October News from the Garden |
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Letter from the Executive Director |
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Greetings!
In Andrea Wulf's "The Invention of Nature," a wonderful biography of the 18th and 19th Century German naturalist, Alexander Von Humboldt, she describes the evolution in Humboldt's thinking from his sole dependency on close observation and rigorous measurement to his realization of the critical importance of individual perception and subjectivity. "Nature must be experienced through feeling," Humboldt wrote to his friend, the German poet Goethe. Humboldt didn't reject scientific observation of nature, he balanced it, or rather, informed it with his subjective responses to it. Wulf suggests that it was Humboldt's subjectivity, his feeling toward nature, that allowed him to see the interconnectedness of everything.
This simultaneous presence of objectivity and subjectivity that Humboldt urged must have been how John Fairey approached his garden. John was very knowledgeable about plants and continued to learn as long as he lived, but he incorporated them into his garden – his life – in a way that allowed them to exist and be expressed as more than botanical specimens.
"My garden is at all times a magical place," John wrote, "It is a built environment and a creative process that has become for me the most essential of art forms, in that so many multi-dimensional sensory and intellectual experiences are involved. The garden soothes and at the same time stimulates the soul, the mind, and the body." John continues, "As an artist, I have found in the garden... a place where the artificiality of disciplinary boundaries has been exposed."
Humboldt couldn't have said it any better, himself.
I hope you will take the time to visit the garden and experience it for yourself, appreciating both the horticultural and aesthetic achievement that John so generously preserved for our enjoyment.
Warm Regards,
Randy
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We've had some extraordinary weather at the Garden lately, and are looking forward to an expanded schedule of Open Days this fall. We will have Open Days at the Garden on October, 10th, 17th, and 24th, and in November, we'll be open on the 7th, 14th, and 21st. The Garden will be open at 9 am on those days.
Our next Open Day is this Saturday, October 10th. Tours of the Garden will begin at 9 am, and will leave on the hour, with the last tour(s) going out at 11. We'll require that everyone wear a mask, practice social distancing, and we'll keep our tour groups small at six to eight people. The nursery will be open from 9-5 pm for plant buying. In fact, the nursery will now be open every week, Tuesday - Saturday from 9-5 so we can better serve our community of gardeners who want to have a bit of our garden in their garden. Craig has more details in his column below.
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Houston Chronicle Article on the Garden |
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Molly Glentzer, staff arts critic for The Houston Chronicle, and resident of nearby Brenham, wrote a lovely piece about the garden this past week that captures the spirit of optimism and enthusiasm with which we are all approaching our work at the Garden. You can read it here.
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Taking Root Coming Soon
Our Seventh Annual Taking Root event is coming up on the 20th of October. COVID-19 has precluded us from having a luncheon but we are using it as an opportunity to broadcast a short video honoring our founder, John Fairey. Those who have contributed to Taking Root with a contribution of at least $250, will receive a password protected link to the video and will be able to watch it when it is shown at noon on the 20th. If you would like to make a contribution of at least $250 and watch the video at noon with the rest of our sponsors, please email info@jfgarden for instructions. We will be making the video available to a general audience later as well.
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Featured Plant for October |
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Hibiscus x 'Beluga' is a hybrid of H. mutabilis (Confederate Rose), well-known in southern gardens for about 150 years, and H. taiwanensis, which is acclimated to poor soil, is more shade and drought-tolerant and larger. A mature plant reaches a height of about eight feet and is loaded with 3-4 inch white blooms with red center in October. The large white architecturally pleasing plant looks like a beluga whale surfacing, hence the name 'Beluga.' It will freeze back in zone 8b, but will vigorously return in spring. - Craig Jackson, Nursery Manager
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Notes from the Nursery Manager |
As usual, many projects are currently underway in the nursery. Last season, we restored the trellises in the breezeway, installed new irrigation pumps, potted out an incredible number of communal pots and cuttings, and created an inventory system that fully digitized our nursery inventory. Now, we are quickly preparing a 2,700 square ft. new sale area which will be complete next week. We are also restoring a small greenhouse to house succulents, hopefully in a naturalistic setting for visitors to experience. Paul Merritt is volunteering many hours to complete this restoration. The succulent collection consists of aloes, euphorbias, sansevierias, cacti and haworthias -- maybe a few pachypodium. This project was inspired by Ruth McDonald, office manager, and was spearheaded by our wonderful volunteers, Debra Caldwell and Brenda Wilson. Many thanks to both of you. Finally, Harvey Newman, another high energy volunteer, and I have begun the process of repotting plants into fresh dirt that will probably extend into next summer. It's one of those get-dirty projects that is essential to the survival of every nursery and has to be completed along with other tasks like collecting fall seed and cuttings, and fall plantings in the garden and around the nursery.
The nursery will now be open to the public every Saturday from 9:00 to 5:00, as well as during the week from Tuesday through Friday. This is a significant change for us at The John Fairey Garden and demonstrates our dedication to accommodating our patrons' and members' insatiable desire for the unique and distinctive plants we have worked so hard to build into inventory. We do ask that on weekdays customers text me before arrival, at 281-814-3848 to ensure that I can be readily available and not working in some far flung part of the Garden.
If you'd like to volunteer to work nursery sales on Saturday, please call me at 281-814-3848 or email me at craig.r.jackson@gmail.com.
Good gardening to you,
Craig Jackson
Nursery Manager
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Round Two of Docent Training
Five volunteers have recently completed their docent training and will soon be qualified to lead tours of the Garden. We're looking for the next class of docents. If you're interested in finding out more or in signing up, email info@jfgarden.org or call 979.826.3232
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About a year ago when we were in need of rapidly filling our Office Manager position, long time volunteer and friend of the Garden, Ruth McDonald, graciously stepped in to help. She's been working part-time since, helping us keep up with communications, paperwork, greeting visitors, coordinating volunteers and docent trainees, and sharing her institutional knowledge with the new Executive Director. Because Ruth was a friend of John's and has been associated with the Garden for some time, she has been invaluable in sharing her years of experiences related to the Garden.
Ruth will be leaving her position as Office Manager on the 15th of October, taking the week after to help train our new Office Manager which we'll introduce to you in next month's newsletter.
Thank you Ruth for all you've done for the garden, not just in the past twelve months, but over the years. Core supporters and advocates like you make all the difference in the success of a small organization like ours, and we are all grateful for your time, energy, and expertise. We're looking forward to seeing you around as you return, we hope, to volunteer status.
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