PlantAmerica — Biography for Dr. Allan Armitage

Dr. Armitage is well known throughout the world as a writer, speaker and researcher. Having gardened in Montreal, Canada, East Lansing, Michigan and now in Athens, Georgia, he has gained an appreciation for plant culture and development in the climates of the north and south. He holds his B.Sc. from MacDonald College, Quebec, M.Sc. from University of Guelph, Ontario and his Ph.D. from Michigan State University.

He is a prolific and well-respected writer, and has written over 250 articles and papers for journals such as Fine Gardening, Horticulture Magazine, American Nurseryman, Grower Talks, Plant Physiology and the journals of the American Society of Horticultural Science. In his monthly column for Greenhouse Grower Magazine, a national trade journal, he discusses new crops and new trends in floriculture.

The author of 10 book chapters and 6 books, Dr. Armitage is best known for his classroom and reference text, Herbaceous Perennial Plants — A Treatise of Identification, Culture and Garden Attributes, a standard reference for gardeners, professionals and students, now in its 2nd edition. It was recently designated by the American Horticultural Association as one of the 75 most important horticultural books written in the last 75 years. Allan Armitage on Perennials, a guidebook to perennials throughout North America, won the prestigious Garden Communication Award from the Garden Writers Association of America. Commercial production and postharvest handling of over 200 species of specialty cut flowers are covered in the internationally respected Specialty Cut Flowers. Ornamental Bedding Plant Production, discusses commercial production of bedding plants, and was published by CAB Press in England for European and American distribution. Other books include Bedding Plants: Prolonging Shelf Performance, designed to enhance proper handling of garden plants and his recently revised Seed Propagated Geraniums, the first book in the Commercial Greenhouse Series of books on production of greenhouse crops for which he is the principle editor.

As a teacher and speaker, Dr. Armitage has lectured in Canada, United States, Colombia, New Zealand, Australia and Europe and is in constant demand. He has visited research centers and production centers throughout the world and is constantly studying annuals, perennials, cut flowers, and greenhouse crops in various climates. He teaches courses in Greenhouse Production, Greenhouse Crop Management and Herbaceous Perennial Identification and Use at the University of Georgia where he is currently a professor of horticulture. He is a highly engaging teacher and his courses fill rapidly.

His research is multi-faceted. He conducts investigations on commercial cut flower production, which have led to the development of a professional growers organization which now boasts over 800 members. His work in bedding plant and perennial plant production for the greenhouse has led to numerous publications and advances in the floriculture industry. His long interest in new crops for the garden, greenhouse, and field has taken him throughout the world. He has been responsible for introducing a half dozen plants to the greenhouse and garden trade such as Verbena ‘Homestead Purple’, the Sunlover Series of Coleus, Tibouchina ‘Athens Blue’ and Dicentra ‘Athens Yellow’. Dr. Armitage is also in charge of the University of Georgia Horticulture Gardens and produces industry guidelines for annuals and perennials suitable for heat and humidity. The garden, which is supported by growers and seed breeders all over the world, is visited by flower breeders, retailers, landscapers, growers and gardeners.

Awards include the Kiplinger Chair at Ohio State University, the Alex Laurie Award for outstanding research in horticulture, Outstanding Teacher Award from the Professional Greenhouse Growers of Georgia, the Futura Award for outstanding teaching and research from the Professional Plant Growers Association, a Golden Trowel Award for his book Allan Armitage on Perennials from the Garden Writers of America, the Education Media Award for his book Specialty Cut Flowers from the Professional Plant Growers Association, Teacher of the Year from the Georgia Green Industry Association and the National Outstanding Educator Award from the American Horticultural Society. A special award, The Allan Armitage Leadership Award, has been established by the Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers to be awarded to the individual who exemplifies outstanding leadership in the specialty cut flower industry. He was recently honored by the Massachusetts Horticulture Society for outstanding contribution to ornamental horticulture. He is also an advisor for the Garden Book Club of America and has consulted for Scholastic Books, publisher of the Magic School Bus series of science books for children.

Dr. Armitage is presently involved in producing two CD-ROMs for gardeners and plant professionals. The first is a photographic encyclopedia of herbaceous plants, which includes approximately 6000 photos of cultivars and species of annuals, perennials, bulbs, ferns and cut flowers. The other is a CD- ROM version of his Herbaceous Perennial Plants, which will allow gardeners and designers to quickly search by flower color, height, climatic zone and sun/shade tolerance for every entry in the book, and then bring up associated text and photos. Both projects will be completed by the end of 1997.