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Stillwater Gardens and Cabins, 30 Stillwater Lane, Oriental, NC (2026)

08/28/2026

Good morning, friends. 🌻

“You are smart. You are kind. You are important.”

Those words are simple, but there’s something powerful about being reminded that who we are—and what God has placed inside us—matters.

Dreaming is the easy part.

Starting?

That takes courage.

It’s one thing to imagine a different life, a new skill, a new business, a healthier relationship, a garden where there was once only an empty field. It’s another thing entirely to take that first shaky step when you don’t know exactly how things are going to turn out.

And Lord knows, starting doesn’t guarantee smooth sailing.

There will be mistakes. Plans will change. Seeds won’t germinate. Flowers will flop. Rain will show up on the very day you hoped to sell bouquets. And sometimes the dream you pictured so clearly will have to be adjusted along the way.

Ask this baby flower farmer how I know.

But I’ve learned something out here among the flowers: growth rarely begins with certainty. It begins with willingness.

A seed doesn’t wait until it has guarantees before it pushes through the soil.

Neither can we.

Most worthwhile things don’t happen because somebody got lucky. They happen because somebody decided to begin, risk being disappointed, learn from what didn’t work, and keep moving.

And sometimes that “somebody” needs another person standing nearby saying:

You can do this.

That’s one of the things I love most about family and community. We get to remind one another of who we are when somebody temporarily forgets.

Maybe that is part of kindness, too.

Not empty praise. Not pretending everything is easy.

Just reminding somebody that they are capable, valuable and worth encouraging while they find the courage to take their next step.

Scripture says:

🙏🏽💜”Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin.” — Zechariah 4:10

Whew.

The work begin.

Not the work finished perfectly.

Not the dream fully realized.

The beginning.

So whatever has been sitting quietly in your heart—a dream, an idea, a conversation you need to have, something you want or need to learn, something you need to change—maybe today you don’t have to figure out the whole journey.

Maybe you just need to take the next faithful step.

And if nobody has told you lately:

You are smart.

You are kind.

You are important.

And you are allowed to begin.

What is one dream, change or next step you’ve been thinking about that might be waiting for you to simply start?

🌻 FLOWER FARM & FLOWER STAND UPDATE

Well…apparently the weather has decided it would like to be in charge of the schedule again.

Rain and storms are expected today, so opening the roadside stand will once again be delayed.

If we get a good, solid stretch of at least a couple of rain-free hours and conditions are safe, we’ll bring the flowers out. If not, those pretty girls are staying cool, dry and snug in the cooler.

So yes—we are still thankful, but yesterday’s planned Thankful Thursday Sale is carrying itself right on over into another day.

Please check back here for updates. I’ll let y’all know if and when the stand is stocked.

Right now, we’re still planning to be at the Oriental Farmers' Market, (Hodges Street down by the harbor)tomorrow morning from 8–11, weather permitting. Tony and I sure have missed seeing everybody, so we’re praying the rain gives us a little window.

📍 Stillwater Gardens Roadside Flower Stand
30 Stillwater Lane, Oriental

Special orders and pre-orders are always welcome. Give me a call at (919) 335-6704 or send me a direct message right here, and I’ll be happy to set a bouquet aside for you. We can also arrange pickup—or delivery in the Oriental area.

For now, the flowers and I are going to sit this rain out.

Sometimes wisdom looks a whole lot like knowing when to bloom…and when to stay safely in the cooler. 😊🌻

Rooted in Faith. Growing in Harmony.

© Benita Gibbs. All rights reserved. 2026.

08/27/2026

Good morning, friends. 💜

The other day, Tony and I stopped by one of our local institutions, Paul's Produce, to pick up a melon—and, I was hoping, some fresh butter peas.

I’ve had a real hankering for the kind of butter peas and corn my mama used to make. I had the whole plate planned out in my head, too…butter peas and corn, a little home-canned ChowChow a friend recently gifted me, some roasted okra and sliced tomatoes fresh from the garden.

Now that is what I call a good summer supper.

