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Visitors to Atlanta could be forgiven for thinking downtown has grown up in a peach grove, thanks to the various permutations of the word “Peachtree” on more than 70 thoroughfares around the city. While peaches haven’t been grown Downtown, a new initiative aims to change that. This week, in partnership with nonprofit Atlanta Way 2.0, Pearson Farm has donated 16 peachtrees that now live at Underground Atlanta and Woodruff Park. “It seems crazy not to have any peachtrees on Peachtree,” says Atlanta Way 2.0 co-founder and longtime Atlanta journalist Maria Saporta.
The idea gained traction last year when local creative and brand strategist Sundiata Rush shared a poetic piece he’d written with the Atlanta Way 2.0 team. In it, the chorus referenced “growing peachtrees on Peachtree.” While trees have had a place over the years, including at the Equitable Building in the 1980s and ’90s, this newest initiative felt timely for welcoming FIFA World Cup 2026 fans. “We don’t presume to be the first ones to conceive this idea, but we are standing up the newest iteration of it,” says Rush.
Once Atlanta Way 2.0, a civic engagement organization, was on board, they found a partner in Pearson Farm, a fifth-generation family operation in Fort Valley, Georgia. Back in February, when the plants were dormant and therefore able to be transplanted, Pearson’s team dug up 16 summer gold peach trees—selected from the more than 50 kinds of peaches they grow on their 5,000 acres—and transplanted them into vintage peach bins, waiting for their Atlanta debut. “I think it’s going to be really fun for people to get to see actual peachtrees in the city of Atlanta,” says Lanier Pearson, the farm’s head of marketing operations.
Getting the verdant trees to town had its logistical challenges, but Atlanta Way 2.0 COO Britton Edwards navigated the process, making sure everything was properly permitted with the city and other partners. “The city was really helpful,” Edwards says. “Everyone is excited for this activation, largely because of the agricultural awareness and sustainability [elements].”
Now, both downtown visitors and locals can see the 8-foot-tall trees up close. The cluster of eight trees at Underground Atlanta, on the upper promenade at the corner of Peachtree Street and Wall Street, will serve as a site for community-centric activations over weekends in July, featuring artists, wellness talks, live music, and more. PeachFest, a ticketed culinary event with peach–centric bites from more than 30 chefs, will take place there on July 12.
The Department of City Planning collaborated with Atlanta Way to create signage for the crates that shares information about the state’s agriculture and its history of peach farms. The trees are labeled with QR codes that link to recipes by Georgia Grown, such as Peachy Chicken Salad, Peach Pecan Crepes, and Peach Cucumber Salad.
After the fanfare of the World Cup games is past, the trees will remain. This winter, the Atlanta Way team hopes to plant them permanently along the street that bears their name.
“As one of the few peach farms left in the state, we were super excited to participate,” Pearson says. “Georgia is known for peaches. It’s a part of our history and part of our economy, so we’re grateful to be able to show that to people who are coming to Georgia from all over the world.”
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