‘Mountain Of Mums 9
(Continued from Page 1)
people went for it* so we
made it bigger and bigger.”
In 1972, the hill was ex
panded, almost to its present
size at 700 feet around the
base, and a tunnel was added.
The Mountain of Mums
stretches 45 feet high, with
three sets of steps and a “pro
menade” deck, of sorts, at the
top.
In the fall, the hill is liter
ally covered with 8,000 mum
plants with 50 different varie
ties, all for sale at the green
house. They are planted the
first week of July with 3-inch
pots.
Because of the slope of the
hill, “they’re easy to plant,”
said Ott, “if we work real
good. It takes about 25 hours
to plant,” he said, with the
help of about three people
working 8-10 hours.
The plants are nurtured on
potting soil consisting of peat
moss, sterilized soil, and ferti
lizer, “our mix,” said Ott.
“Some people are here just to
get the potting soil.”
The soil is easy to care for
and the plants “grow fast,”
said Ott. About 40,000 indi
vidual blooms light up the
mountain on a dazzling fall
day. The mountain is open
until hard freeze.
The mountain is covered
about four times in the fall
for frost protection. The
greenhouse uses a white
cover made in Georgia. The
material is lightweight,
weighing only 150 pounds,
but provides about eight de
grees of temperature differ
ence. About six people, with
the help of an overhead
crane, get the job done.
In the spring, pansies are
planted on the ' mountain,
about four seedlings in a six
inch pot on 15-18 inch cen
ters. They put about 20,000-
25,000 pots in, encompassing
about 100,000 plants.
At the top of the mountain,
near the end of the lane, is a
lookout-type structure con
taining four pillars of PVC
pipe. The plants are drip-fed
through the PVC type, form-
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, January 26,2002, grower and Marketer-
ing a column covering.
Ott’s Exotic Plants, located
on Rt. 29 a few miles above
Collegeville, was established
at a nearby location in 1935.
The Ott brothers, Godfrey H.
and Clarke, run the business,
with assistance from about 10
full-tine and two part-time
Rotary
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over l
Deerfield Ag &
Turf Center, Inc.
RR 2 Box 212
Watsontown, PA 17777
570-538-3557
Detlan Equipment,
Inc.
141 East Mam St
Silverdale, PA 18962
215-257-5177
Thomas L. Dunlap
Rt. 220, Mam St Exit
Jersey Shore, PA 17740
570-398-1391
Eckroth Bros
Farm Equip.
Rd 2, Box 24A
New Rmgold, PA 17960
570-943-2131
Eckroth Equipment
Co.
4910 Kernsville Rd.
Orefield, PA 18069
610-366-2095
employees.
The greenhouse, which has
about 60,000 square feet of
space, is open every day of
the week and on every holi
day except Christmas. For
more information, call Ott’s
at (610) 287-7878.
Conventional or
Reverse-Till
Pennsylvania.
Hines Equipment
RT 220, Belwood, PA
814-742-8171
Keller Brothers
R 7 Box 405
Lebanon, PA 17042
717-949-6501
1950 Fruitville Pike
Lancaster, PA 17601
717-569-2500
Lehigh Ag
Equipment, Inc.
6670 Ruppsville Rd ,
Allentown, PA 18106
610-398-2553
800-779-3616
M.S.Yearsley
& Sons
West Chester, PA
610-696-2990
Plkevllle
Equipment Inc.
RD 2, Oysterdale Road
Oley, PA 19547
610-927-6277
r a * *
Stoltzfus Farm
Service
Cochranville, PA
610-593-2407
Stouffer Bros Inc.
1066 Lincoln Way West
Chambersburg, PA 17201
717-263-8424
Valley AgTurf
817 Tobias Road
Halifax, PA 17032
717-362-3132
Rodio Tractor Sales
North White Horse Pike
Hammonton, N J 08037
609-561-0141
Warren County Service
Center
228 Route 94, Blairtown,
N.J
908-362-6916
175