Dan Bifano is rushing, yet it’s inherent for him to remain courteous. Thus, despite the challenging traffic on the Pacific Coast Highway making his guests quite delayed, he maintains an composed demeanor.
“I was worried about being late as well,” he admits, looking at his watch, “since I needed to make a swift detour to Lady Gaga’s place.”
The comment is offhand, meant to soothe rather than impress because Bifano works with the rich and famous every day as a master rosarian and garden designer. His only advertising is word of mouth, and his longtime clients include Oprah, Barbra Streisand, Tom Ford and other Montecito-Malibu-area people so private he can’t name them because of nondisclosure agreements.
He chuckles gracefully at the notion of an ordinary individual such as, perhaps, this journalist, reaching out for professional advice. But quickly follows up to clarify that it’s not due to any lack of interest, rather, he simply cannot accommodate additional clients anymore. By July, Bifano mentions, he will turn 75 years old, and is attempting to scale down his workload to prioritize quality time with his spouse and their offspring along with grandkids.
Bifano mentions that he’s reducing his involvement in one of his favorite activities: cycling. In the past, he would cycle 100 miles per week. However, he now covers approximately 75 miles, noting with a laugh that “I guess I’m getting older.”
He delivers this with utmost seriousness, despite pacing around Streisand’s three-acre estate as gracefully as a lanky teen. Standing tall and slender, his slim-fit jeans appear almost functional rather than fashionable. Donning a simple raspberry-colored crew-neck tee and a light grey zip-up hoodie over it, he complements the outfit with vibrant slip-ons from Vans that add a pop of color without overpowering the overall look. His closely cropped salt-and-pepper hairstyle resembles an athlete’s cut, “since most of my hair seems to be going,” he joked lightly.
On this day in mid-March, he’s bringing the components for his meal.
famous organic fertilizer “cocktail”
To clientele in Malibu and Santa Monica, this delivery will supply Streisand’s assortment of over 800 rose varieties. Beside the entrance lies a substantial pile of packages, and after making an additional drop-off at Tom Ford’s residence, he plans to return to his house in Santa Barbara later that evening.
Bifano mentioned that in Streisand’s remarkable garden, emphasis is placed on both color and aroma. Although numerous elements appear organic or weathered, such as a stone-built bridge arching across a babbling brook next to an expansive pool featuring a massive waterwheel, every detail has been intentionally designed since Streisand ensures her vision is meticulously executed without anything being left to chance.
In March, though, the garden is only starting to come back after winter. The well-pruned roses have begun to sprout leaves again, and the young plants in the vegetable patch are mere seedlings. A lot remains to be accomplished; for instance, over 500 burgundy coleuses must still be planted around what they call the “Barn,” a distinctive structure handmade specifically for this place. It’s referred to as a Barn due to its resemblance to a traditional red barn externally. These particular plants were selected by Bifano with great care to closely resemble the worn-out dark-red hue of the building since Streisand thinks that hues within her garden ought to either correspond with those used on the exteriors of the buildings or act like extensions of interior shades.
Her standards are precise, often inflexible, and it falls upon Bifano to bring them to fruition. This arrangement pleases him greatly, as he shares this inclination towards strict adherence.
When striving for flawlessness, every tiny detail matters.
“It’s like a movie set,” Bifano remarked, waving his hand towards the sophisticated barn, meandering brook, charming bridges, and all the vegetation tying everything together. That cold March afternoon, his aim was “to make sure everything is flawless by her birthday” on April 24th.
What isn’t demanded by Streisand, as Bifano points out subsequently, is merely something he imposes upon himself. This self-imposed aspect is also chief among the reasons why his services are highly sought after.
Many of Bifano’s customers are affluent individuals who own sizable plots of land in upscale areas like Montecito, Malibu, and Bel-Air. However, he admitted that his dedication to gardening stems more from personal enthusiasm rather than financial gain.
Bifano spent his childhood in Montecito and earned a degree in political science. Initially, he envisioned becoming a teacher, yet realized quickly that the classroom setting did not suit him. Consequently, he ventured into investing in multi-family real estate alongside his dad. This investment provided him financial freedom, allowing him to follow an interest he had cultivated since age nine. His family relocated from Indianapolis to a house previously owned by a University of California, Santa Barbara botany professor in Montecito around this time.
He mentioned that the estate featured a formal rose garden containing 100 roses. He added, “It was there that my true passion for roses started, and I have been cultivating them ever since.”
Bifano immersed himself in the study of roses, eventually becoming a consulting rosarian through the
American Rose Society
, and he became one of the initial three Master Rosarians for the organization’s Southwest Region after this title was established in 2004. Similar to his close acquaintance Tom Carruth, the renowned rose developer who currently manages the Huntington Library’s rose gardens, Bifano possesses an encyclopedic knowledge of roses. He can provide comprehensive information about each variety they encounter in the garden—from their origins and breeders to their resilience against diseases.
