Letter from the Executive Director |
|
Dear {First Name},
I hope you’re finding a way to accommodate the terrible heat most of us are experiencing this summer, no matter where you live. Given the circumstances, the Garden looks amazingly good thanks to the expertise and care of Head Gardener, Adolfo Silva, and his crew of Ricardo Bautista and Agustin Casas. Gardener Luke Kelley has the beds around the office and the Budding Out area in great shape as well.
I’m recently back from New York where, thanks to a travel grant from the Muriel Pollia Foundation, I was able to tour some beautiful gardens and meet some of the dedicated people associated with them.
Visits to The LongHouse Reserve and Madoo were compressed due to an uncooperative LIRR train schedule but I still got to spend time with Directors, Carrie Rebora Barratt (this fall's Taking Root speaker) at LongHouse Reserve in East Hampton and Alejandro Saralegui at Madoo Garden Conservancy in Sagaponack. The Atlantic Ocean makes its presence felt at each garden. Jack Lenor Larsen, a famous textile designer and the creator of The LongHouse Reserve, went so far as to create sand dunes that one walks through as one enters the garden. In one part of the garden at Madoo one feels a welcome cool Atlantic breeze unhindered by the farmland between the garden and the ocean.
Two other gardens I visited, Wave Hill and Untermyer Gardens, are fewer than ten miles apart and also adjacent to water, the Hudson River. Prominent views of the Hudson are a significant part of the experience of both. Untermyer Gardens, now 43 acres, has endured periods of neglect since Samuel Untermyer hired Beaux Arts architect Welles Bosworth to design the gardens in 1916. It is currently undergoing a renovation and one gets a sense of Untermyer's grand ambition for it to be “the finest garden in the world.” The vista which leads to an overlook of the Hudson is extraordinary in both scale and the visual impact of the high contrast plantings that line it. Wave Hill has maybe a less grandiose relationship with the Hudson but the views of the Hudson and the Palisades across the river are nevertheless stunning. The exquisite gardens at Wave Hill benefit from the long term and continuous expert management of the garden.
Each of the gardens I toured is a testament to their creators and those who have maintained or supported the garden since. The connection between creator and garden is particularly evident at Madoo and The LongHouse Reserve, as each, like The John Fairey Garden, is a sophisticated expression of an artist's vision. This commonality is the reason I chose these gardens for my visit, and my time there enhanced my appreciation for the contribution these artist/gardeners generously shared because they took the time and energy and expense to do what was necessary to preserve their work for the public.
I feel extremely fortunate to be associated with a garden whose essence is the direct expression of an artist's exceptional vision, and equally humbled by the responsibility to ensure that essence persists into the future for all to enjoy. I hope you will visit the Garden when we reopen this fall and experience that for yourself.
Warm regards,
|
|
(clockwise from top left) The LongHouse Reserve, Madoo Conservancy, Wave Hill, and Untermyer Gardens Conservancy.
|
|
Member Appreciation Day - Saturday, June 24th |
|
Thank you to all the members and volunteers who came out for Member Appreciation Day on Saturday, June 24th. It was a warm day but members seemed to enjoy the opportunity to walk the Garden at their own pace.
We’ll have another one sooner rather than later, during a time of year when it’s not so hot.
|
|
|
Meet Our Prairie View A&M Summer Intern |
|
|
|
This summer's Prairie View A & M University student intern was Nathaniel "Christmas" Prevost II, a rising senior raised in the Port Arthur/Beaumont area. Christmas is working toward a degree in Agriculture Economics with a minor in Psychology. He's also trying to create a degree at PVAM in Medicinal Agriculture.
Though our summer intern usually works part time, Christmas asked to work full time whenever possible, so his stint at the Garden ran its course sooner than usual. The upside was that he finished his internship before it got so hot.
We enjoyed having Christmas at the Garden, and we'll miss his positive attitude and sense of humor.
Best of luck to you, Christmas!
|
|
Notes from John Fairey's Mexico Plant Collecting Journals |
|
Trip #46 - November 25th - 30, 1992
John and Carl left the Garden at 9 am on a cloudy and overcast Wednesday, March 25th on their 46th trip to Mexico. The first writing in the journal is the parenthetical entry, "(Carl forgot to get money at banks yesterday)." The first stop on the trip was in New Braunfels to pick up fellow plant collector Scott Ogden.
On Sunday, the 29th, they collected a Tradescantia sillaemontana at an elevation of 3300' on the road to Rayones in the state of Nuevo Leon. This low growing perennial is native to dry regions of Mexico. Its common name is the "Cobweb Spiderwort," appropriate for the white "hairs" that cover the leaves, buds, and shoots.
The last trip entry in the journal references a riot at the Mexican border that saw Mexicans run Mexican border officials into the United States.
Craig is currently growing a large number of Tradescantia sillaemontana for a project in Houston that we'll be writing more about later.
|
|
Tradescanthia sillaemontana in The John Fairey Garden Nursery |
|
Daikin Interns at the Garden |
|
Board member Satara Henry, Environmental Director of Daikin North America, brought their summer Daikin stormwater intern group to visit the Garden. Nursery Manager, Craig Jackson, gave them a tour of highlights of the Garden. Thank you for thinking of us, Satara. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
