is mum patch lays in Simpson County’s fertile ground past a curvy hill beyond a stretch of a Kentucky mud-colored stream. The chrysanthemum farmer waits to sell budding, hardy mums to mostly local patrons.

Vivid yellows, earthy purples and burgundy chrysanthemum speckles spot the soil in Carl Brawner’s back yard where tobacco once grew.

Brawner, a retired teacher, casts a strong shadow in the hot afternoon sun as he shovels through the hard layers of soil. He opens up white plastic bags for the mum’s ride home with two visiting ladies.

“What can I do to make my mums comeback?” Carmen Wilson asks after buying dug up plants for herself and a friend.

“Don’t do anything is the main thing,” Brawner said.

His daughter, Kristen Brawner, explains that the mums should just be left to sit in the ground until spring. The brown hollowed stems can then be pinched back to produce healthy mums for the next fall season. Many people are tempted to pinch back the browns too early in the winter. This kills the plant as the protective brown layer which saves it from the winter’s bitter cold is torn away.

It’s the sixth week and Brawner has dug up and sold 4,200 mums out of 7,000 at $2.50 per plant. He sells them until the winter approaches with its first freeze and the plants’ livelihood begins to dwindle as the sunny days of fall fade.

“He really likes this because he can deal with the people and he really likes talking to people,” Kristen said. “He likes being outside.”

Amber Sigman is a senior photojournalism major from Los Angeles, Calif. She can be reached at sigman@wku.edu.