The Mexico collection is one of the defining collections of the garden. John Fairey recognized the climate similarities between Mexico and southeast Texas, and was intrigued by the extreme diversity and untested nature of Mexican flora. His expeditions to Mexico, beginning in the late 1980s, in collaboration with the University at Nuevo Leon and at the invitation of Lynn Lowery, were undertaken to find unique attractive plants that would thrive in the Houston area. In addition to his botanical interest, John was making a conscious attempt to bridge the people of Texas with the people of Mexico through appreciation of the incredible wonder of their similar environments. John and various teams made over a hundred trips to this region, bringing to the garden thousands of plants not only to trial in our dry, woodland and meadow gardens but also shared with other botanical gardens. Plants were selected for unique traits, such as brilliant yellow oak petioles, silvery blue agaves with vase-like form and dwarf Yucca rostrata with needle-like leaves. Several introductions resulted in new taxa designation, while others will follow in time.