S
eptember in White Plains, Alabama
brings about thoughts of a fresh school
year, changing leaves and high school
football. For the past 12 years or so now, it has
also sparked another thought among local
residents: mum season! Jeff Brooks (known
as Dad to me) has started a frenzy that grows
more popular and bigger each year. People
flock to his mum field, Butterfly Gardens, on
Choccolocco road as soon as the neon orange ‘Mums for Sale’ sign appears at the end
of the driveway. There’s just something exciting and traditional about seeing that sign for
the first time each year! I recently sat down
with Dad to get the inside scoop on just what
makes Butterfly Gardens one of the best kept
secrets of fall on the Plains.
sparked my interest.”
After leaving the greenhouse in Weaver,
Dad’s interest in mums continued to grow.
He finally got up the nerve in 2002 to give it
a whirl on his own. “We started out with 600
plants and less than $1,000 invested in startup costs. I was scared to death,” he admits.
The plants were sold in what was then known
as 12 inch trade gallon pots. “God blessed us
and we were able to sell 95% of our crop that
first year,” Dad explains. With the help of local
greenhouse owners, Larry and Kim Garrett,
Dad was able to learn a lot as well as get an
inside connection to suppliers for pots, dirt
and other mum necessities. “Knowing the
Garretts has been better than having a college education!” he tells me. “They have had
Growing up as the daughter of a firefighter, I was accustomed to my dad
having a second job. He tried his hand
at many things, from grass cutting to
painting houses, but the one thing that
seemed to make him the most happy
was gardening. He and another firefighter ran a greenhouse in Weaver,
Alabama for a few years. While in the
greenhouse business Dad learned a lot
about plants and was first introduced
to mums. Dad says that although he
wanted to try and grow more of them,
mums were always considered a “filler crop”
in the fall by his business partner and were
never given the time and care they needed.
“We never could grow a quality plant,” Dad explains. “We tried to cut too many corners and
that frustrated me greatly.” During this time
Dad became acquainted with Jerry Dempsey
who grew mums in Bynum, Alabama. “He
was the first person who I had seen be able
to grow a good, healthy, mum. He actually
a huge impact on Butterfly Gardens and I am
very grateful to them.”
Dad also gives a lot of the credit to the success
of his business to his parents, Pete and Sylvia Brooks, as well as his wife (and my mom),
Connie Brooks. My sister, Hannah Brooks, and
I also grew up learning how to care for the
plants. “Mom and Dad (Sylvia and Pete) allow
me to use their land and help watch the field
when I can’t be there,” Dad explains. “Having
INSIGHT
September 2014
11