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. 14 in the Brundrett Conservation Education Building at the Pineywoods Native Plant Center.
Dr. David Creech, director of SFA Gardens, will present “Is the Pineywoods Native Plant Center a Case Study of Divine Intervention … or Maybe Not? Capitalizing on the Best Plants, Plans and People to Create a Green Resource for the Gulf South.”
After a long career in SFA’s Department of Agriculture, Creech retired in 2007 and returned to serve as the gardens director in a part-time position. The 138-acre SFA Gardens is an umbrella for numerous theme gardens and collections of trees, shrubs, vines, herbaceous perennials and fruit. These serve as a valuable germplasm resource for the Gulf South.
Creech received his bachelor’s degree from Texas A&M University in 1970, his master’s degree from Colorado State University in 1972, and his doctoral degree from TAMU in 1978.
Since arriving at SFA in 1978, Creech’s research interests have been varied and include 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 horticultural concerns.
He is the author of numerous scholarly and trade articles, and he has accumulated a long list of international consultancies since 1981 to Pakistan, Guatemala, Mexico, Nepal, Israel, Chile, New Zealand and China.
In 2022, Creech received the American Society for Horticultural Science’s Outstanding International Horticulturalist Career Award, which recognizes a member who has made a 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.
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, 2900 Raguet St., or Raguet Elementary School, 2708 Raguet St.
For more information, email sfagardens@sfasu.edu.
ABOUT STEPHEN F. AUSTIN STATE UNIVERSITY
Stephen F. Austin State University, the newest member of The University of Texas System, began a century ago as a teachers’ college in Texas’ oldest town, Nacogdoches. Today, it has grown into a regional institution comprising six colleges — business, education, fine arts, forestry and agriculture, liberal and applied arts, and sciences and mathematics. Accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, SFA enrolls approximately 11,000 students while providing the academic breadth of a state university with the personalized attention of a private school. The main campus encompasses 421 acres that include 37 academic facilities, nine residence halls, and 68 acres of recreational trails that wind through its six gardens. The university offers more than 80 bachelor’s degrees, more than 40 master’s degrees and four doctoral degrees covering more than 120 areas of study. Learn more at sfasu.edu.
Cutline: Dr. David Creech, director of Stephen F. Austin State University’s SFA Gardens, will be guest speaker for the monthly Theresa and Les Reeves Lecture Series at 7 p.m. Dec. 14 in the Brundrett Conservation Education Building at the Pineywoods Native Plant Center.