When the Williamses learned that there was a
conference on organic gardening in Athens, they made
plans to attend. In the beginning, the plan was never to grow
flowers; it was to grow produce. While attending a farm tour
in the area for attendees of the conference, the Williamses
visited 3 Porch Farm.
“We couldn’t believe how their farmhouse looked
almost exactly like ours,” said Rita. “Even their two
old barns looked just like ours.” But 3 Porch Farm was
growing flowers, not produce. “With Mike’s background in
horticulture, it just made perfect sense. He looked at me and
said, ‘We could do this.’”
Mike and Rita went home and did their research. “There
were no flower farmers in our area that we could find,” said
Rita. “We actually went back to Athens and met with Steve
and Mandy O’Shea at 3 Porch Farm to see what we could
learn. The first thing they suggested was that we join the
Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers in order to
access all the articles and videos archived online from their
conferences. It was a wealth of information,” said Rita.
56 Toombs County Magazine
In 2015, they decided to call the children’s new lesson
“WilMor Farms” and planted their first crop of flowers. “Soil
health is the one thing with flowers that is essential. We
thought we had good dirt down here. The guy who farmed it
took really good care of the land,” said Rita. But they learned
that first year that the soil wasn’t in as good a shape as they
had thought. “We had to bring in several loads of organic
compost throughout the year.” Compost now only has to be
added to the soil once a year. “We consider that as a year of
learning and 2016 as our first actual year of business.”
Since there were so few flower growers in the south,
information for this particular climate was hard to come
by. “Our climate was different even from 3 Porch Farm in
Athens,” said Rita. While listening to conference speaker,
Rita Anders, a flower grower in Texas, speak, she said, “I
learned that our climates are very similar. I went up to her
after the meeting and asked if we could take her out for
supper. She said, ‘Sure.’” That one meal turned into a longterm
friendship and mentor.
“Rita Anders just took us under her wing,” said Rita.