John Gaston Fairey

2020 Florens DeBevoise Medal

In recognition of his long-standing devotion to preserving endangered plant species from Texas and Mexico which has expanded the knowledge of the horticultural world.

Proposed by: a member of The Garden Club of Houston, Zone IX

John Gaston Fairey is a plant explorer, educator, artist, and expert horticulturist who is noted for hybridizing, collecting, and nurturing rare and endangered plants. A plantsman extraordinaire, Mr. Fairey created the Peckerwood Garden Conservation Foundation in Hempstead, TX, where horticulturists, students, landscape architects, and ecologists study diverse plant material from Mexico, Texas, and Asia. The Peckerwood gardens, designed by Mr. Fairey, combine dramatic shapes and textures of little known plants. He has led over 100 expeditions to northeastern Mexico, and through his Yucca Do Nursery, he has introduced new species and hybrids of magnolias, yuccas, palms, conifers, grasses, and agaves. His contributions to horticultural conservation and teaching are inspirational and far-reaching.

The Florens DeBevoise Medal is awarded for outstanding achievement in horticulture and/or education in horticulture.

The Florens DeBevoise Medal was presented by Sasqua Garden Club, Zone II, in memory of Florens Hutchins Lewis DeBevoise (Mrs. Charles DeBevoise: 1886–1951), a charter member of the club. Florens, cofounder of the American Rock Garden Society, was a botanist and authority on landscaping with alpine plants. Rock garden historian Marnie Flook notes, “She conducted extensive experiments with their propagation at her renowned Cronamere Alpine Nurseries prior to closing in 1941. Many rare herbaceous plants and shrubs imported by the US Agricultural Station were sent to her to determine correct cultivation and hardiness in the East. She also developed methods for dwarfing various types of plants, which she exhibited in miniature gardens.” In 2021, the GCA Executive Board adapted the current award description to encourage a broader application. The award was originally intended "for horticultural achievement in the fields of hybridizing, collecting, or nurturing, with a preference to plant material suitable for rock gardens." The medal was designed in 1954 by Mary Taylor Bryan (Mrs. Alden Bryan).

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