Fred

Fred has created a gardener’s paradise filled with trilliums, the delicate trumpet-shaped harbinger of spring. He has researched, photographed, and collected all of the 38 North American species, along with several Asian varieties, gathered over some 40 years of hiking throughout swamps and woodlands with his late wife Roberta.

When cataracts dimmed Fred’s view of the garden, he turned to Dr. Paul R. Lichter to restore his clarity of vision. Then, on a recent trip in the West, he lost his footing while reaching for yet another new plant specimen. On his return, he became aware of some troubling symptoms and again, came to Dr. Lichter, who diagnosed a detached retina and referred him to our Retina Clinic.  “I didn’t want to deal with anyone but the Kellogg Eye Center and Dr. Lichter,” said Fred, who speaks with the authority of an expert.

As you stroll through his three-acre garden, you learn that rock gardening was Fred’s first horticultural interest. He studied botany at the University of Michigan and then taught for the National Audubon Society in Wisconsin where he became involved in the Rock Gardening Society.  This spring, as usual, he has started seeds for 500 varieties of alpine flowers, some of which will eventually be placed in a rock garden devoted to alpine plants of the West. “You are not supposed to be able to grow them here,” says Fred, “but I’ve been able to create the right conditions and many of the plants are thriving.”

Gradually, Fred’s name became associated with trilliums.  “I never intended to become an expert on trilliums. It just happened,” he says. As he leads a tour through his gardens, you see more species of trillium than most people could imagine. There are varieties with pale pink, yellow, and deep maroon flowers, as well as the more recognizable white grandiflorum. In another area, miniature trilliums only a few inches tall hug the ground. On one visit in late April, some varieties have bloomed, but many are just forming buds.

Fred would have you believe that each of his several gardens evolved without a great deal of planning, though he concedes his success has to do with creating the right environment for every plant. “You truly understand a plant when you create a habitat that encourages it to spread,” he observes. “The trilliums have seeded 950 feet out to the road.” He demonstrates the same mastery in his greenhouses, one filled with fly-eating carnivorous plants, another devoted to orchids heavy with bloom.

Fred has won honors in each of his life’s endeavors. His books on trilliums, wildflowers, and orchids have garnered enthusiastic reviews. He has been named “Michigan Science Teacher of the Year” and “Michigan Biology Teacher of the Year” for his work with students at Arthur Hill High School in Saginaw , Michigan .  And the contributions he has made through books and articles have won him many of the top horticultural awards including the North American Rock Garden Society’s Edgar T. Wherry Award and the Scott Medal from Swarthmore College ’s Scott Arboretum.

Several months after the surgery, the vision in one eye is still a little blurry, but Fred expects it to improve over time. He has amassed a wealth of knowledge about trilliums and more, and generously shares it with the many visitors to his gardens. He welcomes students of ecology from a local college as well as trillium enthusiasts who have heard or read about his expertise.

Any visitor, dazzled by the display of wildflowers, would immediately understand what it means to have healthy vision. Fred is able to look upon his gardens with satisfaction. “All of this work has been a pleasure,” he says. “Everything I played with turned out well. I’ve worked hard, and it’s been fun.”

 

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