Sweet Surprises Right Outside Our Door...

Brynwood Needleworks - Our Hickory Hill Farm Kitchen Garden

Every time we step out the "friends and family" back door, we're greeted by new surprises in my little kitchen garden. The mint got a head start this year, and they may have choked out the morning glories this year. Time will tell.

The chives were next on the scene, and I've let them bloom. The blossoms are lovely in their purple/pink dresses. The hostas love this spot, and they're shading the creeping phlox in front of them. The dianthus is already showing red blossoms, too. The lavender is taking a little longer this year. I left their stems to shelter the little bugs that may have hidden under them for the winter, but the sweet fragrance of their leaves is starting to fill the air, too. As I weed, I can smell lavender everywhere.

Brynwood Needleworks - The Hollyhocks Are In Bud

My big surprise this year are my hollyhocks! Where I had to support the plants last year, their stems are large and strong this year. Even though I picked many of their dried seed pods to be able to sow new plants this year, it definitely won't be necessary here! Just look at the size of my stems, and the number of blooms at the top of the plant. Those clusters of blossoms cascade down every plant, so they won't just flower at the tops!

Brynwood Needleworks - HUGE Hollyhocks

 

Look at how big the plants are...and how many of them there are! If you scroll back up to look again at the first image, you'll get a true sense of their size. Boy, are the bees (including the bumblebees) going to love me this year! Last year these were all bright pink. I'm looking forward to seeing just how colorful they get. I'll be sure to show you, too. It won't be long before they begin to open up!

By the time I took these photos yesterday, shade had already fallen over the corners of my little garden. The shasta daisies I planted for Mom Grace are nearly as tall as the bird bath behind them. Mom would love how they'll look once they start to flower. I will have to move them, temporarily, right before the porch project begins so I can protect them. I'm going to get a beautiful big planter to hold them until it's safe to replant them. I'll use the planter on the new porch, with new plants (hmmm. Maybe geraniums?) once it's done. I'm sure I'll get pictures of the daisies before I pot them up, so you'll those, too.

Only a few short weeks before the masons show up to start their work. Bella is taking her sweet time coming into heat. She seems to have thrown us a false alarm last Friday, so she's seeing the vet every few days to be checked. For now, we're staying put at the farm. Once she starts, I'll count off eleven days, and plan to be in SE Florida by the eleventh day for breeding. If she doesn't start soon, I may have to take her to San Antonio (TX), as her boyfriend will have gone back home. Cross your fingers for me, please. I'd really rather drive to Florida than Texas alone this summer, so I'm praying Bella gets going here very soon. In the meantime, I'm going to sit back and smell the flowers.