Episode 788: Harvey Hess joins son-in-law Joel Martin to form Outlook Flower & Bulb Farm, expanding a fourth-generation flower farm in eastern Washington
September 30th, 2026
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Podcast Index | RSS | More
Today’s episode tells the story of Outlook Flower & Bulb Farm in Outlook, Washington, where Joel Martin and his father-in-law Harvey Hess are reviving a flower farm that originated when Joel’s ancestors moved from the Netherlands to the U.S. and settled in Eastern Washington in 1949. John Friend, Joel’s grandfather, took things over in 1965 and continued to operate it as Friend Bulb & Flower Farm. Known for a wide assortment of cut flowers and premium bulbs, John at one time grew more than 300 varieties of gladiolus and managed a very large footprint in the region, serving the floral marketplace in Portland and Seattle. Having helped his “Opa” during summers when he was in school, Joel fell in love with farming. In 2019, he returned home from college with a degree in agriculture economics at a time when Friend Bulb & Flower Farm had scaled back considerably. Fast-forward to January 2026, Joel formed Outlook Flower & Bulb Farm with his father-in-law Harvey Hess, a transportation and logistics expert. Together, along with a team of long-term employees, they are developing a broader market for the farm, not just in bulb and root sales to nurseries and flower farms, but in finding new markets for their premium crops, including Eremurus, Allium, Peonies, and other gorgeous blooms.
Last month, I drove from Seattle in Western Washington to the agriculture community of Outlook, located about 3 hours to the East in the Yakima Valley. This is a rich agricultural region, known for fruit trees, wheat, vineyards and commodity crops. There are a few flower farms in the area – in fact, this trip also took me to meet up with Sara Groeneweg of Bloomz Flower Farm, who we recently featured on this Podcast.
A stop in nearby Outlook was the other destination on that road trip, where I met up with Harvey Hess. Harvey has teamed up with Joel Martin, his son-in-law, to revive and expand a generations-old flower farm with roots in post-world-war migration of his Dutch ancestors to the region.
With Joel’s upbringing working side-by-side with John Friend, his grandfather, and learning bulb crop farming, this was a small but vibrant operation. As Harvey got to know what his new son-in-law was doing, and saw the potential of fields of blooms grown just for their roots and bulbs, a lightbulb went off. “How can we develop a market for the 6-foot-tall foxtail lilies and giant allium blooms?” he wondered.
What has evolved from this question is a new company called Outlook Flower & Bulb Farm, and once I saw photos of fields of those foxtail lilies and alliums, I knew why Harvey was compelled to find new markets for the plants. We originally met through Tammy Myers of Lora Bloom, and she urged Harvey to join Slow Flowers and connect with florists and wholesalers committed to supporting our movement. As Outlook Flower & Bulb states on its website: “We are passionate about US Grown product and look forward to working with the floral industry to promote local and US grown flowers.”
My tour of the fields and warehouse coincided with the end of the season, so I’m already planning a return trip in May when the peonies, alliums and gorgeous foxtail lilies are in bloom. For now, let’s jump right in and meet Harvey Hess, who I interviewed last month. Unfortunately, Joel was away during my visit, so we’ll have to connect with him on a future visit.
Find and follow Outlook Flower & Bulb Co. on Instagram and Facebook
Thank you to our Sponsors
This show is brought to you by slowflowers.com, the free, online directory to florists, shops, and studios who design with local, seasonal and sustainable flowers and to the farms that grow those blooms. It’s the conscious choice for buying and sending flowers.
And thank you to our lead sponsor, My Patio Tree: Expertly Grown Plants, Perfectly Designed to Elevate Your Garden. Their second-generation family tree farm has curated the best-performing, cutting-edge, multi-zone varieties to enhance your garden, patio or special event. Every tree purchased supports Plant With Purpose, a nonprofit organization that restores hope by reversing global poverty and environmental damage. Learn more at mypatiotree.com.
Thank you to the Seattle Growers Market, a farmer-owned cooperative committed to providing the very best the Pacific Northwest has to offer in cut flowers, foliage and plants. The Growers Market’s mission is to foster a vibrant marketplace that sustains local flower farms and provides top-quality products and service to the local floral industry. Visit them at seattlegrowersmarket.com.
Our next sponsor thanks goes to Longfield Gardens, which provides home gardeners with high quality flower bulbs and perennials. Their online store offers plants for every region and every season, from tulips and daffodils to dahlias, caladiums and amaryllis. Check out the full catalog at Longfield Gardens at longfield-gardens.com.
The Slow Flowers Podcast is a member-supported endeavor, downloaded more than 1.6 million times by listeners like you. Thank you for listening, commenting and sharing – it means so much. As our movement gains more supporters and more passionate participants who believe in the importance of our domestic cut flower industry, the momentum is contagious. I know you feel it, too. If you’re new to our weekly Show and our long-running Podcast, check out all of our resources at SlowFlowersSociety.com.
I’m Debra Prinzing, host and producer of the Slow Flowers Show & Podcast. The Slow Flowers Podcast is engineered and edited by Andrew Brenlan. The content and opinions expressed here are either mine alone or those of my guests alone, independent of any podcast sponsor or other person, company or organization. Next week, you’re invited to join me in putting more Slow Flowers on the table, one stem, one vase at a time. Thanks so much for joining us today and I’ll see you next week!
Music credits:
Drone Pine; Gaena; Chicory Honey
by Blue Dot Sessions
http://www.sessions.blue
Lovely
by Tryad
http://tryad.bandcamp.com/album/instrumentals
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
In The Field
audionautix.com