Letter from the Executive Director |
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Greetings!
Happy New Year!
So far, 2022 feels a lot like 2021, with weather extremes, political and societal turmoil, and the pandemic still playing a role in our day to day lives. I suppose there’s no reason to expect all these factors to disappear just because an arbitrary designation has defined this as a new year. Like the Coronavirus, the Garden certainly doesn’t know or care what year it is. It just keeps plugging along (with the help of our gardeners), weathering 50 degree temperature swings in a day, experiencing freezing temperatures twenty four hours after 80 degree temperatures, and trees budding out prematurely because of the lack of chill hours. Perhaps because of all the upheaval in the rest of the world, the extremes the garden is experiencing seem particularly unsettling, as though they were a piece of a darkness currently manifesting itself over other aspects of our life – cultural, political, and social. Obviously, that’s not really happening; the Garden doesn't punish us or materialize a message from some dark force.
It does, however, reflect our intent and care. If, for example, the temperature extremes are going to be a regular occurrence, as caretakers, we've got to formulate a specific response to that. John Fairey always considered the Garden a trial garden and was, apparently, completely willing to dig up a plant and never plant it again if it did not survive our demanding climate. Consequently, we cover very few things in the Garden when a freeze is imminent, the thinking being if they can’t make it without help, they should not be in the Garden. From one perspective, this sounds harsh. From another, it just seems reasonable. (It’s not a hard clad rule, however, as we do cover a few plants before a freeze – namely three Golden Barrel cacti, a planting of Kalanchoes, and two Quercus insignis, one of which is seen above).
This is just one illustration of the challenges of preserving the creation of one vision and feeling confident that our decisions would be, at the very least, acceptable to John. One thing is certain – the Garden is necessarily changing, and we have to thoughtfully participate in that evolution if the Garden is to remain an authentic expression of John’s vision. This is a necessarily subjective exercise but we proceed, learning as much as we can of John’s intent and how the Garden can continue to best express it, by reading transcripts of conversations with John about his garden, talking to those who may have been privy to his thinking and those who are adept at identifying his intent by closely looking at the Garden. Finally, we have to rely on our own best judgement, taking those factors into consideration as well as the evaluation of current conditions in the Garden, any climate changes that may impact it, the availability of suitable plant material, and a host of other considerations. It’s a complex undertaking we accept with humility, but with all of the upheaval in the world, having a considered response to even a small part of it feels comforting.
Warm regards,
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Save the Date! Budding Out Returns! |
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We hope you'll join us on Saturday, March 19th, for our annual Budding Out Plant Sale & Festival, a premier plant sale that offers rare and hard to find plants from The John Fairey Garden Nursery and other select plant vendors from the region. We will offer rare plants suitable for the most discerning plant collector or distinctive plants for the beginning gardener. Here is a partial list of plants offered by The John Fairey Garden Nursery: Brahea moorei, Beschorneria rigida, Phlebodium pseudoaureum, Quercus glauca, Litsea japonica, Chamaedorea radicalis, Mahonia gracilis, Callicarpa acuminata, Casimiroa pringlei, Bauhinia macranthera and many others.
Additional offerings will include art, ceramics, jewelry, food, music, and other entertainment for the whole family.
Members entry 9am - 4 pm
General Public entry 10 am - 4 pm
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Notes from John Fairey's Mexico plant collecting journals |
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Trip 63
Trip 63 was a five day expedition undertaken by John and Carl Schoenfeld. They left Houston on November 18th and drove to Monterrey. The next morning they left a cool and clear Monterrey and headed for Horsetail Falls, then backtracking to the Hacienda Santa Engracia. The first entry of November 20 indicates John and Carl has some fun at the Hacienda.
20 November 95
Good night at Hacienda Santa Engracia, too many tequilas!
9:10 AM, Fog but burning off. Headed for San Carlos. Roads full of Revolution Day parades - we head around on a back road.
T63M-4ps-112095
Clematis pitcheri
T63M-5s-112095
Dahlia sp.
T63M-6s-112095
Quercus polymorphs
Later that day, recorded as the last entry on the page, they collected seed from a Pinus pseudostrobus, which happens to be the only Mexican collected pine in the Garden. You can see two images of it below in the North Dry Garden. There is some symmetry in the fact that this Pine, collected after a night of too many tequilas, ended up looking a little unsteady as well.
T63M-6.5s-112095 Pinus pseudostrobus
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A Who's Who of Texas Horticulture Visit the Garden
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We were pleased to be visited by ten highly regarded horticulturists earlier in the month, all but one of whom lives in Texas. The lone Californian, John Greenlee, a grass expert and meadow designer was in the area working on a project for the San Antonio Botanic Garden. He visited us with well known author and garden designer, Scott Ogden, from Austin. Apparently once their plan to visit was shared, the rest of the crew assembled so they could all tour the garden and share stories and expertise. Shown in the photo are, from left to right, Wade Roitsch, former Manager of Yucca Do Nursery and long time supporter and docent at the Garden, Michael Eason (@texas_flora), native plant expert, author & photographer, Peter Loos, horticulturist and native plant expert, Grant Stephenson, palm and cycad expert, Scott Ogden, Craig Jackson, The John Fairey Garden Nursery Manager, Will Fleming, horticulturist, plant collector and native plant expert, Tom Peace, garden designer and writer, John Greenlee, Pat McNeal, native plant expert and owner of McNeal Growers nursery, Adam Black, (@adamblackplantnerd) horticulture expert and plant collector, and Wally Wilkins, horticulturist and The John Fairey Garden Conservation Foundation Board President.
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