There are all kinds of reasons for creating an inspired garden, but Pearl Fryar's was unique.

His gardening passion began in 1976 when Fryar, who is African-American, wanted to buy a house in Bishopville, South Carolina. Neighbors objected claiming that, "Black people don't keep up their yards." Fryar moved to a "black neighborhood" instead, but determined to prove them wrong.

Despite 12-hour shifts at a can manufacturer, Fryar would come home and work late into the night planting, nurturing and sculpting giant topiary forms out of straggly shrubs he'd rescued from a nursery's discard pile. Some of his creations are recognizable, some are pure fantasy, but the effect of the whole is a sort of magical wonderland.

Ironically, this son of a sharecropper has become Bishopville's claim to fame. A number of his artworks grace the downtown area, and his work, which transcends racial barriers, is the town's main attraction.

The centerpiece of his garden is a huge message sculpted in flowers and greenery: "LOVE PEACE & GOODWILL." Fryar is a church-going man but he's brought as much spirit to his garden as there is in any four walls with a preacher. "It's that belief in someone bigger than I am that makes life interesting to live," he says.

A new documentary film titled A Man Named Pearl does a great job of preserving Fryar's legacy. After all, when your artwork is all living plants that require maintenance, who will maintain it when you're gone?

Filmmakers Scott Galloway and Brent Pierson interviewed quite a few people, including Fryar's own preacher who diplomatically observed that as much as we'd like to think our country is fully integrated, it's a continuing process.

With the first African-American running for president, hate emails are proliferating on the Internet. Bishopville, it seems, has no monopoly on bigotry. And although Pearl Fryar's amazing artistry has been recognized, some things haven't changed that all much in the last 32 years.