Bishopville Topiary Garden and Swan Lake in Sumter

On June 6 Donna and I visited Pearl Fryar's topiary masterpiece in Bishopville, SC. I had read about it a while back, and Donna had a seen a documentary about it, so it was quite a treat to finally see his work. This is his home, and he is open to visitors exploring and enjoying his masterpieces. It is mindblowing! Such great work, and such a large volume of it. You may even get to visit with him a bit, though we didn't get the chance. It's very easy to find - take exit 116 off of I-20 onto Highway 15 north for just shy of a mile, then turn left onto Broad Acres Road; his home is up the road a bit on the left; you can't miss it.






We then headed south on Highway 15 toward Sumter, and along the way we passed a sign indicating a historical marker down a side road, so we took it to see what we'd find, and it ended up being Rembert Methodist Church, built around 1834. We had a great time exploring its adjacent cemetery, which contained many old graves and neat tombstones.


We then continued in to Sumter to visit one of our favorite places, Swan Lake and Iris Gardens. Lots of waterfowl and blooming irises, and we caught it at a good time and had the place pretty much to ourselves.

I've never seen so many Canada Geese congregated in one location!