About Us
Zenen Flowers is locally-focused. From researching the ins and outs of being a certified pollinator garden, to recycling glass jars for bouquet deliveries, I like to think Zenen Flowers doesn’t let anything go to waste. Even better—this work helps everyone in our community celebrate the simple things in life!
Our Story
We had been spending the summer of 2020 growing heirloom vegetables and specialty flowers in our backyard. We loved experimenting with bizarre seeds—my husband Bartolomé Zenen Fiol was always fond of the unconventional—and it was truly a joy to watch the garden thrive together.
He and I had been tossing around the idea for a little while: What if we actually became flower farmers? He really wanted me to move forward with my love for flowers, saying that I didn’t need to work full-time and could take a step back. He was basically telling me: “Do what you enjoy.” And to me, that was pretty scary! I was still on the fence, but he started calling me “Farmer Tanya.”
Then everything took a detour that fall.
In the midst of these conversations, we both tested positive for COVID and got sick, along with one of our kids. And just over the course of a few days, Bart kept feeling worse and worse. As I was driving him to the hospital, I thought he’d get better. You never think that’s the last time you’ll see someone. But things moved fast.
While he was in the hospital I finally decided to follow our shared dream, and I signed up for my first flower course. I was able to tell him right before he had to be intubated (and after we had a laugh about the doctor calling me “Pepper Mapleleaf,” the secret name that Bart had for me in his phone). And since then, things have never been the same.
About Us
Zenen Flowers is about growing joy. After losing my husband in the autumn of 2020 to COVID, I eventually came to realize that the best way for me to move forward, and to grieve and honor Bart, was to pursue this shared dream of growing cut flowers. He was full of life, loved the simple things, and had a terrific sense of humor with the occasional prank and his really thoughtful and funny surprises.
Our logo is done in Bart’s handwriting and encircled by his favorite flower: the perennial bachelor button. Watching over these beautiful blooms has been a crucial part of me walking through this season of grief. It’s allowed me to welcome beauty back into my life, help my family heal, and hopefully help others heal, as well.
