Cloverleaf Herb Farm

Recently, a customer stopped by and when I asked if he was interested in anything particular, he said he'd see what was available at the end of the season. I mentioned it seemed funny to hear "end of the season" since spring was so slow to get started this year. Spring seemed condensed into just a few weeks this year. With all the rain in May, it was impossible to plant until nearly the end of the month.

But there is still plenty of time to plant. Even annuals have over three months to grow. That's lots of time to size up and produce flowers or foliage for harvest. Perennials can be planted throughout the summer as long as they are kept well watered until they get established.

With that in mind, remember that our plant sale starts June 25. Annuals are half off and perennials are buy 3, get 1 free (mix and match.) It's a good opportunity to fill in any empty spaces or to try a new, interesting plant.

We haven't had any more unusual animal sightings. We've seen signs of a fox, but not the fox itself. There are lots of rabbits this year, and John said the fox might be hunting them.

Last week, I took advantage of the bounty of lavender and roses for harvest. Every day, I harvested lavender for bunches and made lavender wands and woven lavender hearts for sale in the shop. I gathered loads of pretty, two-toned petals from the apothecary rose. These are drying on a rack in the office closet and it smells divine to walk into the room. It reminds me of the shop. People always comment on the wonderful fragrance in the shop. I say if I could bottle it, it would be my best seller.

Otherwise, we're working on garden maintenance. Weeding of course, and cutting back. The fragrant dianthus are done blooming. We cut off all the spent flowers and the pretty blue-green foliage remains. I'm dead heading perennial Jupiter's beard to encourage more blooms. Same for annual orlaya, which has flowers like Queen Anne's lace. The orlaya reseeded itself in several spots. As biennial sweet William finishes up, I make sure to shake seed onto the ground for next year's flowers. I also gather seed from both orange and pink perennial poppies.

John's been a big help in the gardens this year. Things are looking good. Feel free to take a stroll when you stop by.