Axe ’Em, Jacks!
NACOGDOCHES, Texas –– Stephen F. Austin State University’s SFA Gardens will host the monthly Theresa and Les Reeves Lecture Series at 7 p.m. Dec. 8 in the Brundrett Conservation Education Building at the Pineywoods Native Plant Center.
Dr. David Creech, SFA Gardens director and professor emeritus of agriculture, will present “How Many Japanese Maples Are Enough? Well, It Depends on Who You Ask.”
After 30 years tending Japanese maples, SFA Gardens is now home to hundreds of varieties. Considered the best collection in the Gulf South, the end result shows lessons learned with this aristocrat of the small tree world. SFA Gardens also enjoys a wide swath of closely related and rarely seen Asian plant species. After thousands of years of selection, Japanese maples are amazingly diverse, beautiful and durable, provided a few rules of establishment. Join Creech as he reviews the best varieties; how to propagate, grow, prune and train Japanese maples; and where to buy them.
Creech received a Bachelor of Science from Texas A&M University in 1970, a Master of Science from Colorado State University in 1972, and his doctoral degree from Texas A&M University in 1978. Since arriving at SFA in 1978, Creech’s research interests have included urban tree evaluation; blueberry and golden kiwifruit evaluation; horticultural crop nutrition studies; new plant introductions for the ornamental horticulture industry; endangered native plant rescue, research and reintroduction; and finding sustainable solutions to environmental concerns.
Creech has authored numerous scholarly and trade articles and has accumulated a long list of international consultancies since 1981 to Pakistan, Guatemala, Mexico, Nepal, Israel, Chile, New Zealand and China. In 2022, he received the American Society for Horticultural Science Career Award for Outstanding International Horticulturalist, which recognizes an international horticulturist who has made an outstanding and valuable contribution to international horticultural science, education, research and/or outreach for a period of 10 or more years.
Creech has served as president of the Native Plant Society of Texas, the Southern Region American Society of Horticulture Science, and the International Plant Production Society Southern Region. He currently serves part time as director of SFA Gardens.
The Theresa and Les Reeves Lecture Series is held the second Thursday of each month and includes a rare plant raffle after the program. The lecture is free and open to the public, but donations to the lecture series fund are always appreciated.
Parking is available at the PNPC and Raguet Elementary School, located at 2428 Raguet St.
For more information, call (936) 468-4129 or email sfagardens@sfasu.edu.