Soil³ Story: Florals@Jackson Flower Farm

A North Carolina Flower Farmer’s Story

Uletha Oglesby, owner of Florals@Jackson in Kannapolis, North Carolina, is a woman whose passion for flowers, gardening, and farming shines in everything she does. Uletha radiates joy and has incredible energy. Her enthusiasm is inspiring, whether she’s sharing stories about her flower farm and floral business or teaching classes to her elementary school students.

Don't miss our video featuring Uletha and Florals@Jackson.

Like many gardeners and farmers, Uletha inherited her love of farming from her family. While growing up, she spent summers on the family farm in southwest Georgia. The farm has been in her family for more than 100 years, and her uncles continue growing peanuts and soybeans there. Uletha’s aunt maintained a wonderful flower garden and introduced her niece to the beauty and art of nurturing plants. Auntie Gloria planted the seeds of inspiration that continue to flourish at Florals@Jackson today.

A few years ago, Uletha and her husband, Lance, purchased their home and the adjacent property with plans to start their flower farm. Lance designed and built the raised beds, then filled them with Soil³, and that’s when Florals@Jackson began.

Uletha and Lance in their Florals@Jackson cut flower garden.

Today, Uletha grows a wide variety of flowers, offering seasonal blooms from spring to early fall. Lance maintains the irrigation and landscaping and also helps Uletha with harvesting and setup/teardown for farmers markets and workshops.

'Café au Lait Rosé' Dinnerplate Dahlia

'Plume Hi-Z' Celosia

'ProCut Horizon' Sunflower

Uletha loves to surprise family and friends with flowers. She sells flowers, arrangements, and hand-tied bouquets in a variety of ways, including:

• Farmers Markets: Piedmont Farmers Market, The Kannapolis Farmers Market, and The Lenz Studio

• Subscription Service: Arrangements delivered biweekly to retail customers

• Events: Including weddings, showers, and birthdays

• Floral Arranging Workshops

• Wholesale

Florals@Jackson is committed to sustainable farming practices. For Uletha, healthy soil is the foundation for thriving plants and vibrant blooms. She doesn’t use any chemicals, synthetic pesticides, or fertilizers in her raised beds. Instead, she relies on Soil³ compost because she knows it is OMRI Listed. She has seen how it provides nutrients all season long, and she doesn’t need to apply additional fertilizers.

Uletha also appreciates the way that Soil³ helps regulate water by making nutrients and moisture available for the plants while also improving drainage in their raised beds.

One of Uletha’s key strategies is succession planting, starting new flowers from seed throughout the growing season. This approach, combined with the nutrient-rich benefits of the Soil³ compost, ensures a steady supply of fresh blooms.

Succession planting of Zinnias in Soil³ compost.

Florals@Jackson is a beautiful example of how family tradition, sustainability, and passion can bloom into something wonderful. Their growing business brings fulfillment to their lives while delivering joy and beauty to their customers, friends, and family.

'Benary's Giant Orange' Zinnia

'Flamingo Feather' Celosia

Video and photography by Laurie and Simon Wakefield.