It was on a road trip from Georgia to California nearly 20 years ago when Mandy Rovolis and Steve O’Shea fell in love and started dreaming up 3 Porch Farm. “We were already kind of friends, but by day two, I knew: ‘We’re going to be together forever,’” recalls Mandy. In 2011, the O’Sheas spotted a 9-acre plot of land in Comer, Georgia, on Craigslist, bringing them from the West Coast back to Mandy’s home state.
Although Steve is a California native, he’d been enamored with the area since first visiting there in 2003. “The idea of a porch just embodied all the romantic beauty of the South to me,” he says of the inspiration behind the farm’s name. “And when we found this place and discovered that the home on the property had not only one porch but three, we felt porch rich.”
Sustainability drives every move for the O’Sheas. The facilities use solar power, the vehicles run on vegetable oil, and most packaging is compostable or recyclable.
Sustainability drives every move for the O’Sheas. The facilities use solar power, the vehicles run on vegetable oil, and most packaging is compostable or recyclable.
Credit:
Hector Manuel Sanchez
Credit:
Hector Manuel Sanchez
The pair started off growing and selling mostly veggies and fruits at local farmers’ markets, but two years later, after exploring the Pacific Northwest, they went all in on flowers. “We saw fields of dahlias with so much variety, color, and alien forms,” says Steve. “It was mesmerizing.”
On that same trip, a market of simple tables with buckets of those gorgeous blooms caught their attention and ultimately pushed them to switch to cultivating dahlias, which many Southerners were unfamiliar with at the time. “It was a big risk, but people were buying the flowers, so we immediately started figuring out how we could grow more varieties,” he recalls. “We haven’t looked back since.”
Steve and Mandy picking ‘Seaton’s Coffee’ flowers.
Credit:
Hector Manuel Sanchez
Throughout the year, their fields brim with different blooms—hellebores, poppies, and ranunculus in the winter; peonies in the spring; dahlias in the summer; and chrysanthemums (now one of their primary flowers) in the fall. Mandy emphasizes that these aren’t the typical “roundy-moundy potted mums.” The heirloom varieties at 3 Porch Farm range from ones with more traditional petals to those that look like fireworks, all in a vibrant rainbow of solid and ombré hues.
Kali-Brie Jones, one of the farm’s eight year-round employees with bouquets from the shop.
Kali-Brie Jones, one of the farm’s eight year-round employees with bouquets from the shop.
Credit:
Hector Manuel Sanchez
Credit:
Hector Manuel Sanchez
The O’Sheas, who harvest 10,000 stems each season, are not only helping restore these lost mum types to the floral world and educating other growers, but they’re also sharing them with home gardeners. In 2020, the small operation began shipping seeds and plants across the country. Today, they send out over 85,000 rooted mum cuttings each spring. “We’ve spent the last 12 years isolating the most successful varieties for cut flowers,” says Steve. “Our goal is to help bring these beautiful things back from obscurity and into people’s gardens.”
Tips For Growing Mums At Home
‘Kelvin Mandarin’ Chrysanthemum blooms.
‘Kermit’ Chrysanthemums.
‘Kelvin Mandarin’ Chrysanthemum blooms.
Credit:
Hector Manuel Sanchez
‘Kermit’ Chrysanthemums.
Credit:
Hector Manuel Sanchez
Create Stability
“The biggest thing with the varieties that we have is that they get really tall, so you do need to provide some support for them,” notes Steve, who recommends bamboo stakes, a gardening net, or even tomato cages for potted ones.
Know Your Plants
“Chrysanthemums are very forgiving and simple to propagate,” says Mandy. “Even though some may look so gorgeous and unattainable, they’re actually quite easy to grow in moderately nutrient-rich soil with full sun.” As cool-weather bloomers, the plants can take a bit of frost, but if the temperature drops below freezing, be sure to cover them to protect the flowers.
‘Evan’s Dream’ Chrysanthemums.
Credit:
Hector Manuel Sanchez
Snip ‘Em
“If you don’t cut the stems, it’s just going to be one tall plant,” says Mandy. “Every time you cut it back, that sends hormones out to the sides, so it gets bushier, and then you have a bunch of stems instead of just one tall flower.”
Order Mums Now for Next Spring
Sold only online, 3 Porch Farm mum cuttings are shipped nationwide from March through June. These plants sell out quickly, so preordering is encouraged beginning in August of this year. The cut flowers are available in the farm store in October and November.
Visit The Farm Shop
Credit:
Hector Manuel Sanchez
“Our store is this living, breathing space down a dirt road that changes with the seasons, where you oftentimes have the whole place to yourself,” says Mandy Rovolis O’Shea. “There’s an honor payment system, and I think that’s part of the charm.” Open seasonally, the curated shop offers bouquets and seeds alongside a mix of local goods from other small businesses, including items like pottery, linens, and preserves.
Credit:
Hector Manuel Sanchez
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