You could say it was a glorious start to a fine Spring day a couple of Fridays ago.

There was nary a cloud in the sky as the sun beamed down brightly in the background. Despite the chill at that early hour of the morning, neither Jeff nor Shannon Howell cared about the nip in the air.

Neither did their dogs, Ginger and Bella. Both canines were hot on the scent of a stranger as they hung around a nearby shed. “Must have been a mouse go through there last night,” noted Shannon, who was ready to take in the folks who would take a little of their time to visit the greenhouses she and Jeff own and operate.

The gates were opened up a few minutes earlier, as Jeff took the keys to unlock them at exactly 9 o’clock. Ship-shape and in pristine condition, the greenhouses and the little “Daisy Depot” where an assortment of plants and other goodies are sold, awaited the traveler from Michigan, or the neighbor from Middle Fork.

Spring was busting loose.

At the seams.

“There was a survey that said looking at flowers reduces stress, after an ugly, depressing Winter,” commented Shannon as she stood on the deck of the “Daisy Depot”. “I think people are ready to spruce their homes up.” Both she and Jeff have had their greenhouses on their property north of Jackson, next to Highway 15 for five years now, but it’s just their third year of being open to the public.

And in the process, they’ve learned a few things about their customers. “Women call of course,” Shannon added, “but we have men here too. Some of them had drawings of their yards and flower beds, all ready to do the work when they got here.”

Always a favorite with outdoor fans, ferns continue to be a big seller for the Howells. “And we’ve got ferns for shade and full-view. Plus we have what they call the ‘Patio Pots’, which are plants already made up in a big pot. The flowers are already grown in there,” Shannon said as she showed a visitor the huge oversized outdoor chair built by Mark Marshall. She also showed where they grow plants for raising food. “At this time of year, we’re also getting and selling a lot of cabbage and tomatoes.”

Now joined by Jeff and Mark, Shannon asks the visitor if they’d like to purchase one of “Jolie’s Lotion Potions” - lotions in different scents made by the Howell’s six-year-old daughter, Jolie. Marshall puts some of the lotion on his hands, rubs them down, and looks at the big spread outside. “Springtime? I enjoy setting out the plants and flowers, but I sure don’t enjoy pulling the weeds!” Laughing as he finished, Mark can be proud of the greenhouse wonderland, because he built it. From the greenhouses to the Daisy Depot, from the oversized chair to a whole lot more, his signature can be found on the work he’s done.

And he is. “Look around this place,” Marshall wondered aloud. “It’s peaceful.”

“We get a mix of people from all over - Perry, Morgan and other counties. Plus people from Ohio, Indiana and Michigan stop by,” Jeff said, as he and his wife walked with the visitor to one of the greenhouses. “When people come back to Breathitt County to visit family, they stop here. They’ll buy pots, and we’ll put plants in there for them. It reminds them of home.”

And one of the ways that taste of home is brought back to them is from the seeds that grow their own food, says Shannon. “People still make their own canned food. Some even make their own kraut. Your home-grown tomatoes that come from the tomato plants we grow and sell here definitely taste better, as well as the melons and cucumbers and a small selection of herbs we have. One thing about growing your own food, you can’t get a lot of those varieties at the grocery store.”

While most folks marvel at the beauty and bounty these plants give out, there are a few who find great delight in some of their names, like the ‘Sassy Ferns”. Shannon and Jeff were asked if those ferns talked back to their owners. “No, they don’t talk back to you, but they sure grow pretty for you. And we’ve got plants this year called ‘Hens and Chicks’. Now, they’re small plants that reproduce sort of like, well, hens and little baby chicks.”

And if someone didn’t clean their ears out, you’d think the word “Impatiens” came out to be “Impatience”. But they’re popular, and according to Shannon, there’s a new group of impatiens. “This year, we have Impatiens plants that will now take the sun. The old ones in the past had to be planted in the shade.” And for proof, there in the section of the greenhouse they were in, under the big sign marked “Shade Loving Annuals”, were some Sun and Shade Impatiens, with their bright deep reds and luscious green leaves.

It was worth getting a picture of them. And this time the camera lens didn’t fog up, due to the humidity inside the greenhouse. So the snapshot, like the plants, was “picture perfect”.

Much like the setup the Howells have made of the farmland they own. Jeff said the decision to build and run a greenhouse has grown - much like the plants they raise - beyond their wildest dreams. “We wanted to find ways to utilize our farm besides growing tobacco and hay. We’d never have thought we’d fill this up.”

But they have. Today that farm includes three full greenhouses and one “plug” greenhouse, which Shannon explained why that particular house is called that. “That greenhouse is a little warmer, and more humid. And that’s where we grow the seeds that grow into the ‘plugs’ that go in the ground, which become the plants.”

Yep, it happens every Spring. The need to get out there and grow something is one of the best gifts to give this fine Earth, and to give to yourself and others. This new season has gotten off to a glorious start, and while Jeff and Shannon Howell are stocked ready for customers, she reminds them that their plants, like Spring itself, will ultimately come and go. “We’re usually open from mid-April to mid-June, but we suggest they come in early. After all, it’s gonna be a short season.”