, his “Manual of Woody Landscape Plants” – through six editions as of 2009 – has been required reading for any horticultural student. These books are very technical and rely on line drawings to illustrate their subjects.
Working with Timber Press, Dirr changed directions in 1997 with the publication of “Dirr’s Hardy Trees and Shrubs.” Described by the author as “a photographic essay that profiles and highlights the most common woody landscape plants,” this proved an excellent way to reach a more general gardening audience. This style continued with “Dirr’s Encyclopedia of Trees and Shrubs” (2012).
While this last book will remain an important reference because of its inclusion of shrubs and helpful lists of selection criteria, the photographic essay approach reached a new height with the publication of “The Tree Book.” For the first time, it is written with a co-author, Keith Warren. While Dirr is from the southeast, spending his academic career at the University of Georgia, Warren is a retired tree breeder and nurseryman from Oregon. His voice makes this new book especially valuable to gardeners in the Pacific Northwest.
Photographs are still the eye-grabbers of this huge book (940 pages!), but the text has been expanded to achieve the right balance of being informative without excess detail, and is often very funny. Reading about Sourwood (Oxydendrum arboretum), I learned that in its native Georgia it can reach 60’, but “in the dry summers of the West, a 20’ height is a big tree.” The authors claim this as a favorite species, looking good in all seasons, with the best in the fall: “Like a drum roll, the fall color comes on slowly and intensifies, finally reaching a crescendo.”
The authors do an excellent job of highlighting the best of new cultivars or selections of their subjects. For example, I learned of nine cultivars of one my favorite trees, the Persian Ironwood (Parrotia persica) – I only knew of one! There is even a newly available species, Parrotia subaequalis, which in Oregon has fall color that “is consistently brilliant red, brighter than P. persica.”
This is a reference book and not available to check out from the Miller Library. However, if you are planting new trees, or want to learn more about trees, I recommend visiting the library and seeking out this book.
Published in Garden Notes: Northwest Horticultural Society, Fall 2019