The Herbarie

Friday, April 30, 2010

The Roses Are Blooming!

To everything there is a season and the roses are blooming again! We have a gorgeous morning here at Stoney Hill Farm – clear and cool – fresh green against cerulean blue sky – the kind of day that we wish could last forever. This week, most of the roses are in full bloom! Some of my favorites are Sarah Van Fleet, Belinda’s Dream, Abraham Darby, Othello, The Prince, Madame Isaac Perrier, The Apothecary, Zephirine Drouhin, Mrs. B.R. Cant, and Monsieur Tillier. Each season I am amazed by their generosity and beauty.


I’ve spent the morning in the garden with my roses, harvesting many blossoms for distillation, many for drying, cutting some for the office and home, leaving some untouched to simply enjoy their beauty as they grow. I’m running our second rose distillation this week and the rose scent is heavenly!! For me it just doesn’t get better than this!

We have been spending as much time in the garden as possible, but this time of year there is never enough time to do everything! In addition to our gardening, we are also very busy with processing our herbs and flowers for our botanical extracts and complexes. The long awaited Botanical Complex HCA is now in stock! Rose Phytolate Botanical Complex will soon be available. As requested, new botanical extracts and complexes are on the horizon!


The warehouse staff is still very busy with orders and we are thankful for our loyal customers! We are all working very hard to streamline our warehouse procedures so that we can maintain our quick turnaround. But since there are only 24 hours in a day, we sometimes don’t meet our goal of 24-48 hours. For customers who need immediate shipping, we offer our RUSH order option which we mention in our Sales and Shipping Policies.



But even though we are soooo busy, I wanted to take just a few minutes to share some pictures and let everyone know what’s happening at the farm.


I’ll report that Joy, my winter hummer, left for the Pacific Northwest on March 25. I was so very sad for her to leave, but I like to think of her finding a mate and building her nest to raise her babies. I am hoping she will return this Fall. I’ll certainly be watching for her!


Soon after Joy left, we had our first Ruby-Throated Hummer visit the sugar water feeders. It was a female apparently scouting around for a good summer spot. She must have spread the word because this morning I saw two hummers zooming around one of the feeders.

Hummingbirds and other birds, butterflies, bees all love our gardens since there is always something blooming and there are many nice places to nest, rest and enjoy.



Best Wishes for a Beautiful Blooming Season!

Angie