For those who enjoy picking their own flowers, a family-run farm just outside St. Martinville offers visitors a chance to do just that while spending a day immersed in rural life.
At St. Rose Flower Farm, 1271 Leed Champagne Road, owner Denise Zis has created a destination where families and friends can cut their own flowers, sip fresh lemonade, interact with animals and enjoy a relaxed outdoor experience.
“I never had a plan to start a flower farm,” said Zis, a mother of eight, who is originally from New York. “I just wanted to have beauty in my home and at the same time we moved out to the country to kind of homestead.”
What began as a personal project has since grown into a seasonal attraction for the Acadiana community.
One of the farm’s most popular attractions is its spring U-pick, which is currently taking place from dawn to dark Friday through Sunday or by appointment other days. Guests can pick their own blooms directly from the fields. The farm provides supplies including garden clippers, flower food, mason jars and buckets for collecting flowers. Visitors are encouraged to wear outdoor clothing, along with sun protection and bug spray.
Beyond flowers, the farm offers blackberry picking, petting animals, swings and shaded areas, creating an environment for visitors who simply just want to spend time outdoors.
“It’s not just about the flowers,” Zis said. “It’s about having a place where families can come and do something together. I have a family myself so I know how that inclusiveness matters.”
For Zis, who recalls visiting farms as a child and participating in similar pick-yourself experiences, she says those memories were some of the best she has growing up.
Now, she sees visitors creating their own.
“We’ve had people say they feel healing, or inspiration,” she said. “Some people come and realize they want to grow flowers too.”
That desire to grow food and flowers for her family laid the foundation for the farm. In 2017, Zis began selling her first bouquets by partnering with a local vendor. The first flower bouquet that she sold was out of a man’s truck she said.
“He was selling oranges, and I asked him if he would sell some of my flowers out of his truck.”
From there, interest grew through small markets in nearby communities, where customers began asking about the business. While searching for inspiration for a name, Zis found it in a story she was reading to her children about St. Rose of Lima, who grew and sold flowers to support her family.
“I was inspired by that,” she said. “She had a large family like I did and sold flowers to make a living for her family, and I thought this is something I can relate to.”
The farm was formally established around 2018 with a registered name and has since expanded into an agritourism destination. In its early stages, it operated similarly to a community-supported agriculture model, offering mixed selections of flowers in bloom for pickup or delivery.
Around the same time, Zis experimented with a small sunflower patch where visitors could cut their own flowers, an idea that quickly gained popularity.
“People were asking, ‘Can we come cut our own flowers?’” she said. “So I said, if I ever have the opportunity to expand, I want to do a U-pick.”
Today, the farm’s spring U-pick season typically runs from late March through mid-June, with a second season in the fall from around October until the first freeze. Availability depends on weather conditions.
Visitors check in at the farm stand, where they can choose a jar or bucket, add water and floral food, and pick up garden clippers. Guests are instructed to cut individual stems while leaving part of the plant intact to ensure continued growth.
After gathering flowers, visitors can arrange their bouquets in a shaded hoop house area before returning clippers and making payment through a cash drop or digital options.
The farm operates largely on a self-serve system, a model Zis said allows flexibility while relying on community trust.
“I felt very strongly our community is honest and good,” she said. “The benefits were going to outweigh the risks… and it makes it more convenient for everyone.”
The farm offers two container options for U-pick visitors. Mason jars, priced at $20, are smaller, reusable and easy to transport, making them a popular choice for children. Buckets, priced at $45, allow for collecting a larger number of stems and creating multiple arrangements at home.
A variety of flowers are grown that work best in Louisian’s climate with all of the planting schedules based on seasonal conditions.
Beyond the fields, Zis has also expanded her work through St. Rose Academy, an online resource offering step-by-step gardening guidance and flower-growing techniques for home gardeners, particularly in Southern Gulf Coast growing zones.
Looking ahead, Zis said the goal remains focused on creating meaningful experiences for visitors.
“We’re not solving a flower problem,” she said. “We’re creating a destination a place where people can come and experience something.”