gallery gardenF

66 May | june 2014

garden

the

at PePPer

Place

Violet grace, queen of pepper place, is a larger-than-l ife hypertufa character who graces the garden daily in her broad-brimmed hat and sundres s.

she was on the property pr ior to thigpen’s arriVal and has established herself as a landmark for the garden area.

text by Lauren Moriarty | Photo graPhy by Jerrod brown

Following a nearly 30-year career work-ing for a publishing firm, Charlie Thigpen heeded his wife’s encouragement to branch out and start a business of his own, doing what he does best—elevating the craft of gardening to a form of art.

In 2009, Thigpen and his wife, Cindy, braved the economy and opened Charlie Thigpen’s Garden Gallery in the bustling retail community of Pepper Place in downtown Birmingham. He laughs when you ask him who runs the Garden Gallery. “My wife does that. I do everything else,” he says. “I’m the creative guy with a strong back—she’s the brains.”

Thigpen assists customers as they stroll through the shop and the adjacent courtyard, helping them

select from a unique offering of botanical art and garden decor. The original business plan was intended to be strictly a garden-ing shop, but as the business grew, the duo “expanded beyond plants to something very different,” Thig-pen explains.

Today, customers enter the gallery under a bright bottle-tree archway where more color awaits in pops of vibrant plants and tasteful garden trap-

pings. Specializing in unique giftware and home decor, the Thigpens have selected product lines from local artisans, such as DaySprings Pottery by Dianne Benefield of Opelika, who takes real leaves that are pressed into clay, cut out, and shaped into pieces of art. Each leaf is food-safe, so they may be used as place settings and serving trays. Charlie

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gallery

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garden

made from sinker cypress and pine,

the unique wood furnishings

hand-crafted by a local ar tist are

featured regularly in the gallery.

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66 May | june 2014

Griffin is a gentleman farmer who enjoys woodworking. He specializes in unique wood furnishings crafted from reclaimed and salvaged ma-terials. Some of his pieces are built from sinker cypress and pine from reclaimed wood. He partners with a metal artist who creates a base for each piece. Maya Metz Logue de-signs one-of-a-kind stationery with clever cutouts and hand stitching. Other art represented at the gallery takes the form of pottery, recycled goods, framed botanicals, and jew-elry.

The Thigpens conduct hands-on classes and host interactive events

garden

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from spring through mid-fall. Par-ticipants can learn how to build a terrarium or start and maintain a container garden, or participate in a number of other themed workshops.

Custom commissions, artful water features, and landscape consulting are also available. Live arrangements of flora, including potted plants, can be delivered locally, snuggled in the shop’s signature burlap and complete with a handwritten note and care instructions.

While the Garden Gallery has become a Southern shopping destination, with regular custom-ers from both in and out of state, Thigpen still finds that simple satisfactions are the most reward-ing. “I consider it a success when someone takes a plant home,” he says. He enjoys seeing photographs from customers of their growing gardens, often sprouted with a little advice and a few plants from the shop.

For more information, or to explore the gallery, visit charliethigpensgardengallery.com.

thigpen’s combination nursery and art gallery

offers insp iration to suit a garden of any

taste or style .

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Charlie’s Choice

garden

shade: lenten rose, a clump-forming p erennial fe atur ing rose - l ike f lowers.

sun: g aura, a long-f lowering herb ace ous p erennial .

wet feet: ite a virginica ‘merlot’, a swe etspire shrub with fragrant f lowers.

heat/drought-tolerant: most succulents, ne arly indestructible plants with thick, f leshy le aves.

longest blo omer: cl imbing pinkie rose, ne arly thornless and e asy to train on columns, trel l ises, and arb ors.

ground coVer: autumn fern, an arching, low-maintenance evergre en.

Vine: mo onf lower, a statuesque night-blo oming plant b e aring trump et-shap e d f lowers.

aroma: winter honeysuckle, extremely fragrant with shor t-tub e d, cre amy white f lowers.

for pots: coleus, fe atures br ightly colore d, b oldly p at terne d le aves.

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