It’s been a while since the last newsletter. I hope you had an enjoyable summer. Summer in the Garden was much more tolerable this year than last, due mainly to a temperate July that brought lots of rain. Still, it seems like every month holds the potential for some kind of extreme event. This year, so far, May and June share that distinction with the derecho and hurricane Beryl, respectively. The derecho was the most consequential but we lost two significant trees on the conifer berm due to Beryl, too, so both impacted the Garden. Last week Adolfo and crew ground up the stumps from the trees lost in the storms, and we just finished shredding all the remaining fallen trees located on the nursery side of the property. That will hopefully complete our post-storm cleanup for the year. (Though with hurricane season lasting through November, one never knows).

I read Annie Dillard’s Pilgrim at Tinker Creek recently. For those who aren’t familiar, it’s a personal narrative of a year spent in deep observation of and around a creek in Virginia’s Roanoke Valley, highlighting both the beauty and the violence present in the natural world. Reading it caused me to really consider the absurdity of the variety and number of plants, animals, and fungi in the world, and the seemingly infinite morphologies, colors, patterns, forms, functions, they exhibit. Dillard asks, ‘Why the excess?’ and that’s a question I can’t get out of my mind.

Counterintuitively, perhaps, one might connect with the existence of such variety and complexity most directly when focusing on the micro as much as the macro view of the world. In his book, The Forest Unseen, author David George Haskell writes of the incredible activity and diversity of life in a one-square-meter patch of old-growth forest he observed daily over the course of a year in Tennessee. The painter, Cezanne, wrote of "The immensity, the torrent of the world, in a little inch of matter." Again, if one extrapolates from that square meter or that little inch, to the entire planet, how can one even comprehend the abundance and diversity? 

Assuming that’s not really possible, an alternative response might be to create an intentional microcosm of the planet, a place where one can have a gateway experience of sensing the sheer, unfathomable variety and abundance of the natural world through an infintesimally fractional sample size. In other words, a garden.

Trunk Show is Coming Up

I hope you're already planning to attend our third annual Trunk Show, a sale of rare and difficult to find trees. It's coming up – Saturday, October 5th at The John Fairey Garden. Members gain VIP access at 9 am, an hour before non-members can shop. The sale will go until 3 pm. This year we have an incredible variety of trees. See for yourself at this inventory link. Not a member? You can easily sign up at the button below.

Letter from the Nursery Manager

I’ve been spending a lot of time this spring and summer potting up our tree collection, and it’s finally time to let them shine! Everything from oaks, to maples, magnolias, and even a few rare and unusual trees will be available for purchase. Trees of all sizes will be available, but keep your mind open when it comes to planting small, it just might be the right choice for you! 

Additionally, don’t forget about the new addition to our sales nursery which is coming soon: The John Gaston Fairey Signature Plant Collection House. Starting in the late 1980s, John Fairey and Carl Schoenfeld made over 100 botanizing trips to remote regions of Mexico to document and conserve rapidly vanishing, uniquely diversified plants. John and Carl propagated the species they collected and introduced them, as well as other unusual plants, into the garden. They started the renowned Yucca Do Nursery (the site of the current John Fairey Garden Nursery) to share those plants with the public, influencing garden design in Texas and beyond. The John Gaston Fairey Signature Plant Collection honors that legacy.

In addition to showcasing our Signature Plants inside of this new greenhouse, we are also designing a new display garden in front of the greenhouse that will consist entirely of Signature Plants. This new space is still under construction, so please excuse our mess for the time being. We promise it’s going to be worth it!

Finally, we are instating a new discount here at the John Fairey Garden that I think lots of people will be excited about. As of September, we are creating a pot recycling discount! The discount will apply to anyone who brings in black plastic pots in good condition (i.e. no cracks, holes, etc). We are requesting that any donated pots be 1 gallon as a minimum, but we will take anything larger than that. The discount will be capped at 10 pots per customer and will apply as follows:

1-5 donated pots: 5% off nursery purchases

6-10 donated pots: 10% off nursery purchases

If you're a member, these percentages will be added to the 15% discount you already receive. 

If you’re looking to get rid of that stack of pots in the corner of your shed, here’s your chance! 

I hope to see you soon!

Best,

The Argument for Small Trees

As we prepare for the upcoming Trunk Show, we'd like to make the case for buying smaller trees; or rather, we'd like to quote professor, researcher, and author, Douglas Tallamy, on why one should consider planting a small tree. He is speaking specifically about oaks, but much of the argument applies to other trees as well.

I am recommending that you start with the youngest oak you can find because you will end up with a far healthier tree that will catch up with and even outstrip, in size, any larger specimen in short order. When you buy a large tree, and by large, I mean 1-inch caliper or more, the tree cannot be moved without being severely root-pruned. Or, if it has been grown in a pot, its roots are wound around each other so tightly (rootbound) that they will strangle each other as they grow. Those precious roots – which allow oaks to grow well each year, outcompete other young trees, withstand serious drought, and fight disease – are chopped literally to within an inch of the tree's life, or bunched into an unnatural tangle that will considerably shorten the life of the tree. Large transplants have a 50% chance of dying within the first few years, and if they do survive, they spend over a decade allocating most of their growth resources toward rebuilding their lost root system. In contrast, young oak trees lay down a large root system, among the the largest in the plant kingdom which will support rapid growth and health for the rest of the oak's life. In just a few years, a young tree with an undisturbed root system will catch up with a much larger transplant or potted tree and exceed it in size. What's more, it will enable you to experience, enjoy, and appreciate its transformation from tiny seedling to dominant tree in your yard.

The Nature of Oaks - Douglas W. Tallamy



Taking Root Luncheon

This year's Taking Root Luncheon, our biggest fundraising event of the year, is coming Thursday, October 10th at the Celebration Garden at the McGovern Centennial Gardens in Hermann Park. This year's generous Co-Chairs are Betty and Steve Newton, and they've done a marvelous job catalyzing support for this critical fundraising event. Our honoree and featured speaker this year is Antonia Adezio, the founding executive director of The Garden Conservancy, and one time acting director of The John Fairey Garden (when it was known as Peckerwood).

We hope you'll join us to celebrate our beloved garden. If you can't attend, please consider making a contribution to the luncheon - either by sponsoring a table, buying a ticket, or just making a cash donation. A significant percentage of our operations is funded by this luncheon, so anything you can do is greatly appreciated. Thank you very much for the consideration. Yes, I'd like to help.