The lavender plants are rounded puffs stirring gently with the breeze. The fragrance is ahead — clean, calming, but not too sweet — and the bees are buzzing happily in the endless rows. 

The plants must grow well in the calmness, quiet, goodness and caring CarolAnne Rozelle exudes because everything is blooming and growing and green in the immense gardens.

Rozelle and her husband Kurt Beard planted 800 tiny lavender plugs, the Grosso variety, on their Bison Valley Farm in Valley View this spring. They also have a row of English lavender, which will reseed itself. The end of July or beginning of August is when they harvest the long stems. 

This year they have begun distilling the lavender to produce oil and hydrosol. The distillery process is a lot like an old-fashioned still used to make whiskey. A stack of harvested stems is waiting to go into the distiller.

Their 8-acre farm is chock-a-block with not only lavender, but also rows and rows of dahlias, all colors from cafe au lait to pinks and oranges; sunflowers, from fuzzy teddy bear sunflowers to salad-plate-sized blooms in all colors from pale lemony yellow to dark red. There’s a zinnia bed, too. Rozelle also grows plants that add color to bouquets and gets requests from local florists.

“The California poppies are everywhere,” she said. 

Their bright orange flowers pop up on paths, peek from the raised beds, and glow amidst the rows.

Rozelle confesses she loves saving seeds and growing starts from them. An herb garden is nestled in the abundance also. She is also knowledgeable about the medicinal uses of plants and wants to learn more. 

Past the rows and raised beds of flowers, there is also a vegetable garden. There are chairs, a pergola, and a fire ring in case a person has a moment to relax and contemplate.

Bernese Mountain dogs Duke and Ellie keep an eye on the gardens and their people from their play yard. Ellie has a lot to say, but Duke is content to watch.

Rozelle, a former science teacher, is a lifelong gardener, grew up in the Twin Cities in Minnesota, and her family always had a garden. Rozelle is also a photographer who photographs her flowers and turns the stills into cards. In her spare time, she makes jewelry. 

“I need to keep my hands busy,” she said, smiling.

With plans underway for a new “garden house,” distilling lavender, cutting sunflowers and dahlias to make bouquets, garden harvest time, and a fall garden button-up, Rozelle and Beard will have busy hands.

    CarolAnne Rozelle stands in the lavender she and her husband, Kurt Beard, grow at their Valley View farm. (Berl Tiskus/Leader)

   Teddy Bear sunflowers have smaller blossoms that are fluffy like a teddy bear. (Berl Tiskus/Leader)