If you love the Herb Terrace at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens, or your child enjoys exploring the Plant Adventure Zone, Molly Hendry is one of the people you can thank. For over five years, Molly worked at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens, where it was her job to understand the history of the gardens and ensure they had a flourishing future by assisting with their design and care.
Now, she runs her own garden design studio, Roots & Ramblings. She still pitches in at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens to consult on garden designs, teach classes, and host events such as her upcoming lecture on the women behind the Kaul Wildflower Garden. She’s also helping to lead a garden tour to England in June. We’re excited to introduce our newest FACE of Birmingham, Horticulturist and Garden Designer Molly Hendry.
Tell us more about the Women’s History Month event you’re hosting at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens.
I’ll be sharing the history of these women who were so passionate about Alabama’s native flora that they approached the Birmingham Botanical Gardens in the 1960s about building a garden to celebrate our biodiversity. They were given this scraggly bit in the back part of the Gardens that used to be a rock quarry during the Great Depression. But when life gives you lemons, you can make lemonade. So they hired one of the most well-known rock garden designers in the United States — Zenon Schreiber.
These women were also going out to the wild places of Alabama and helping to protect them by going to the legislature. They would gather all their friends, go out to places where Alabama Power was about to clear-cut an area, and dig up these rare, beautiful plants and plant them in the Kaul garden or their own home gardens. It’s pretty amazing to see how they had an interest and passion. They made things happen and kept momentum by cultivating that passion in other people.
Another event coming up soon is the annual Sakura Cherry Blossom Festival. Why do you think it’s so popular?
I think the Cherry Blossom Festival — which is hosted by the Japan America Society of Alabama — is a perfect window into Japanese culture, which celebrates the ephemeral parts of nature so well. If you were to ask me the number one place in the world that I want to travel to, it’s Japan.
One thing that I love about Japanese culture is they celebrate the changes in nature so well. There aren’t just four seasons in Japan. They celebrate the melting of the snow and the budding of the cherry trees; there’s even a word for when the blossoms fall and are below the tree.
The Cherry Blossom Festival is an amazing celebration of spring. It’s kind of the ringing of the bells announcing that everything’s going to start waking up again.
What services do you offer through Roots & Ramblings?
My tagline for it is “Cultivating gardens and gardeners.” It’s not just design. Really, my heartbeat is to bring people into the world of gardening. So, I offer a variety of things. Some people need a full-scale design for their garden. And my dream people are those who want to garden their garden.
Some people are not interested in gardening, and that’s fine. That’s what the whole landscaping industry has been built on in the South. But I was finding people who love plants, love spending time in their garden, love gardening but were intimidated by the design part of it.
What advice would you give those who want to garden but have a brown thumb?
The way to a green thumb is through a brown thumb. Each time you kill something, it’s not a complete loss if you learn something about that plant.
Keep asking questions. Why did that happen? Then, you pivot and adjust. One day, you’ll find yourself saying, “I could have never imagined I would be able to grow all these different things.” But curiosity is the key. Taking more risks, trying things, and asking questions. That’s the key to a green thumb.
How did you get interested in garden design and horticulture?
I think it was from a childhood lived outside. We grew up on around 40 acres about 30 minutes outside Birmingham and had a lake, woods, creeks, and pastures with cows in them. It was this magical childhood where my sisters and I would just go outside with our dogs and use our imaginations all day, every day. And that’s really what garden design is — approaching nature and the wild outdoors with your imagination.
I went on to study horticulture and landscape architecture at Auburn University.
What’s the best life advice you have to offer?
You have to know the next right step. I was talking with a college senior, and she’s getting interested in the world of gardens and landscapes. I could tell she was trying to make sure she was making the right decision for 30 years down the road. And I just kept saying, “You have to know the next right step.”
I’m very liable to get stuck and feel like I’m making a choice I will be locked into for the next 30 years. Leaving the Gardens was really, really scary for me because I loved every person I worked with and my job there. But I knew I had to take that next step to begin the process of [starting my own business] and seeing where it could go.
What do you like to do when you’re not working?
In my free time, I’m trying to do something with friends. But I always say I’m an 86-year-old woman trapped in a 32-year-old’s body. When I was 11 or 12, I taught myself to knit. Now, I’m also a needle pointer.
One of my favorite things to do is to go for really, really, really long walks. I love walking and being somewhere beautiful and soaking it in. I love walking at Jemison Trail. That’s one of my favorite spots.
The other grandma hobby I’ve recently picked up is puzzling. Little Professor has started having puzzle nights. So, a friend and I did that the other night, and it was so fun.
What are some of your favorite local restaurants?
El Barrio, EastWest, and Taco Mama.
Where are some of your favorite places to shop?
I hate shopping for clothes, but I love the garden shop in the General. I worked at Leaf & Petal in college, so that’s always been one of my favorite spots. And I’m such a sucker for bookstores like Little Professor and Thank You Books.
What book are you currently reading?
I’m reading an Ann Patchett book called Tom Lake. It’s about a mom and three daughters, and I’m one of three girls, so it’s been a really fun book to read.
Where was your last great vacation?
I went to England to visit friends last May, and it was amazing. While I was there, I went by myself up to the Cotswolds and rented a little cottage that’s close to one of my favorite gardens of all time. I spent the whole day in the garden and sketched and wrote and took pictures. It was a great reset before I came back to start my own studio.
Other than friends, family, and gardening, name three things you can’t live without.
Podcasts, my afternoon matcha, and Muji .38 pens.
The Women of Kaul Wildflower Garden lecture is set for Tuesday, March 19, at 6 p.m. in the Hodges Room at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens. Learn more and buy tickets here. The Sakura Cherry Blossom Festival, hosted by the Japan America Society of Alabama, is set for Saturday, March 30, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. This family-friendly event is free and open to the public.
As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
**********
To stay in the know on the best of Birmingham, subscribe to our daily emails!
