2026 Down to Earth Summer Conference & Trade Show

Thursday, July 23, 2026
Savage Farms, Inc. • Deerfield, MA

Join MNLA for a nostalgic journey through decades of landscaping and nursery innovation, style, and culture—from the ‘60s to the early 2000s. Check back soon for complete details and to register online!

Down to Earth is a great opportunity to recognize, empower and thank your teams by giving them access for networking, professional development and fun.

Our featured keynote speaker, Michael A. Dirr, is the author of seven books, including Manual of Woody Landscape Plants: Their Identification, Ornamental Characteristics, Culture and Propagation and Uses, a widely used and best-selling reference text.

A Mercer scholar, Dirr is considered one of the green industry’s most celebrated plant experts. A professor of horticulture at the University of Georgia, his teaching, lectures, seminars, garden study tours and plant introduction programs have contributed to industry awareness.

Keynote Speaker Biography: Michael Dirr

The framework for the career path of Michael A. Dirr was established at an early age. Vegetable gardening with his dad, running a small roadside stand with sisters, maintaining gardens and lawns, working in a local nursery “sowed” the seeds for the Horticulture career. Mike had this insatiable desire to learn every tree and shrub and the only possible way to cure the “itch” was education.

Bachelor’s and master’s degrees from The Ohio State University, the Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts primed the pump for the academic journey to follow. In 1972, he accepted the teaching/research, woody plant position at the University of Illinois, where he wrote the first Manual of Woody Landscape Plants. Knowing what he did not know, Mike, Bonnie and three small children migrated to Boston and the Arnold Arboretum, Harvard University, for a sabbatical year.

In 1979, he accepted Director’s position, University of Georgia Botanical Garden, securing funding for the Alice Hand Callaway Conservatory and Visitors center. In 1981, he transferred to a teaching/research position in Horticulture, retiring in 2007.

Mike envisioned a future in breeding/developing/promoting new ornamental plants and worked symbiotically with the Georgia nursery industry to advance the program. The discovery of the remontant (reblooming) Hydrangea macrophylla in Minnesota changed the hydrangea market forever. Dirr’s introductions, marketed under the Endless Summer® brands, sold 50 million. Mike produced 30 plant patents during the UGA tenure: a combined total of ~86 with private companies.

“As a plant breeder your imagination often runs ahead of reality. If a breeder ever ceases to believe in the future, then it’s game over.” He currently owns and operates with two partners, Premier Introductions, Inc., Watkinsville, GA.

What is an MCH?

A Massachusetts Certified Horticulturist (MCH) is the ultimate resource for growing in Massachusetts. They’ve invested the time to learn and qualify as experts in the field and include nursery professionals, landscape contractors, fine gardeners, designers, land managers, tree care professionals, and turf pros.

Partner programs

Plant Something MA

Plant Something MA is a project of MNLA which includes professional environmental horticulturists—people who grow, care for, design and install plantings and landscapes in your community.

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Growing Wild

Growing Wild helps reverse the loss of biological diversity, foster and protect endangered species and add to the natural beauty of our Commonwealth—right in your own backyard.

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