John Fairey and his Peckerwood Garden

www.peckerwoodgarden.org About an hour’s drive from either Austin or Houston, Texas, poised on the edge of three climatic zones is one of America’s most unique garden environments. Peckerwood Garden is the setting for an expanding collection of rare plants native to a wide region of the southern United States and to Mexico mingled with their Asian counterparts. For 30 years, Peckerwood Garden has been evolving under the expert care of John G. Fairey, whose fine arts background is evident in the garden’s design. John is responsible for introducing a wide range of rare, native plants from Mexico to an American, Asian, and European audience. The meandering woodland along one bank of a spring fed stream that divides the property forms the heart of the garden. It is flanked on the opposite bank of the stream by a dry garden and by a distinctly regional herbaceous border garden to the south. An expanding arboretum of significant trees for the region brings together superb examples of many different species of Acer, Ilex, Liquidambar, Magnolia, Styrax, Taxus, Quercus, many of which are recent plant discoveries from remote mountain ranges in Mexico. It is also the setting for distinctive outdoor sculpture and for a collection of folk art from Mexico and the United States.