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grafting

Between Science and Poetry, the Tree of 40 Fruit Takes Root in Philadelphia

Temple’s Tree of 40 Fruit is a grafted stone-fruit artwork and teaching project. The Tyler tree had 15 reported fruit kinds at its March 2025 planting.

By ThatPainter Team 4 min read
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Sam Van Aken’s Tree of 40 Fruit is a living artwork made by grafting branches from different fruit varieties onto one tree. At Temple University’s Tyler School of Art and Architecture, the stone-fruit tree was reported to have 15 kinds of fruit trees at its March 2025 planting—not 40—with further grafting planned over the following five years. The project brings horticulture, art, heirloom-fruit conservation and Philadelphia’s agricultural history together in a single courtyard installation.

What is the Tree of 40 Fruit?

It is one tree built from branches grafted from different varieties. The work began as an aesthetic idea for artist Sam Van Aken and developed into a way to preserve heirloom and antique fruit varieties, including kinds that are no longer commercially produced or readily available. Van Aken’s project description identifies the trees as primarily composed of heirloom stone fruits.

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The name describes the project’s many-variety form and target capacity; it does not mean that every individual tree begins with 40 varieties. PhillyVoice reported that the Tyler tree had 15 kinds of fruit trees when it was planted in March 2025, including six peach varieties. The article said Van Aken planned to add grafts over the next five years. Those figures describe the planting-stage project as reported at that time, not a confirmed current count.

How can one tree grow different kinds of fruit?

Grafting joins plant tissues so a branch or cutting from one variety can grow on a compatible rootstock or established tree. The grafted branch keeps its varietal identity: a peach branch can produce its variety of peaches, while another compatible graft can produce plums or apricots. This is horticultural grafting, not genetic engineering.

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Van Aken’s project includes stone fruits such as peaches, plums, apricots, nectarines, cherries and almonds. Each graft must be compatible with the tree it joins and be cared for as it establishes. The result is a tree with several varieties sharing a trunk and root system, rather than one fruit variety transformed into another.

What fruit grows on the Philadelphia tree?

The Tyler installation was described as a stone-fruit tree. At the March 2025 planting, PhillyVoice reported 15 kinds of fruit trees, including six kinds of peaches. That report also described an approximate seven-year timeline for a tree to reach maturity; it is a project estimate, not a universal horticultural guarantee. Van Aken’s project page lists peaches, plums, apricots, nectarines, cherries and almonds among the kinds used in the broader work, but the available reporting does not establish which varieties have since been grafted onto the Tyler tree or what it currently bears.

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Where is it, and what happened at Temple?

Temple University installed the tree in the Tyler courtyard on its Main Campus during Van Aken’s March 2025 residency. Temple described it as the first Tree of 40 Fruit in the Philadelphia region. During the week of March 10–14, Van Aken led workshops at Temple’s Main and Ambler campuses. At Ambler, a class of 20 junior and senior horticulture and landscape architecture students took part in a workshop, according to Temple’s April 1, 2025 report.

The residency was designed to continue beyond the installation. Temple said Van Aken was expected to return over the next two years for learning opportunities, tree care, an Ambler arboretum planting and a public lecture on the cultural history of fruit in the Philadelphia area. Temple Magazine’s Fall 2025 feature describes the Tyler tree as selected for suitability to Philadelphia weather.

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The Tyler and Ambler projects are distinct

The Tyler courtyard tree is the stone-fruit installation on Main Campus. The related Ambler work concerns apples: Temple Magazine describes plans involving 40 apple varieties originating or historically grown in southeastern Pennsylvania. These are separate projects, not two names for the same tree. The available reporting does not confirm the Ambler planting’s completion date or either installation’s present condition and visitor access, so check with Temple before planning a visit.

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Why combine art with fruit conservation?

The tree makes the grafting process visible while preserving varieties with histories that can be lost when they disappear from commercial agriculture. In Temple’s report, Van Aken describes heirloom fruits as cultural objects as well as agricultural products, carrying nutritional meaning, tastes and the histories of civilizations. In Philadelphia, Temple’s accounts connect the plantings to regional suitability and the area’s fruit-growing history.

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Students also learned and practiced grafting during the residency. A group of design students developed a care manual for Van Aken’s grafted trees, and Temple said a selected version would be distributed to caretakers. Temple frames grafting as an ancient horticultural practice, reporting a history extending back to 1800 B.C.; the article does not identify a primary historical source for that date.

What the project does—and does not—promise

  • It is a living artwork and teaching project: grafting, horticulture, landscape architecture and history were all part of Temple’s residency.
  • Its title is not a local planting count: the Tyler tree’s reported count at planting was 15 kinds, including six peaches.
  • Its fruit and blossoms vary by variety and stage: the project is designed to bring different stone-fruit varieties into bloom and fruit at different times, but no current bloom, harvest or variety count is established by the cited reports.
  • Its current public access is unconfirmed: Temple’s published accounts document the installation and educational plans, not present-day visiting arrangements.

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