A PEARL WORTH KEEPING

Bishopville, South Carolina, is a tiny town about two hours by car from my home near Charlotte, North Carolina. Pearl Fryar lives there. His house is brick, single story - a typical southern 50’s suburban style - sitting on 3 acres of mostly flat yard, a yard that Pearl - all by himself - has turned into an explosion of topiary and sculpture.

When Pearl was 40, he decided to enter a local garden contest. He had no formal training – not in horticulture, art, marketing, or gardening design. He was “handy.” He had a full-time job that paid a living wage with full benefits (it was the 1970s) and a wife who obviously loved and trusted her husband.

She needed all that because the next thing she knew, she was looking out her window at her husband, standing on top of a 14 foot ladder with a chain saw in his hands about to carve up a spruce tree. That was the beginning.

Pearl said “Success is determined by hard work. Nothing good ever comes out of negative thinking.”

In his book OUTLIERS, Malcolm Gladwell refers to a magical 10,000 hours, the necessary experimentation investment to achieve success in nearly any given field. It was the time The Beatles spent honing their music ears in German bars before returning to England with the sound that would send them to the world music stage. It was the hours that teen age Bill Gates spent isolated with a university computer absorbing and pushing the limits of a foreign technology.

Pearl would know all about that. He’s been at this hobby for over thirty years. A few years ago, he was “discovered” by gardeners of America, HGTV, and Martha Stewart. PBS filmed a documentary of his life and art (the movie was subsequently shown in independent theaters) and his topiary was included in an important university review of North American folk art.

Now tour buses regularly drive down Main Street, Bishopville, en route to his house expecting to walk through the garden and perhaps find Pearl, now crowding 80 years old, standing on a ladder clipping a wayward green branch. His wife will tell you that's where he spends most of his days.

This Friday night, Pearl will speak at the Cornelius Art Center (N.C.) where a photographic exhibit of his lawn/yard/garden/outdoor gallery is on view throughout February. Unfortunately, I can’t be there to hear him but that’s all right. His life choices speak loudly enough for me.

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One huge problem with outdoor spaces such as Pearl’s: what happens when the creative genius is gone? Who protects the work from unsympathetic chain saw wielders?

Recently, The National Garden Conservancy took responsibility and has added the Pearl Fryar outdoor gallery to its list of national treasures. The NGC does what it can with limited resources. Consider helping them with a $$$ donation.