On an idyllic spread of just under 10 acres in rural St. Martin Parish stands the St. Rose Flower Farm. It is Denise Zis’s home, her business, and her country life. This is where she is raising her six children, in the swampy natural beauty of the farm. There are two cows, assorted goats and chickens, a hive of bees, and row after row of plants in various stages of growth, flower and decay. 

Denise and her husband came here from Long Island, New York, and started the farm to give their children the experience of growing up in an organic, country setting. Denise began growing flowers as arrangements for the house, and also to show devotion to the Blessed Mother.  “We’re Catholic, and we love growing flowers not only to support our family, but also as devotion. We donate flowers to nursing homes for the sick and elderly, following the example of our patron saint, St. Rose of Lima,” Denise said.

“I like setting the table for dinner, and I enjoy arranging flowers. When we moved here, I started growing vegetables in the garden, and enjoyed it so much that I decided to try my hand at cut flowers. I started with easy ones — summer annuals: zinnias, cosmos, marigolds, and went on from there,” she said. “I was interested in learning everything I could about the different flowers, growth patterns, seasons, so I read everything I could get my hands on, and started building garden beds.

“There’s been a lot of trial and error, a lot of money spent over things that didn’t work out. We’ve experimented with direct seeding, starting in trays, and discovered what works best for each kind of flower, and our climate. We’ve had a lot of success growing, so we decided we wanted to produce cut flowers for the market. I took a course in flower farming, and we went from there.”

There are two planting seasons on the farm, fall and spring. “We plant the early spring blooms in the fall, things that can keep growing over winter: snapdragons, straw flowers, Queen Anne’s lace, foxglove, ornamental cabbage, wheat, bachelor’s buttons. In the spring, we plant dahlias as early as we can, plus ranunculus, sunflowers, and our summer annuals,” she said.

The farm offers DIY buckets of flowers, 30-50 stems of blooms, picked up or delivered from the farm. The flowers vary season to season, and the buckets are enough to make several arrangements, depending on the size of containers. Buckets run $35 each, and at the beginning of the blooming season, there are twice-monthly discounted bucket subscriptions available. Currently, the farm delivers in Lafayette, Youngsville and Broussard. The subscriptions sell out quickly.

The farm offers other arrangements for holidays, starting with tulips for Valentine’s day, and including lilies for Mother’s Day. “Tulips and roses are usually ready for Valentine’s Day, some wildflowers, anemones and blue kiwi honeywort, which gives a lovely accent,” Denise said. 

In March, flowers blooming on the farm include ranunculus, anemones, freesia and bachelor buttons. April brings roses, snapdragons, foxglove and more wildflowers. In May, the lilies are in force, with more wildflowers. June and July feature summer annuals, and sunflowers. There’s a You-Pick sunflower event scheduled in July. Interested sunflower lovers can come to the farm and pick their own.

Denise and her family escape the summer heat, returning to visit family in New York for August and September. Then the seasons begin again at the farm, with planting, harvesting and preparing for winter. “We’re growing pumpkins. Hopefully we’ll be able to have them available for October and November this year,” she said.

Denise is an advocate for what she calls the lost domestic art of flower arranging, and offers classes in the fall, along with holiday arrangement and wreath classes. “Flower arranging is a wonderful way to bring beauty into your life,” she says. “I’ve learned so much about floral mechanics, the use of different containers and shapes, all the tools and materials out there to assist you in making lovely arrangements for your family to enjoy, or to give as gifts. I want to share that with as many people as I can.”

Denise also offers other products from the farm for sale, including beeswax candles, goat’s milk soaps, and balt salts. “We try to recycle everything that we have, I can find a way to use just about everything. Our rose petals become bath products, and we make dried flower arrangements and wreaths,” she added. In the fall, gift baskets with citrus, honey and beeswax candles are available.

She likes the idea that her farm can support local producers, workers and the economy. “As my family grows, the farm will grow. I hire workers to help with picking, and use local labor when I need tractor work, as well as local sources for other materials I use.”

St. Rose Flower Farm is located at 1020 Fournet Road, St. Martinville. It is a place of serenity and natural beauty. Check out the farm website, stroseflowerfarm.com, and follow on Instagram, @st.roseflower.