Still low to the soil plots in late September, a collection of chrysanthemum plants in a steamy greenhouse are getting ready to produce big, bold blooms come November.
Harmony Harvest Flower Farm, a woman-owned cut flower farm in Weyers Cave, grows over 200 varieties of cut flowers each year through a growing season that stretches from March to mid-November, the owners said.
Its heirloom chrysanthemums — special cultivated varieties of big, intense November blooms with names like Apricot Courtier or Primrose Tennis — are what owner and head grower Jessica Hall calls the farm’s “calling card.” “Most people know mums as you see outside in the basket or at the pumpkin places. The ones that were in Southern Living are big,” Hall said.
Founded in 2011, the farm grows over 400 varieties of flowers in total on 7 acres, according to Stephanie Duncan, who owns the business with her sister, Hall, and mom, Chris Auville. When the pandemic hit, leading to the shutdown of in-person weddings and grocery stores — the business’ bread and butter at the time — Harmony Harvest Flower Farm was forced to start thinking bigger about direct-to-consumer sales, agrotourism, and its mission, Hall said.
Read the complete article at www.nvdaily.com.