Shaw and Theresa Pham pose for a portrait with their roses at Life in Rose Farm on Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2023, in Magnolia. The couple spent years buying real estate, rehabbing it, then selling it. But when the pandemic hit, they wanted a slower pace of life. So they bought a farm in Magnolia. They have turned it into a rose farm — the only cut rose farm in the South.
For Theresa Pham and Shaw Nguyen, the best part of living on a rose farm is that there is beauty everywhere.
Majestic colorful blooms paint the sprawling vista of their 27-acre cut-rose farm in Magnolia. At night, the couple can gaze at the bright stars and inhale the fresh, fragrant air with their two daughters, Ava and Loghan.
Just three years ago, they sold their Houston home, packed up their things and bought a farm in exchange for what they hoped was a simpler life.
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When I first wrote about their move in 2021, the farm was relatively undeveloped land with a house and a barn. The move was a drastic change that raised eyebrows from friends and family. The couple spent years renovating houses in Houston.
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But Nguyen wanted a chance to toil the soil. Pham, a self-proclaimed city girl and fashion designer, was reluctant, and Nguyen enticed her with her favorite flowers, roses. He convinced her she could grow varieties on the land.
They learned about gardening from local experts and online sources, and spent hours figuring out how to grow roses that could survive the brutal summer heat.
Shaw and Theresa Pham pose for a portrait with their roses at Life in Rose Farm on Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2023, in Magnolia.
Moonlight in Paris roses are shown at Shaw and Theresa Pham’s Life in Rose Farm on Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2023, in Magnolia.
Theresa Pham sorts through some of her roses at Life in Rose Farm on Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2023, in Magnolia.
Crocus roses are shown at Shaw and Theresa Pham’s Life in Rose Farm on Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2023, in Magnolia.
Theresa Pham takes a look at some of her roses at Life in Rose Farm on Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2023, in Magnolia.
Theresa Pham sorts through some of her roses at Life in Rose Farm on Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2023, in Magnolia.
Theresa Pham sorts through some of her roses at Life in Rose Farm on Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2023, in Magnolia.
Shaw and Theresa Pham pose for a portrait with their roses at Life in Rose Farm on Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2023, in Magnolia.
Their “Life in Rose Farm,” which Pham branded on social media, began with 2,000 bare-root roses that Pham planted herself, and now their farm has more than 6,000 French and German-bred roses.
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“We do all this work ourselves: the operations, maintenance, sales and marketing. It’s all us. We’ve taken unkempt land, renovated and turned it into something beautiful,” Pham said.
The couple awakes each morning around 6 a.m. to watch the sunrise. Pham shuttles their children from school to Cypress, making a 30-minute drive each way. At the same time, Nguyen starts working on the farm, harvesting the flowers and finishing construction projects, like the stunning glass nursery, a cottage, a chicken cop and vegetable garden. Pham returns from school-drop off to cut, prepare and deliver to local shops and vendors.
Theresa Pham sorts through some of her roses at Life in Rose Farm on Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2023, in Magnolia.
“I love being my boss and breathing fresh air,” said Nguyen, who quit his job as head of technology for an oil and gas company to focus on the farm full-time. “I grew up with a handy father in Dallas. The kids also have space and can run around. They can learn by being in nature, playing with sticks and the dogs. Their imagination is endless.”
Pham sells bare roots from the 42 rose varieties, including Moonlight in Paris, Earth Angel and Princess Charlene de Monaco. These European varieties are exceptionally fragrant and have a large petal count and long vase life, she said.
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"We bought our first roses from a distributor who was trying not to laugh when we told them we wanted to have a cut-rose farm in Texas," she said. "With the heat and the humidity comes a lot of diseases that roses get. Roses attract all kinds of bugs. "
The Texas roses industry started in Tyler, but by the 1940s and 50s, growers began to realize the Texas heat and humidity made it hard to grow roses, Pham said. Some growers moved to California and Arizona.
Theresa Pham smells one of her roses at Life in Rose Farm on Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2023, in Magnolia.
"We knew it was possible to do this because it had been done before," she said.
The farm has also become a majestic event venue for weddings, anniversaries, birthday parties, afternoon tea and even a rose therapy experience in which visitors cut their roses.
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The business has been steady, but still, Pham has shared on Instagram their challenges, such as the heat, the cold and the day-to-day farm life, which isn't for the weary. Not everyone is cut out for harvesting roses from sunrise to sunset, she said.
"We are not only growing roses, but we're allowing them to thrive. We are creating this unique space. I know we are helping to bring roses back to the South," Pham said.
On the day I visited, their farm was in full bloom, vivid colors of pink and red accenting the lush greenness of the surrounding trees and fields. It was peaceful and serene. I see why they wanted this life.
New visitors often remark that turning onto the graveled driveway leading up to the farm transports them away from the city's hustle, Pham said.
That's what they were hoping for themselves.
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"We were trying to find meaning in our lives. This has been a calling that we fulfilled," Pham said.
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