Looking Forward to Mobile: Speaker Preview, Michael Dirr
Michael A. Dirr
Partner, Premier Introductions, Inc.
Program Details: Advances in Hydrangea breeding: the roles of science and serendipity
Seismic, tectonic-shifting enthusiasm and reorganization in Hydrangea has occurred in the last 20 years. Breeding and research accelerated in the early/mid 2000s, fostered by the introduction of the remontant Endless Summer®. The idea of a reblooming H. macrophylla that would flower in zone 4/5 moved the interest needle to the highest level since the early 1900s and the great French hybridizers. This momentum engulfed H. arborescens, H. paniculata, H. serrata and minor species such as H. scandens and H. luteovenosa. The molecular work of Drs Rinehart and Reed provided roadmaps to new species combinations. This lecture will discuss the exciting advances in cultivar development.
Bio: Michael A. Dirr, Professor Emeritus, Horticulture, University of Georgia. Partner, with Mark Griffith and Jeff Beasley, in the new (1-1-2020) Premier Introductions, Inc., an A to Z, an equal opportunity plant breeding company.