Collection: Avocado

I started my plant wander-lust, dumpster diving around local nurseries. Initially my business plan was "operation search and rescue". I learned so much from nursing plants back from death, but even more by my failures!

One of the very first lessons I learned transitioning from a hobbyist grower to a "professional" grower, was that the attachment to my plant babies could not be reflected in price. It was a lesson that I resisted for years… Hoarding. I would haul large heavy plants from market to market, week after week. No one would purchase them because I had over-priced them. They became a burden, rather than a fruitful venture.

It's a lesson that many small-time growers never learn, and ultimately never breakthrough to profitability. Finding a balance between the love of growing plants, and sharing that love with others, is so much more than I bargained for.

These avocados land somewhere in the middle. The story behind them has been told, but in case you haven't heard, here it is below.

In 1977-1978 a backyard gardener in south Austin visited an avocado farm in south Texas. Like all obsessed gardeners, pushing the limits of plants led to him to acquiring one of these trees. It was planted and had a lovely life. In 1981-82, there were unprecedented rains in south Texas that completely decimated this particular farm, destroying all of their producing trees. Realizing that they had lost the entire genetic stock, they contacted the obsessed gardener. They came to Austin, and either took cuttings or fruit and replanted the farm.

In 2013-14, an employee told me that he grew up next door to an avocado tree, that they would climb and pick and eat fresh avocados from. In disbelief, I told him that unless I saw it with my own eyes I believed he was lying.

And that brings us to present day and pricing said love affair with plants. The avocado tree legend was more than a story, it was an actual living legend, one that we have been nurturing the children of for years.

What started as a dumpster diving love affair, has become a livelihood. One that we care for our own children with, by way of lifestyle and resources. These avocado trees are special, and meant to bring joy, lessons, and rewards.

With our trials and tribulations, we have finally decided to let the very few, successfully rooted trees go on to their new homes.

Push the boundaries of growth and life, the rewards are fruitful!

Jay M Beard • Owner and Founder • Lone Star Nursery