An artist’s touch

Photos courtesy of J. Frank Schmidt & Son

When it comes to trees, Keith Warren has a bit of the Midas touch. But it’s not magic that has helped Warren select some of the most successful tree cultivars in the marketplace. Instead, he’s an amalgamation of artist and scientist with an uncanny ability to see both the beauty and the mechanics of a plant.

For more than 40 years, Warren has walked the fields of J. Frank Schmidt & Son nursery in Oregon. He spent the first few years as Schmidt’s farm manager at the Sunset Farm in Canby growing hundreds of thousands of shade trees. Next he moved into a research and development position where he created and improved production techniques.

“Think of it as an in-house extension agent,” he explains. That morphed into plant development where, throughout his time at the nursery, he made some 30 tree selections.

Of all the trees in his portfolio, Warren acknowledges that Redpointe Maple has made the most impact to the market out of all of his selections.

“It’s our No. 1 selling tree,” he says.

Redpointe Maple (Acer rubrum) was selected in part for its extreme resistance to chlorosis in high pH soils, Warren says. This opened up the market for this tree in areas where previously it couldn’t be sold. Redpointe also possesses a good resistance to spider mites, he adds. The tree has also done well in the market for its strong branch structure.

“A lot of the faster-growing red maples have a weak branch structure, and there was a problem with splitting in red and freeman maples. But this one didn’t have the structural problems,” he says.

Of course the screaming red fall foliage doesn’t hurt, either.

There wasn’t any micromanaging when Warren stepped into the product development department.

“Schmidt gave me a lot of freedom to produce what I thought was best for the market,” he recalls.

Warren’s main goal, which is in alignment with the nursery’s mission, is to find trees that solve a problem. As product development director at J. Frank Schmidt, Warren and his team placed special emphasis on developing tough, adaptable and long-lived tree cultivars that will survive and thrive in urban settings where typical trees may fail.

“I always attempted to not just intro something just because it’s different, but because it’s better and solves some need that existing plants couldn’t,” he says.

Most of his plant development came from special seed source collection, while some were from hybridizing or selective breeding, he says.

“Serendipity also plays a role. Some plants are spotted when you’re driving down the road,” he says.

While he was at the helm of product development, Warren was tasked with analyzing sales history and market trends to better forecast the market’s needs, and determining the nursery’s product mix. He was able to hone those skills through constant communication with people throughout all facets of the industry – something he learned during his early role with the company.

“A lot of what I did in terms of tree selection, came from knowing the market well and knowing what the market needed. And you can only know that if you’re constantly talking to customers, researchers, landscape architects, arborists and many others in the industry,” he says.

Warren’s understanding of trees doesn’t solely come from his botanical knowledge and experience. He also looks at trees through an artist’s eyes. He draws the pen-and-ink tree form illustrations for the Schmidt catalogs. He started drawing the trees early in his career to help the customer understand all of its characteristics.

“The drawings help people get a better feel of the structure of the tree, how big the limbs are, or how close it may get when planted next to a building, for instance. It helps people know what to expect when that tree matures,” he says.

Late last year, Warren was honored by the Oregon Association of Nurseries with the OAN Outstanding Service Award for his 40+ years of service to J. Frank Schmidt & Son, as well as the entire industry.

Warren officially retired from J. Frank Schmidt & Son last year. Perhaps it should be couched as semi-retired. He still has trees that are moving toward introduction in the coming years, and he still has a spot at the office to call his own. He now has a little more time for things like hiking the mountains and forests of the Pacific Northwest, skiing and fly fishing.

But no amount of fresh powder or biting fish could keep him away from tree breeding. Warren hopes to select a double-flowering crabapple with the same disease resistance as his earlier selection, Sparkling Sprite.

He’s also working on a book with Michael Dirr that will be packed with up-to-date listings and descriptions of tree cultivars.