Rocky Top Greenhouse offers variety of flowers, vegetables

Rocky Top Greenhouse in Leopolis offers various hanging plants, bedding flowers and several types of vegetables.

Owner Donny Fehrman is celebrating his 10th year at Rocky Top Greenhouse.

“I’ve got large and medium hanging baskets, bedding plants such as petunias; marigolds; wave petunias; dahlias; straw flowers, which are very pretty; geraniums; non-stop begonias; bedding begonias, which are smaller; impatiens; alyssum; and unique black petunias,” said Fehrman.

Offered as well is a unique flower called heliotrope, which is a fragrant flower that attracts butterflies.

“Some growers classify the heliotrope as an annual, but others insist it is a perennial, which is a plant that comes back the next year,” said Fehrman.

The vegetable greenhouse holds tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, cauliflower, kohlrabi, broccoli, cucumbers and squash, both acorn and buttercup.

Also included in the vegetable greenhouse are various types of specialized pumpkins — blue, jack-o-lanterns, baby boos and peanut.

“Warm-up came fast, and those pumpkins took off it seems, in one day, in the heat. All they need is warmth and moisture to jump start them,” said Fehrman.

All flowers on sale, as well as tomatoes and peppers, are purchased from a supplier, but the rest of the vegetables offered for sale are grown from seed by Fehrman.

He said he learned the art of horticulture from his mother.

“We were raised on a farm,” said Fehrman. “My mom was a big gardener and I helped her all the time, planting a large farm garden. She was my inspiration. We also had about an eighth of an acre planted in pickles. Us kids had to pick, and that was our fair money. We’d take our No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 pickles to Pella and sell them. They paid us per size.”

As an adult, Fehrman worked for a landscaping company for a number of years, planting flowers, landscaping and putting in lawns. He then worked part-time for a couple of local greenhouses, learning the ins and outs of the business of growing and selling.

It jump-started the notion that he’d perhaps like to go into business for himself.

“I really liked it, and I thought, ‘I’m going to start one of my own.’ So in 2016, I opened my doors,” said Fehrman. “I bought the flower greenhouse and built a smaller one strictly for vegetables.”

Fehrman’s wife and son both work outside the business, but in their spare time they help him in the greenhouse.

“If I have to run an errand, I call my sister who lives just down the road and she’ll run the store for me. Otherwise, I’m pretty much on my own,” said Fehrman.

Depending on the weather, the growing season usually buttons up the end of June and after that, it wanes off. In September, Fehrman sells tri-color mums, ranging in sizes anywhere from 8-inch to 16-inch tubs.

Married to wife Penny, they have three adult children, four grandchildren and two step-grandchildren.

“I love talking to people. I could sit all day and talk to people. That’s a big part of this business, just a connection with folks. It’s enjoyable,” said Fehrman. “A big part of my business is shared by word-of-mouth.”