By Lisa Zola-DeLibero
When customers come into Dragonfly Farms on Kuser Road, they are met with serene music playing in the background, flowers and plants in bloom and flowing waterfall fountains. The business’ owners hope it sets a tranquil scene, the perfect place to decompress and prepare to plant.
Owner Patrick Lapide, who also owns the Brooklyn Plantology, had no trouble coming up with a name for his second farm eight years ago. The former site of the abandoned Macrancy Nursery, the land had so many dragonflies hovering around, Lapide decided he had to name his new farm after them.
“The whole theme here is the changing of colors, the way that dragonflies are always changing their color,” said Antonia James, who has been the manager of the farm for the past eight years. “We change the color and theme of our floors about four or five times a year, so that customers can get a certain feeling when they walk in, based on the time of the year that it is, just by looking at the floor.”
James, who was born and raised in St. Vincent, an island of the Caribbean, came to the United States when she was 21. She started out in Brooklyn, working for Lapide, sweeping floors, running the cash register and doing odd jobs.
“I really liked the work that I was doing,” James said. “So I took a computer course, and decided to go to the Borough of Manhattan College for a degree in business management. This has brought me to this wonderful place in Hamilton.”
James said Dragonfly Farms tells a story, starting with the floors that are painted in the summer to look like the sea.
“We have created an environment where people can come and have peace of mind,” James said. “We also want customers to be able to ask our plant specialist, Peter Bello, any questions that they have about planting anything and everything that we sell here. Our goal is to excel at customer service, and we feel that we do because the customers keep coming back.”
Dragonfly also has different groups and clubs that customers may be a part of. There’s a Ladies Night Out, where there are appetizers, canvas painting and massages. There is a Kids Corner where kids may hang out with toys, chalkboards and games while parents shop. There’s a program titled “Leave No Child Inside,” where kids come to plant flowers and vegetables, and return every two weeks to maintain what they have planted, and watch their plants grow. Dragonfly also hosts seminars, and in its lawning center, people can just go and read books about gardening.
Dragonfly employs a staff that loves working as a team at the farm, feeling as though they are a family. Laura Tiedman, a graduate of Hamilton West, has been working at Dragonfly since it opened.
“I love it here,” said Tiedman, whom the staff calls the Dragonfly DJ because she chooses the daily music that customers enjoy while shopping. “I get to do a lot of creative things here. I really like working with the air plants, which are so easy to take care of, and customers love because they don’t need to have a green-thumb to own one.”
Floral arranger Julie Cordero will have one of her wedding bouquets featured in The Knot bridal magazine. The bouquet was chosen because of its exceptional beauty, and Cordero is ecstatic.
“I really love working here at the farm, and I love what I do,” said Cordero. “I like to make people happy with the floral arrangements that I make.”
James’ daughter Danielle, a nursing student at Rider University, and son Javed, a communications major at Wesley College, also work at the farm with their mom.
“We want the customers to be happy,” Danielle James said. “And they always are! We are all like a mini family here, and we all really enjoy the music and our work that we do.”
Serving the Mercer County region, Dragonfly is also branching out to the entire Burlington County area.
“We have so much to offer everyone with our full line floral department where we do proms, weddings, funerals, party and church decorations, as well as full landscaping services, including spring cleanup, mulching, and whatever any home or commercial business needs,” James said. “We also have a full gift shop with everything a gardener needs for decorating.”
The staff of 13 at Dragonfly also enjoys donating to local schools, charities and setting up senior and church functions with their floral decorations. Dragonfly Farms also offers a 10 percent discount to seniors and veterans. The staff also lends a hand in the community by helping decorate Kuser Mansion for Christmas and Sayen Gardens for festivities.
“We can’t all save the world,” James said. “But we can all do a little something with great love to make a difference.”
Dragonfly Farms is located at 966 Kuser Road in Hamilton. Web: dragonflyfarmsnj.com. Phone: (609) 588-0013.
A wedding bouquet designed by Dragonfly Farms floral arranger Julie Cordero.,
