It’s the fragrance of rose hips that greets a visitor to Twigs – N – Berries, the new primitive shop that has opened up at 112 S. Third Street in downtown Ironton.

In galvanized buckets are these fruits of the rose plants that can be used as part potpourri, part décor filling decorative plates. Scents range from pecan pie, gingerbread and applesauce.

It’s all a part of the ambience owner Erica McKenzie wishes to create in the shop she opened in November.

“I just enjoy going to these types of stores and there was not one in the area,” McKenzie, an Ironton High School graduate, said. “Just the country feel of it, the rustic feel of it.”

Although her parents once owned a craft store in Ironton, Twigs-N-Berries is McKenzie’s first venture into the business world.

And it’s been a start that has brought with it many pleasant surprises.

“It actually has been what I thought it would be like, better than I thought,” she said. “I thought I would have to start out slow and build up. It was very good the first month, a lot of good feedback from the community.”

Her inventory ranges from pictures, candles, and wood products such as pouting chairs and hutches. She also stocks a line of old-fashioned rustic miniatures such as grist mills, covered bridges and barns, small enough to grace an end table or dining room buffet.

Most of the objects in her shop come from Ohio, many she buys from a warehouse outside Columbus. However, candles usually come from a supplier in Canada.

“We try to get most wholesalers from Ohio,” she said. “The biggest challenge is to keep up, trying to have enough inventory to meet the demands. We are getting news things in after the first of the year.”

That includes a line of soup and dip mixes. McKenzie also plans to include in her expansion offering gift baskets.

“You can come in and make the things you want,” she said.

Twigs-N-Berries is open Mondays through Fridays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.