Today we’d like to introduce you to Elizabeth Ziegler.
Hi Elizabeth, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Royal Oaks Flower Farm is a 6-acre seasonal cut flower farm where we grow thousands of blooms and open our gardens to the community for Pick-Your-Own flowers. Our goal is to create a beautiful, serene place where people can slow down, enjoy the outdoors, and take home locally grown flowers to brighten their lives.
Our season begins in early spring with tulips, followed by peonies and ranunculus. Then come the summer sunflowers and hundreds of other seasonal varieties, leading into our main fall crops of dahlias and fresh eucalyptus. The Potting Shed is the heart of the farm, where we offer fresh bouquets daily and provide everything guests need for flower picking.
I’m Liz — the force behind the flowers and the visionary for the farm. My husband, Eric, supports all of my big ideas, and our children enjoy helping in the gardens. Royal Oaks Flower Farm began about six years ago during Covid, when I plowed up our first grass field and started sowing seeds. What began as one garden has grown, with the overwhelming support of our local community, into seven gardens today.
Each year, we seemed to add another garden, and my son jokingly asks which field Mom is going to take over next. My daughters love helping plant seedlings, pick flowers, and create bouquets for the stand. All of the kids especially love any farm job that involves driving the golf cart to haul weeds, flowers, or dirt from one place to another.
This past season, we added a large greenhouse, which allows us to extend our growing season and keep the stand open longer. In 2026, we estimate that more than 22,000 people visited the flower farm. We feel incredibly blessed by the support we’ve received and are excited to see where Royal Oaks continues to grow from here.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Has it been a smooth road? Definitely not — but I think that’s true for anyone in farming.
Farming puts you very much at the mercy of Mother Nature and whatever winds, rain, heat, or cold she decides to send our way. A big part of flower farming is constantly watching the weather, caring for soil and plant health, and trying to make the best decisions with conditions that are often completely out of your control.
One of the biggest challenges is that I’m always striving for the “perfect crop,” while also trying to time plantings so certain flowers are blooming around specific dates. That can be tricky when every season is different.
For example, last spring was unseasonably cool and wet, which damaged our U-Pick ranunculus field and led to about a 50% reduction in bloom quality. This spring, we were tracking ‘normal’ on the seasonal weather when hit with an exceptionally cold night — 24 degrees in May — right as the peonies were setting buds, and we lost about half of that crop.
Those moments are hard. Not only because of the work and investment that goes into growing those flowers, but also because we know customers are excited and waiting for certain crops to bloom. Communicating crop loss or changes in availability can be disappointing, but we’ve been very grateful that most of our customers are understanding.
At the end of the day, we can’t control the weather. What we can control is our response, our attitude, and how we plan for the future. Every challenge teaches us something and helps us become better growers.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
What sets Royal Oaks Flower Farm apart is the heart behind the experience. We are not just growing flowers; we are creating a place where families, friends, and flower lovers can slow down, enjoy the beauty of agriculture, and leave with a little more joy than they came with.
Our core values guide everything we do. Family is at the center of our farm. We work together as a family and use the farm as a way to teach our children business, leadership, hard work, and service. Excellence means we are always striving to grow the best flowers we can and create the most beautiful experience possible. Integrity means we want to operate with accountability, humility, and sincerity. Gratitude keeps our focus outward, reminding us that this farm is not just for us, but for our community and to glorify God. And stewardship is woven into every season as we carefully manage our land, resources, and opportunities for future generations.
I am most proud of the environment we have created. My family and the wonderful team of young ladies who help on the farm make it a priority to welcome guests with enthusiasm, answer questions graciously, and share our love of farming and flowers. We want every person who visits to feel warmly greeted, cared for, and served. Our hope is that the farm brings a little sunshine into their life.
Aesthetics are also very important to us. We work hard to keep the farm in tip-top shape because the beauty of the setting is part of the experience. The look I strive for is a blend of quiet elegance and farmhouse garden charm — peaceful, refined, welcoming, and natural all at the same time.
One crop we have become especially known for is our dahlias. We grow an entire field of more than 4,000 dahlia plants across nearly 200 varieties, all labeled for visitors to enjoy. For the average guest, the field is breathtaking and full of color. For the true garden enthusiast, it is a place to study, compare, and obsess over rare and unique varieties. That combination — beauty for everyone, with depth and detail for the flower lover — really captures what we try to offer at Royal Oaks Flower Farm.
What does success mean to you?
I define success in a few different ways.
First, success is seeing folks leave our farm with big smiles and arms full of flowers. There is nothing better than watching someone wave as they drive down the lane saying they cannot wait to come back. That truly warms my heart and gives all of us an extra bounce in our step, especially on the long days of tending the land.
Second, success means running a healthy, sustainable business. As much as we love the beauty and joy of the flower farm, it is still a business, and it needs to be profitable. Hitting our sales and financial goals is an important, measurable way we track whether we are stewarding our time, land, and resources well.
Third, success is creating something meaningful for our family and community. We want our children to learn work ethic, leadership, gratitude, and service through the farm. We also want our guests to feel welcomed, encouraged, and connected to agriculture in a beautiful and peaceful setting. If people leave feeling blessed, refreshed, and a little more joyful than when they arrived, that feels like success to me.
Pricing:
- U-Pick Bucket for Summer/Fall $40
- U-Pick Jar for Summer/Fall $18
- Grab-n-Go Bouquet $25
- Pre-Picked Party Bucket of Blooms $80
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.theroyaloaksfarm.com/
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/theroyaloaksfarm
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RoyalOaksFarm