In contrast to Carruth, Bifano has never shown an interest in cultivating roses. He has consistently focused on appreciating and showcasing them instead. According to him, this pursuit is straightforward in Santa Barbara, which he deems as the premier location for growing roses within the country. “Roses begin flowering around here starting in April and continue blossoming all the way up to Christmas; such consistency isn’t achievable elsewhere. While Los Angeles experiences scorching summers that often damage these flowers, we fortunately avoid those harsh conditions.”
His landscaping company started inadvertently in 1979 after he began volunteering at the
The A.C. Postel Memorial Rose Garden
In Santa Barbara’s Mission Historical Park, the local park maintenance budget had been significantly reduced following Proposition 13, which halted property tax revenues back in 1978. As a result, the rose garden started showing signs of decay, according to Bifano. To address this issue, he campaigned before the city council for financial support to revitalize the area. Consequently, they secured a grant totaling $50,000.
Elizabeth Firth Wade Foundation
—”quite a sum back then”— and Bifano got to work.
In the mid-1980s, the rose garden was rejuvenated splendidly, and I have volunteered there continuously ever since,” he stated. However, in recent times, his primary role has shifted towards conducting practical pruning sessions each January aimed at trimming around 1,500 roses. The City of Santa Barbara’s Annual Rose Pruning Day is promoted on their Instagram account under @
sbparksandrec
and
draws between 100 and 150 individuals annually
.)
The attention drawn to the restoration project resulted in his initial privately commissioned gardening job during the latter part of the 1980s—a affluent client desired him to design a rose garden as a Christmas present for her spouse. Impressed by the outcome, she requested he craft an additional one, which prompted her acquaintances to reach out to him for similar projects. Following Barbra Streisand’s admiration of one of these gardens, her assistant contacted him to assist with her estate in Malibu. Other famous personalities then began seeking his services too.
He specializes in developing and sustaining extensive rose gardens. “While I am open to working for individuals regardless of their wealth,” he stated, “my projects typically start at around 200 roses as a bare minimum; an average garden has approximately 500 plants, though many have more than 1,000—such as the seven rose gardens I’ve designed for Oprah—which means these ventures require significant funding, both for setup and upkeep. Managing such numbers demands considerable labor force: tending to 500 roses, let alone 200, requires substantial effort. In my experience, caring for 200 roses consumes roughly eight dedicated hours per week.”
Bifano doesn’t maintain his own gardening team — “The individuals who work for me at my apartment complexes are sufficient,” he says. Rather, he collaborates with contractors whom he holds in high regard, having worked alongside them on numerous occasions over the years.
These days, they handle most of the manual labor under his direction, yet Bifano still visits his clients’ gardens regularly. By late April, when the roses begin to bloom, they have already been trimmed and nourished, but Bifano constantly keeps an eye out for any indications of illness or infestation.
Alertness and prompt response are crucial since Bifano relies solely on natural pest control techniques, avoiding all synthetic chemicals like pesticides and herbicides. To eliminate aphids, for example, he immediately grabs a tiny paintbrush upon spotting them, using it to gently remove the insects from his plants. He joked, “My neighbors find this strange; they believe I’m turning my roses crimson with paint.” However, he explained that knocking the pests off early keeps them at bay. Waiting until they cluster densely can lead to oozing sap, making eradication much harder later on.
Bifano mentioned that his clients aren’t typical; some are more selective than others. He added, “Although no one matches Barbra in being precise…she’s constantly challenging me, which is precisely why I enjoy working with her so much.”
However, overall, he stated, “Generally, I’ve found that working with billionaires is the simplest as they usually lack the time to micromanage projects. They provide me with their objectives, and once I execute them, they are typically satisfied.”
For instance, one wealthy client wanted a rose garden with blooms that matched her home decor. “She didn’t even meet me. She just said, ‘Go inside and pick roses that match my interiors,’ and it was easy because everything was pink and flowered. I put in a large rose garden with nothing but pink roses and she was thrilled.”
A long-term client decided to sell her large home and relocated to a 3,000-square-foot apartment situated at the pinnacle of a towering 41-story building. According to him, she desired an extensive rose garden within her residence, which essentially transformed into something akin to a terrarium. He recalled fondly how stunning it looked whenever the flowers blossomed. However, due to being fully enclosed, the environment didn’t provide adequate air circulation for the roses, leading them to frequently encounter issues. “We rebuilt her garden thrice until she finally conceded defeat,” he shared with a hint of exasperation. They would dismantle each setup only to install new ones repeatedly, spending considerable resources transporting dirt and plants across forty stories via elevators. Despite these challenges, saying ‘no’ proved difficult as his appreciation for this remarkable lady remained unwavering.
Bifano insists there aren’t any secret tips for working with the rich. “They’re just the people who tend to hire me,” he said. “If you have a good work ethic and know what you’re talking about, you will please any client and that’s what I try to do.”
Moreover, Bifano stated, “My approach is not to view them as celebrities. Instead, I see them as individuals with a passion for roses.”
This tale initially surfaced in
Los Angeles Times
.
