Florabella is a micro-farm, located in Rockville, Maryland, providing locally-grown flowers and bouquets!

Hi! I’m Amanda Palmeiro, owner of Florabella Flower Farm! My husband, Miguel and I moved to our current home in 2016, and the thing that drew me to this home was the beautiful, if not a bit wild, landscaping. I have told my husband every year since we moved that I was going to grow tomatoes and flowers in our yard, and every year, summer would come and go without any homegrown tomatoes. I was working as an opera singer when the pandemic hit in March 2020. As all my contracts were cancelled, it became clear that I would be spending spring and summer at home, not traveling to gigs, and although there was a lot of uncertainty and disappointment, there was also a new opportunity to grow! I focused my gardening efforts on mostly tomatoes, peppers, and beans. I grew a lot of food, made a lot of mistakes, and spent my summer happily covered in dirt. I also spent a lot of time talking about gardening with my mother-in-law, Dorabela (rhymes with…) who lives four doors down and has a GORGEOUS garden. During a summer when the outdoors provided plenty of space for social distancing, Miguel and I spent many evenings with his parents in Dorabela’s garden. Spending time with all these plants outside was keeping my spirits up, as opera companies cancelled more and more shows. In August, Miguel and I went to a U-pick sunflower farm in Virginia, and I remember walking through rows of flowers thinking “I can’t believe that people get to grow and sell flowers as their job.” As the summer faded, and I had to retreat to the indoors, I found myself browsing online seed catalogs, dreaming of flowers and tomatoes. By December, I had wishlists full of seeds, and I asked Miguel what he thought about me starting a little flower farm in our yard. He very enthusiastically encouraged me to go for it, and that’s what I’m doing! Seeds have been sowed, beds are being prepped, and I am anxiously awaiting warmer weather when I will (hopefully) have rows and rows of color to share with all you beautiful people!