Ten years after the plant-to-wall plant printing business took root in Charleston | Features

The concept from the farm to the table is not new. Many grandparents grew their own gardens in the family garden.

The new generation was created by twin sisters, remembering their tradition of sowing fresh crops on the farm.

West Ashley Taylor Moore and Aikon Marty Rickenbaker In 2012, he first came up with the idea of ​​planting live flowers, leaves, or famous plants from the branches of gardens, farms, and shrubs, but growing life and family put him on the back burner.

After conceptual revision, in 2018 they launched city garden publications. It now sells products in 49 states and around the world – in Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

It all started with their grandparents.

Like those before supermarkets and processors, the late Ernie and Ruby Kirkendale West Garden of Shelby, NC, and west of Charlotte are planted annually with okra, pumpkin, tomatoes, peas, beans, and many other crops.

They eventually moved to Wilmington before moving to Augusta to work in the backyard before starting a furniture business on the Savana River site.

She married Janice Russell Johnson, Kirkenda’s daughter, and Taylor and Marty came together in the 1980s.

With the encouragement of Kirkendals, a couple of entrepreneurs opened a furniture store in Icon where parents can grow up and visit their grandparents often.

“They had a big garden,” Rickenbacker recalled. “Growing peppers, fig trees, muscadine, pear … has always been a part of our childhood.”

“I still remember the smell of basil,” Moore said. “We grew up appreciating nature in that area.”

The girls noticed the furniture and designs in their parents’ shop. As their parents retired, Johnson opened a frame shop.

First frame

A.D. In 2012, Sister Marty practiced law in college and Taylor, happily remembering her grandparents’ fresh produce and plants, and with the encouragement of her mother, they decided to plant and plant some live plants.

“Tobacco, Hydrangeas, France, Confederation Jasmine, Palm, Fascia … the ideas were endless,” Moore said.

Leaves are placed between clean and half-inch thick boards, causing the greens to dry out over time, and this process varies according to the plant.

“In our childhood, we often took roses or azaleas from our backyards and put them in our Bibles,” Moore said. “The process we use today is the same.”

The finished products looked good, but the effort took a long time, and eventually the dried plants began to crumble.

Their parents still owned a frame shop, and the sisters had the resources and connections to sell the original, loaded and engraved to those who shared their natural love.

“We’ve found it difficult to store items due to seasonal changes,” Rickenbaker said. “And since they were original, there was no guarantee that they would not disintegrate over time.”

When Moore gave birth to her first child and RickenBacker started working full-time, life took a turn for the worse and the side business was discontinued.

A.D. In 2018, after six years and five children, the couple combined their creativity and returned to their plant roots to create art prints.

“We took our amazing knowledge and what kind of technology we had and created the first plant publications,” Moore said. “The flowers are always beautiful, and it was nice to see the outside come in.”

Growing business

The business did not start at the beginning. Their publications were in a few stores in South Carolina, and the beginner’s business was online, but not much.

“Then Covid hit.

“When the world closed, people were working from home and looking at their walls,” she said. “They started buying online and this took our business to another level. Our online sales started in an independent period.”

Shades of blue, pink, orange, green, yellow, red, and brown have introduced a variety of colors to their plants.

“For a different perspective from plant publications – we wanted to find a color that we had never seen before,” Moore said. “Plant researchers are timeless, the leaves and nature do not go out of style.”

Then he realized that customers did not want to decorate the house only with plants and flowers. Over time, they have added beach and wine art collections to some water colors.

“We like to review wine paintings and give new life to color and modern editing,” Moore said. “Sometimes art is the inspiration of space, and sometimes when the design can be completed, art is something that sprays from above.”

Rickenbacker handles customer relationships and marketing, while Moore manages production and accounting.

“Our hands are on every piece,” Rickenbacker said.

“We try to keep a handwritten note in each order,” Moore added.

Their prints are made of high-quality acid-free paper, using archetypal paints. Sizes range from 8-by-10 to 40-by-60 inches. Printing costs between $ 35 and $ 600. They also offer frame options, so their customers are ready to upload and receive their expertise.

‘The Art of Filling’

In Mount Pleasant, a simple tree art and frame shop, Carol Williams holds some urban garden prints.

About two years ago, she saw Sister Design online and asked Morn if she could sell the prints in a 2,800-square-foot shop from Coleman Drive from Coleman Bolevard.

“Bring me a whole pile,” Williams said. “I sell to a lot of interior designers, and they go around looking for the art of filling in homes.”

Williams said her sisters’ hydrangea and bird prints were very popular, and she told her clients that the urban gardening business was based in Charleston.

“I love working with local businesses as much as I can,” Williams said. “And they (sisters) are very easy to work with.”

Think of how Moore and RickenBacker got back to their original ideas as they walked through West Ashley’s house with their designs on the wall.

“We’re amazed at where this business has taken us and we love it every minute,” Rickenbacker said. “We look at our heritage and consider it as a generational gift that we hope to pass on to our children as examples of our grandparents and parents.”