Self-taught artist Pearl Fryar, who died this month at age 86, got his start when he tried to win an award from his local garden club. He ended up becoming a celebrity in the horticultural world

Pearl Fryar in his topiary garden

Jonathan Newton / The Washington Post / Getty Images

For proof that topiary can be high art, look no further than the work of Pearl Fryar. The self-taught artist used shrubs and trees as his medium, and he was known as the “Picasso of Plants” during his decades-long career. Fryar died in his home in Bishopville, South Carolina, on April 4 at age 86, leaving behind a legacy in the world of ornamental gardening and acres of living art.

Born to a family of sharecroppers in North Carolina in 1939, Fryar lived a full life before getting into topiary, as Penelope Green reports for the New York Times . He served in Korea as a chemical weapons specialist for the U.S.…