Anne of Carversville

I’ve always loved topiary gardens, from the days that I owned a plant store.

My friend Robert just called me about the most amazingly wonderful story on Home and Garden Television, “A Man Named Pearl” about the Love, Peace & Goodwill Garden in Bishopville, S.C.

With all the talk about gardening, and my Michelle-Style post today about Black-owned media not covering the groundbreaking of the White House Kitchen Garden — Gardening (with weeding) Is A National Issue for Balcks and Whites Together — it’s positively delicious to watch such a splendid story of one man’s spirit and his relentless passion to create beauty in the land.

This man — Pearl Fryar — is a sharecropper’s son, who has risen to prominence as an internationally acclaimed topiary artist. In the poorest county in South Carolina, Pearl has single-handedly created an amazing 3-1.2 acre garden from throwaway plants, bringing spiritual renewal and challenging racial stereotypes in his community.

This story is an excellent example of media discussing racial issues in a positive, honest, proactive way.

The best part of the story is the beginning …the vision of Fryar as an almost “obsessed madman”, working on the garden relentlessly until after midnight. The garden became his art, his canvas, a truly unique vision and he executed this brilliant green paradise, while working full time, often 12 hour days, before coming home to his beloved garden.

Fryar’s vision for The Love, Peace & Goodwill Garden reminds me Las Pozas, Mexico. It’s manicured, yet bizarre; perfectly gorgeous but with a wild heart. Fryar’s garden is pure art.

At a time when I’m working to define this concept Smart Sensuality, Fryar’s garden brings my own vision to life. True, I’m writing about women’s lives, but the Love, Peace & Goodwill Garden complements photos of First Lady Michelle Obama, Queen Rania and all the Smart Sensuality women.

Fryar’s topiary garden is an amazing beautiful tribute to the beauty created buy one obsessed man who transformed throw-away, neglected, rotting plants and tamed nature into his own Garden of Eden. Not to be trite, but it’s a “Yes We Can” story.

A Man Named Pearl

In the process, he inspires gardeners everywhere and also brings honor to his own small town community. This is television at its best.

Enjoy. Anne