Hello hello.  It appears that the last glorious days of true spring are upon us here in North Georgia and the great southern calvary of mosquitos riding on the backs of cicadas will be here in short order.  It has been a fabulous run and despite almost being in the 90’s back in March, it’s been surprisingly cool through April into early May and actually hit 38 yesterday.   We’ve appreciated every minute of it, but I guess an El Niño summer is a coming, so maybe send a fruit basket to your HVAC guy just in case.

   The honeysuckle that’s been generating deep heartfelt smiles are just about done blooming, and the roses are becoming my go to fix for aromatic therapy and a reminder to get out of my head for a moment.  That stop and smell the roses business is no joke.  As a younger fella, I had no idea how much the scent of flowers would come to be such an important part of my adult happiness.  Woulda never guessed it. Now it’s a daily highlight.

   We’ll be cutting the cover crop out in the fields today and starting to till them in so we can begin to prepare the farm for dahlia season.  We won’t be planting until early June, but bed prep needs to start well in advance of planting.  For those wondering about our dahlia tuber sale, we’ll be starting that next Friday at noon.

   For anyone whose got love for a mother or mother figure in their lives, we’ve go lots of flowers ready for you.  Whether they're a poppy loving lady, a garden partying queen, or a deluxe sorta person who’d enjoy a couple peonies in their big ol’ bouquet, we’ve got you covered.  

   Don’t forget to leave a gift note and remember to make sure someone will be at the house to get those flowers the moment they arrive.  At least in Georgia, it’s going to be hot all next week and moms’ flowers won’t look half as good if they’ve cooked in the box on a doorstep for an hour or two.  So make sure someone is home!  

   Also, we are listing most of our flowers for shipping earlier in the week, so that they have a chance to open up to their fullest potential by mother’s day.  Those poppy pods will pop off and unfurl, the godetia petals will bust out and fill in, the campanula will magically deepen in color like when Dorothy wakes up in Oz.  We want Sunday to be peak beauty, so we recommend delivery on Wednesday, or even Thursday. 

   I’m listening to squirrels in our attic and it's gnawing at me, much like they are gnawing on the framing of our home.  Sounds like they are bowling at times.  Rolling around pecans between the joists. Between them and the carpenter bees, I’m surprised we have a home.  I half expect a cavalcade of beavers to show up tomorrow with termites in their pockets.  It’s getting out of hand.  If you’ve got a solid squirrel eviction plan, feel free to email it to us.  

   Have a great weekend and find a garden rose to sniff if you can!
-Steve