You can find him rushing to and fro between the Miller Plant Science building, the greenhouse and the UGA Horticulture Trial Gardens. If you catch him in between one of these places, which is very hard to do, he will most certainly be wearing his large brimmed beige hat from Tiley Endurables.
Dr. Armitage, if you don't already know, is a legendary horticulturalist that the University of Georgia is proud to call their own (for now that is).Originally from Canada, Dr. Artmitage attained his B.Sc from MacDonald College of McGill University, Quebec, his M.Sc. from University of Guelph, Ontario and his Ph.D. from Michigan State University.
Dr. Armitage's list of accolades goes way beyond his schooling.Most recently,Dr. A, as his students call him, published a new book on vines called "Armitage's Vines and Climbers: A Gardener's Guide to the Best Vertical Plants". This is just one of the many books he's written on plants.A horticulturalist with writing skills is hard to come by but Dr. Armitage has bridged the gap between master gardener and beginner for many readers.
His motive behind writing 13 or so books is simply his love of sharing information with those who want to know it. He comments,"writing a book is unlike anything I’ve every done." He went on to explain the difficulty of finishing a task such as writing a book with a quote from Confucius. Some of Dr. A's other books include Armitage’s Native Plants for North American Gardens, Herbaceous Garden Perennials, a Treatise of Identification, Culture and Garden Attributes,Armitage’s Garden Perennials, Armitage’s Manual of Annuals, Biennials and Half Hardy Perennials to name a few. To view a complete list of his works take a look here.
In addition to being a wonderful author of horticulture books, he is a world renowned speaker. He's lectured all over the world on various topics within the horticulture arena. Another form of speaking he participates in daily is teaching. Dr. Armitage teaches a herbaceous perennials ID class and a greenhouse management class (both of which I happen to be in). He used to be a high school teacher and "was very good at it" he says. He continued with "what I do here is share information with you guys, most of whom want to learn it." He challeneges his students to dive and learn this information. A common plant axiom said by Dr. A is this "the more you know, the more you know you don't know." I've had the privilege to meet, learn from and work with this wonderful man. His love of plants is infectious, that's for sure.When asked why he does this, Dr. A commented simply, "I enjoy sharing."
As mentioned earlier, D. A is an author, a speaker, a professor, and a horticulturist with his own lines of plants, Athens Select. Dr. A's baby, the UGA Trial Gardens, has featured many plants specific to the hot and humid Athens climate. He's taken the best species and cultivars, according to his research, and made a plant line of the top performers for the Athens area
Dr. Armitage is not just a career minded person either. He recently participated in Dancing With the Stars- Athens style, where he was partnered with Liza Pitts. They competed together to raise money for Project Safe, a program benefiting abused and battered women. He proudly took the stage, a much different setting than he's use to, and performed for a great cause.Have a look.
Can you understand why Dr. A comes and leaves in a hurry now? Aside from all of these activities, Dr. A is a loving husband,a father of three, and a proud grandfather. Within all aspects of life, his outlook is the same- spread the joy you've been given. "I still have some juices left" was Armitage's statement about juggling all of his beloved activities. He's truly one of a kind and when you leave his presence, you take a little of his passion for life with you.
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