On the morning I arrive for a tour of the Georgia Governor’s Mansion—a sprawling, thirty-room Greek Revival estate in the heart of Buckhead—more than a dozen men in blue and green uniforms are planting spring flowers. They press purple rhododendrons, bone-white wall iris, and seas of pink roses into the soil. Honeybees hover and dip into blossoms before returning to nearby hives.
In recent years, First Lady Marty Kemp has launched an initiative to turn the 18-acre property into a showcase for “Georgia Grown” products. Agriculture is the state’s largest industry, and in a 2023 interview with Fox News, her rationale for the project was simple: “No farms, no food.” After public tours of the chandelier-lit halls, visitors can even purchase $20 jars of honey labeled “Georgia Governor’s Mansion: First Hive,” harvested from bees kept on site.
