Newberg Feature: Uflora Plant House

Reported by: Molly Giesbrecht

Photgraphed by: Danny Walker

Uflora Plant House is a small local plant shop in Newberg, OR. Uflora sells indoor tropical plants and offers floral design services. Uflora was founded two and a half years ago by two young couples, Ella and Andrew Kaye and Taylor and Josie Hickernell, who are all George Fox University (GFU) graduates.

Owner Ella Kaye had dreamed of owning a plant shop since she was a kid, and she met Taylor Hickernell while they were both students at GFU. Her desire to have a studio space to work on floral design for events, his desire to own his own business, and encouragement from their respective spouses led them to founding Uflora six months after graduating.

Uflora is very popular amongst GFU students. Many students keep plants in their on-campus housing, and the small tropical plants such as succulents and cacti that Uflora sells are much easier to maintain than flowering, leafy plants. In the back of the shop, there is a studio space where Kaye works on her floral design and arrangement projects.

“I loved flowers and floral design ever since I was younger, but I really got into indoor tropical plants about four years ago, and it all just tied in,” Kaye said. “I wanted a big table and studio space to do floral design, and then have a retail shop that people can walk into. It just ended up just making sense. Now I can’t imagine myself not working with houseplants. I could see myself doing this the rest of my life.”

The floral design aspect of Uflora is centered around client-based work. Kaye works one-on-one with customers to develop custom packages and bouquets for weddings and other events. Being a small business allows this to be a very personalized experience.

“Since I don’t have any premade packages, I work with each couple individually for what they want and what the kind of florals and ingredients they want and create them an individualized packet with a proposal,” Kaye said. “I give them a kind of ingredient list and recipes for the different designs I would have. So yeah, it’s very one-on-one.”

While they are not happening right now because of COVID-19, Uflora also offers plant and floral design workshops and classes. According to Kaye, the floral workshops were really popular before the pandemic, and they hope to jump back into those after things clear up.

“They’re arranging workshops, and floral design classes, and such, and people get to go home with their homemade designs. We also have a lot of guests that come in and teach workshops,” she said. More information on those classes and workshops and how to get involved can be found at Uflora’s website, www.ufloraplanthouse.com.

Uflora offers a 10% student discount on the Bruin Card, as well as numerous other promotions and deals which are advertised @ufloraplanthouse on Instagram. Uflora is within walking distance from campus and is open Tuesday through Sunday from 11am until 6pm, located on S. College Street. If you like indoor plants, and would like to support some GFU alumni and their growing business, then come check out Uflora Plant House.