7:00-7:30 pm Optional Social Time
7:30-8:00 pm Announcements
8:00-9:00 pm Asian Maple Musings
At the Environmental Interpretive Center (EIC) on The University of Michigan-Dearborn campus, MGAWC members will learn about Asian Maples from Dennis Groh, a garden enthusiast since childhood, and an avid plant collector for more than 40 years. A voracious reader with an extensive library of books on plants, Dennis has been blessed to be able to network over the years with generous and knowledgeable plant mentors. He has traveled the world to study plants and talk with those most knowledgeable about growing them. His contacts in the horticultural world have grown along with his plants. Dennis does all he can to advance knowledge in the horticultural field. A scientist by profession, he brings an incisive perspective to his gardening, asking "why" and demanding explanations for "how," supported by facts.
Dennis and his wife, Carole, have developed an amazing and stunning plant collection in their 1-acre garden. Photographs of their garden have been featured in the Detroit Free Press, the American Conifer Society magazine, and in Adrian Bloom's publication "Gardening with Conifers." In 2005, Rebecca's Garden (HGTV) filmed a segment on the Japanese Maples grown in their garden.
Dennis has lectured on conifers, fall color, rhododendrons and azaleas, woody plants, and Japanese gardens in an attempt to pass on his mentors’ legacy of plant knowledge and to help others avoid his mistakes.
Class Description: In Japanese, Sho Chiku Bai (松竹梅) can be literally translated into pine (松), bamboo (竹), and plum (梅) and has special significance in Japan as New Year symbols of good fortune. It has also evolved into a common quality rating system where Bai is good, Chiku is better, and Sho is best.
Over the last 40 years, Dennis has planted, grown, and observed over a hundred different cultivars of Asian maples in his garden. Some have survived all 40 years; a few only lasted a year or two before requiring removal. A couple of untypically cold winters have also helped to “thin the herd” of survivors. The latter were expensive lessons. In this presentation, Dennis will share his successes and failures and offer some insights and suggestions. His comments will also include input from other knowledgeable Asian maple growers in the Midwest. The information presented would probably be classified as anecdotal evidence by agricultural extension organizations; however, you can decide for yourself, based on the information and rationale, if what he shares might help you avoid some expensive disappointments.