AUGUSTA — Beech Island horticulturist Jenks Farmer said gardening can be beautiful because it involves so many colors and, in many ways, compares to a piece of art.
Farmer, who has worked in horticulture for more than 20 years, gave a talk to artists and gardening enthusiasts about the beauty of horticulture and how it connects to art. He said even something simple like rearranging different plants can make a difference.
His talk was part of the Morris Museum of Art’s Art at Lunch series. Farmer’s background includes developing South Carolina’s largest public gardens, such as the Riverbanks Zoo Botanical Garden and Moore Farms Botanical Garden. He also discussed his family’s Beech Island farm, where they operate an organic nursery that dates back to the 1750s.
“Horticulturist are not artists, but we are,” he said. “Horticulture has lots of elements of art.”
As an example, he pointed to the various colors of flowers in a garden and how thoughtful design can bring them together. Looking to someone in the audience, he said he was inspired to create a garden based on the colors of her shawl.
“I would like to take your shawl and do a garden based on those colors,” he said.
Farmer said one role of a horticulturist is simply to make a garden look pretty.
In addition to talking about how horticulture can be like art, he talked abut his work on the Hampton-Preston Mansion and Gardens, Riverbanks Zoo and Botanical Gardens and the nursery in Beech Island. He said many of those projects included changes in landscaping and planting new flowers and plants.
Farmer, who is from Augusta, moved away from the area after college because he couldn’t find a job in horticulture. He moved to Seattle, drawn by its public gardens.
Farmer said he had not planned to come back to South Carolina until an opportunity came up at the Riverbanks Zoo Botanical Garden.
He thought he was going to be in Columbia for 18 months, but stayed and helped to maintain the botanical garden. He said one year the garden’s had a summer display featuring records from music albums.
He compared such garden displays to museum collections, saying they should also be seen as art.
When he arrived at Riverbanks, his first step was to assess the landscape, remove overgrown plants and start fresh with new ones.
Speaking on the Beech Island nursery, he remembers how his family moved to the property in the 1970s and how they worked to maintain with lilies and other large bulb plants.
Framer said the biggest thing is that he knew he wanted to work in horticulture because that was his calling. Farmer said he is glad that a new generation has an interest in it so the beautification of public gardens will continue.
“We have had interns come from all over the country, and they have taken away the word that there is good horticulture in the Deep South,” he said. “I am proud of that.”
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