Growing Inspiration

chocolate lab follows his owner down a stone path lined with glossy green plants, perfectly aged terracotta pots and delicate tables.

A woman named Morgan holds her 5-week-old son while she lunches with a friend, Emily. Morgan is here for the plants — “the only place I buy them,” she says — while Emily is here for the impeccably inspired interior and exterior design. Both ladies smile at the passing lab, who is unfazed by the smell of their pastries or the gentle squeaks of the stretching baby.

This utopian paradise is Botanic, of course, and Tucker the lab is as at home here as owner and Auburn University College of Agriculture alumnus King Braswell.

Botanic is an exceptional display of agritourism the likes of which one might expect to experience in Northern California rather than just off Highway 280 near Tiger Town in Opelika. It includes an elaborate garden center and retail shop as well as two dining options — The Market and The Grille — all housed on the former grounds of longtime Opelika eatery Cock of the Walk.

“There is a tremendous amount of history on this property,” Braswell said. “The pond is more than 100 years old. We hear stories all the time from guests who rode horses here, who fished here, who knew the owners before Cock of the Walk.”

Braswell recalled eating at the restaurant as an Auburn agriculture student, knowing back then that the property offered potential for so much more. So, when he and his wife — Chicken Salad Chick founder Stacy Brown — were looking for the right piece of property for Botanic, the location came quickly to mind.

“We were going to head down 280 and look for property out there,” Braswell said. “And I said, ‘honey, let’s just go up to the old Cock of the Walk and see what’s up there now.’ We pull up, and doggone, it’s for sale.”

Nestled in a sort of basin, you feel removed from town the second you drive onto the Botanic campus. To the left are the Greenhouse and Garden Center, and to the right is the pond, while straight ahead is a massive, eye-catching structure that constitutes much of Botanic. Inside this reclaimed-brick-and-cedar-shake structure is a stunning interior patio, a martini bar, a beer garden, a wine cellar, and a truly unique private dining room inside a stone grain silo that Braswell brought over from Dawson, Georgia.

It’s a place designed for gathering, and Braswell says that people — and plants — are at the heart of Botanic’s purpose.

raswell earned his Bachelor of Science in horticulture with an emphasis in nursery crop production at Auburn. He started working for himself in plant production right out of college.

“I quickly realized the production side of things satisfied the scientific side of my brain, the manufacturing side of my brain, but it didn’t fully satisfy my craving for everything horticulture,” he said.

Braswell had a passion for the artistic side, as well, for where horticulture meets people, feeds them and inspires them.

In 1993, he opened Blooming Colors, a garden center that operated in Auburn for 23 years. The business offered him the opportunity to serve others in a way he hadn’t before. Not only did it provide a retail service, but the nursery offered at-home gardening and landscaping services, as well.

“I always say, every person’s home is a castle,” he said. “Everyone should feel special in their own home and have that sense of satisfaction coming home every day. And it meant a lot to be able to help them feel that.”

The business grew, and he added Crepe Myrtle Café next door to the nursery. But it had its limitations, including, simply, the size and scope of the property.

“I always wanted a place that could encompass everything,” Braswell said. “What’s cool about Botanic is there are no limitations.”

There are plans for a 10,000-square-foot hydroponic vegetable production facility, cottages across the pond with edible gardens for staying guests, and crop production such that Botanic can become a campus that truly consumes what it grows.

“We’re still in the starting stages of what Botanic is going to become,” he said.

His goal is a destination that showcases urban agriculture demonstrated in a real and impactful way, while building a reputation that allows Botanic to be a national brand and horticultural leader.

They’re getting started in this with Botanic-branded products for sale in the market, including jellies, jams, pickles and preserves all handmade by Executive Chef James Jolly, who Braswell said brings a high level of culinary excellence to Botanic and shares the vision for what the brand can become.

“We’re fortunate to have an amazing team who are embracing and sharing this vision — what is now kind of a cliché term — for a farm-to-table culinary experience,” Braswell said.

Jolly has worked at Botanic since June 2022 and said it means a lot to be part of the team.

“It means a lot to me, being from the area,” said Jolly, a native of Smiths Station. “There is nothing quite like Botanic in the Southeast that I have seen. To have the opportunity to work here as the executive chef is nothing short of a blessing.”

Jolly said he loves curating a selection of locally made products and creating the Botanic provisions — jams, jellies, etc. — a process he calls a “love-hate relationship.”

“I love to make them, I love to see people buying them, but I hate to see empty shelves,” he said with a laugh. “Keeping shelves stocked is the hardest part, and coming up with new things is the fun part.”

Jolly and his team have a schedule for the provisions based on what is in season. It is the best way to create a cost-effective product but also the best-quality product, he said.

“Come summer, for example, we know strawberries are going to be in season, so we’ll make our strawberry preserves,” he said. “We’re using produce when it is at its peak.”

t the foundation of Braswell’s goals is a deep-rooted desire to inspire others, and the next step in doing so is through gardening symposiums in 2024. These have been a goal since Botanic opened, but he wanted to get the business up and running first.

“It’s important to me to have the respect and legitimacy to teach people about it,” Braswell said. “I need to be able to do first, then tell.”

When asked his favorite thing about Botanic, his answer is swift: the people.

“This team,” he said. “And their passion for the customers and the community we aim to serve. I’m passionate about them, and I’m really passionate about everything we do here. I tell Stacy all the time, I never want to leave this place.”

Jolly echoed the sentiment, saying his favorite part of the job is seeing how people interact with the service and product they provide.

“It is not just about creating something,” he said. “It’s about seeing people experience something I or my team created. It’s seeing what happens when an individual on my team creates something on their own, and their face when somebody enjoys what they made. That is very, very special. That is what this job is all about.”

Braswell credits the horticulture program at Auburn for instilling in him a fire for this work.

“One of the greatest things Auburn gave me is more than my degree in horticulture,” he said. “Through the devotion of my professors, I was taught to love horticulture. They paved this path for me, and Auburn is the foundation I can always rely on.

“For Stacy and me, the goal has never been about making money,” he added. “Never. The goal is to inspire people and to provide a service to the community. Obviously, we hope to have the revenue and profit to keep the big wheel turning, so that we can continue to inspire and to leave a legacy here in this place.”