I visited the fascinating Peckerwood Garden in Hempstead, Texas (about midway between Austin and Houston) a couple of years ago on a garden-blogger field trip. Peckerwood is not a typical botanical garden but a well-designed collector’s garden of rare and unusual specimens from the southwestern U.S., Mexico, and beyond. I remember succulents, oaks, and magnolias being particularly well represented. To visit you must check their website for a listing of weekends when the garden is open to the public.
Right now the garden needs our help. In conjunction with the Garden Conservancy, Peckerwood Garden is holding a fundraiser for a much-needed tractor. The last day to give is Friday, December 31. Here is the information that was sent to me from the Garden Conservancy:

We are holding an online “close the tractor gap” drive to raise $2,300 to close the gap between a generous grant of $16,500 and the purchase price of a John Deere 3005 Compact Tractor for Peckerwood Garden. The tractor is needed for mowing, grading, moving soil, planting, and setting fence posts in garden’s 39 acres in Hempstead, Texas.
We hope you’ll join us and the Peckerwood Garden Conservation Foundation in the spirit of giving in this holiday season.
As you may know, Peckerwood Garden is a beautiful and inspiring garden to visit. It is a laboratory and safe haven for more than 3,000 rare and unusual plants from Texas, Mexico, and Asia, many of which are threatened by economic development. And its influence extends beyond conservation and beauty: Seeds and germplasm collected by Peckerwood Garden colleagues are used by researchers all over the world; Peckerwood Garden expeditions to Mexico have contributed to cancer treatment.
Please visit www.giveforward.com/CLOSETHETRACTORGAP for more details and to make a donation.

They’ve raised only $170 as of this writing. I’m going online now to send a little Christmas money their way. If you are able, I hope you will consider making a donation too. Either way, do add Peckerwood Garden to your must-visit list.
All material © 2006-2011 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.