We are Chris and Jess. A husband and wife duo bringing local fresh flowers and farm experiences to our local communities.

We have spent countless hours in the fields, growing (and killing), weeding, making mistakes, learning, and loving every minute of it.

This all started with a dream and a passion for flowers that Chris and I both shared. 

My love for plants started about 15 years ago when I purchased my very first house plant (BOB) little did I know at the time this was going to turn into a full-blown addiction. The story of Bob will have to wait for another time, but it is a good one. 😊 What started out as 1 and having a few hiccups along the way quickly multiplied, when my mom taught me how to propagate. Who knew that spider plants make babies? Snake plants can grow anywhere, and if you break a branch off your purple heart, you can simply put it in water for a few days, and Wala... a whole new plant, and so it began! Since then, nothing has been the same.  Welcome to being the “crazy plant lady” From one house plant to 15 over the first year.  My home was filling up quickly with such beauty, I was loving every minute of it.  This passion quickly morphed into “why only have five hanging baskets, when clearly there is enough room for more” “yes, we need both potted plants as well as flower beds around the patio” “of course we are going to need more than eight tomato plants if we are going to do salsa and stewed tomatoes” and it grew and grew both inside and outside.  When Chris and I first started dating I warned him of my passion, some might consider it a bit much.  However, to my surprise he was all on board.  He too had a passion for flowers, mostly lilies then, but it was not long before we were side by side on our plant and flower buying and planting adventures.  Who knew you could fit so many flowers in the back seat of a sedan.  That is when I knew I had found my soul mate.

Chris and I had talked about doing something with our property for several years, we just could not decide what that would be. Shortly after our wedding, Chris and I took our grandson to a small little pumpkin patch not too far from our acreage. Little did we know at the time that a quick trip to a small pumpkin patch out on a country road would be the turning point in our lives for making our dreams come true.   The ideas and possibilities were countless and flooding in before we even made it back to the truck. 

“We could do this; we could grow pumpkins.” “Why stop at pumpkins... we have plenty of space, we could plant festive corn and gourds as well....  “If we had a pumpkin patch, we could host events and activities.” “We already do a large garden every year... we could expand and have a you-pick vegetable garden with our pumpkin patch....”

 The ideas and possibilities were countless and flooding in before we even made it back to the truck.  This conversation lasted throughout dinner and into the evening, then continued the next morning.  We were both excited and passionate about all these ideas, we were all in we were going to do it!  The very next week would lead to research and preparation to get the ball going.  During this time, my husband said something that would forever change our lives.  He said: Have you ever heard of Floret?  No, what is that I said and that is when he began to explain it to me.  I was completely blown away!  A flower farmer? Fields of flowers? The number one selling dahlia farmer in the world! This is a thing? I had no idea! I needed to know more! I hung on to every word, I was captivated! What a beautiful thing! It was during this conversation that we both knew exactly what we were going to do with our land.  The journey to making our dreams come true was about to begin. 

A pumpkin patch, of course, but a pumpkin patch on a flower farm!

From that day forward it has been an amazing adventure. There have been difficulties, trials and errors, successes, and failures, smiles and tears. A learning experience to say the least but we have been loving every minute of it. 

We started right away with research and watching videos.  This is how Chris got me to join Tik Tok.  Within a couple of weeks, we built our grow room in the basement and with our soil recipe just right we got to work. 

We planted 10,000 seedlings in our basement last winter, starting in January.  The first to be planted in true Howell form... Lisianthus of course.  Why not jump in with both feet!

As the long frigid winter here in Iowa drug on, we were chopping at the bit to get outside and running out of room in the basement for all our seedlings.  That is when my brilliant husband said, “We need a greenhouse.” 

The greenhouse started with an idea and a sketch sitting in front of the fireplace. What was just a dream of mine, Chris was determined to bring to life. We did not know it at the time but sitting on the couch, dreaming, and sketching out drawings on the back of envelopes, while sipping bourbon after a long workday, was soon to become the reality of our very own greenhouse, with the help of our son Austin Howell.

With 10,000 seedlings in the basement, and a beautiful greenhouse, everything was coming together. Although Chris tried to burn it down along with the house, while grinding a bolt off the last door to be hung, we made it through the fire with minimal damage. Thanks to the good lord.

Once the ground was ready it was time to prepare the beds.  Once again in true Howell form, what started out as 30 beds developed into 70 along the way.

Our specialty cut flower farm is on 20 acres nestled in the Loess Hills just south of Glenwood Iowa.  We are a working farm on about 5 acres of our property, where things are messy and dirty, there are bugs, uneven ground and farm equipment… and we love all of it.  Our farm is sustainably managed utilizing low-till and organic principles. Our flowers are carefully selected and locally grown. We are focused on habitat, soil health, lean processes and ultimately, amazing blooms to bring people together and brighten their day.

We offer UPick events, Subscriptions/CSA, Bouquet Bars, Wreath & Flower Workshops, markets, events, custom orders, We offer local delivery and Farm Pickup.