Yavanna's Chosen

[Raynor]

If successful though, even at the secondary task of protecting flora and fauna from Sauron and his armies, why do we not see him taking ship with Gandalf after Sauron's defeat?

I don't see why being on that particular ship is any sign of success for his Yavanna-mission or of rejection of re-entry back to the blessed lands. Didn't Gandalf too actually fail, from error of judgement, to getting himself killed and having to be resurrected by Eru? Yet despite his individual failure (transformed into success only due to enjoying spiritual majority with Iluvatar), we still see him on the ship, smiling and waving. Wasn't compassion and clemency shown even to Melkor and Sauron? So why wouldn't it be shown to a fellow maia, especially given a mighty burden, that of an actual body, with all its limitations, weaknesses and temptations that was imposed on him. Surely a lot more understanding would need to be shown in this case by the just valar, for a mission in which they themselves send the maiar to accomplish. Hey, even the Noldor are allowed back into Valinor :x. Also, we have no information that this particular ship is the only one that ever left Middle Earth after Sauron's demise nor that the Istari didn't have any other means of returning besides to Valinor besides jumping on a plank of wood.

The fact of the matter is we do not know how the Yavanna-mission unfolded; it's a black box to us, we don't know what happened there. Even if someone had a palantir at his disposal, to watch every single move that Aiwendil did from the moment he set foot on Middle-Earth to the moment his mortal body eventually perished - even in that case, which of us could claim to know and perceive all the ripple effects of even the most inconspicuous actions? What do we know about the magic of Yavanna, working in this world? About how the fate of the living reign needed sustenance from her emissary? And if we don't know that, how could we claim failure?

I think, perhaps, the fact that Treebeard mentions Gandalf as being the only wizard who loves trees is really quite telling.

I won't repeat the points about how limited the scope of one Ent's knowledge is. And, again, ents should already be taking good care of their parcel, while there is literally the whole of green Middle-Earth to be supported (and not just trees btw). An overlap of 'authorities' and limited resources, of any kind, be they magic or simply of time, doesn't make much sense.

The Ents, the Shepherds of the Trees, were brought about as a result of Yavanna's supplication to Manwe (and Eru) for some protection for those things of Arda that she loved (as per the Aule and Yavanna chapter of TS)

True, but there comes a time when all mythological creatures need to retreat from the world; first the valar, now the elves, and ents wouldn't be an exception to that. Times of great sorrows and mythological enemies require protectors of equal nature. But after the fall of Sauron, they are no longer needed in the world of Men, and ought to retreat.

And yet, when it came to arousing the hearts and minds of the Ents to resistance of Sauron, it fell to two Hobbits rather than to Radagast, who of all the wizards should have been the one to make a specific effort to contact and advise and instruct the Ents. He apparently didn't, and thus failed his mission, as well, perhaps, as Yavanna, who I think would have wanted the Ents to be included among those peoples threatened by Sauron.

Was it known to him, or well, anyone else beforehand, that he had to contact the ents to do this and that? No, so I don't see why it is used against him, if he had no opportunity to start with, that he could refuse. The fact that it was the hobbits who had to meet the ents, and their personal transformation on so many levels, speaks more about their personal mission than about Aiwendil.

The trees were the one thing that she selected as most beloved to her

Her most poignant image relates to the Two Trees, and her image itself is that of a tree, but this relates to the role she had to play at a certain time. However:

Originally Posted by Valaquenta, Silmarillion

She is the lover of all things that grow in the earth, and all their countless forms she holds in her mind, from the trees like towers in forests long ago to the moss upon stones or the small and secret things in the mould