I recently spent three weeks in South Carolina and had the pleasure of visiting
The Pearl Fryar Topiary Garden.
While there I heard Pearl speaking to a group. He is a lovely man and a great story teller.
Pearl makes a wonderfully welcoming environment for all who visit his garden. He talked about the importance of encouraging students. My niece who is in third grade, went to meet Pearl as part of a presentation she is to give on a person she admires.
Pearl was kind and generous with his time, even giving her a packet of materials to use. The packet was put together by Pearl’s wife. When my sister called to try to set up a meeting with Pearl, she spoke with Pearl’s wife who was kind and welcoming.
There is a great documentary about Pearl that I rented a few years back, A Man Named Pearl. After viewing the video I added visiting Pearl’s garden to my wish list of very cool things to do.
I had an opportunity to talk with him a bit about his metal sculptures constructed from recycled materials. Very Cool.
The garden is amazing in so many ways– the scale of it, the aesthetic and organization of it, the collaboration with nature, and the enormous amount of work to develop and maintain it.
A few details of some of Pearl’s work–
If you are ever near Bishopville, SC spend a couple of hours or more taking in Pearl’s garden.