Well, I got the melon.

Still no butter peas.

But while we were there, Tony and Paul got to talking—because if you know Tony, you know he loves a good conversation—and Paul mentioned that this would be the last week of his season.

That stayed with me.

There is something about the end of a growing season that makes you think differently about abundance.

When the bins are full, the fields are producing and everything seems plentiful, it is easy to assume it will always be that way. But every season eventually changes.

And maybe that is true of life, too.

Some seasons give us more than enough energy, opportunity, companionship and resources. Other seasons ask us to live a little more carefully from what has already been gathered.

The question becomes: what are we storing up now that will nourish us later?

Not just food in the freezer or jars on the pantry shelf, either.

Peace.
Faith.
Good memories.
Healthy habits.
Relationships that have been tended.
Wisdom gathered from people who have walked the road before us.
A community we can lean on—and one that knows it can lean on us.

Even our physical and spiritual well-being are connected more than we sometimes realize. Caring for the body we’ve been given, protecting our peace, nurturing our faith, getting enough rest, moving our bodies, eating nourishing food and staying connected to people who love us are not separate little compartments of life. They all help sustain us for the seasons ahead.

Farming teaches this over and over.

At Stillwater Gardens, we enjoy the flowers while they are blooming, but we are already thinking about what comes next—collecting seeds, replenishing soil, planting bulbs and roots, making plans, learning from what worked and what didn’t.

We enjoy the abundance, but we also prepare for the season that follows it.

Scripture says:

🙏🏽💜”And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.” — Philippians 4:19

I don’t read that as a promise that every season will look the same.

I read it as a reminder that we are not abandoned when the season changes.

Sometimes provision looks like abundance.

Sometimes it looks like enough.

And sometimes “enough” is a mighty beautiful thing.

So today I’m thinking about what I’m gathering while this season is still here—and maybe still hoping somebody has a mess of butter peas hidden somewhere.

What are you doing in this season to nourish yourself—physically, emotionally, spiritually or relationally—for the season that comes next?

Rooted in Faith. Growing in Harmony.

https://amzn.to/3UD1rt2

🌻 FLOWER FARM & FLOWER STAND UPDATE

Well, apparently the weather has its own plans for Thankful Thursday.

Our Thankful Thursday Sale is delayed this morning. It’s still raining—and threatening more rain and storms—so we won’t be setting up the roadside stand until things settle down.

Flowers are beautiful, but they are not worth anybody getting caught out in unsafe weather. So, if and when the rain and storms pass and it’s safe to do so, the flowers will come out. 🌻

Please check back here for updates. I’ll let y’all know as soon as the stand is stocked and ready.

📍 Stillwater Gardens Roadside Flower Stand
30 Stillwater Lane, Oriental

And, as always, special orders and pre-orders are welcome. Give me a call at (919) 335-6704 or send me a direct message right here, and I’ll be happy to set a bouquet aside just for you.

For now, the flowers and I are going to sit this rain out.

© Benita Gibbs. All rights reserved. 2026.

08/26/2026

There are certain songs that don’t just stay in your memory—they settle somewhere deep in your spirit.

During this month’s book club, we read the delightful little novel How to Read a Book by Monica Wood. One of the parts that made me smile involved the old hymn “In the Garden.” One of the characters sings it—and eventually even teaches a parrot to sing it.

Well, that little hymn took me straight back more years than I care to count.

Back to that little Presbyterian church in the Piedmont where I grew up. Back to wooden pews, familiar voices and hymns we probably sang often enough that I didn’t realize, at the time, how deeply their words were planting themselves in me.

And now, all these years later, I’m a flower farmer.

Funny how life circles back around.

There is something about a garden that quiets the noise.

Maybe it’s because a garden doesn’t hurry.

Flowers open when they’re ready. Seeds rest beneath the soil until their appointed time. Butterflies flutter wherever they please. Bees keep right on working without consulting anybody’s calendar. And, despite all my attempts to organize things, the garden continually reminds me that I am not actually in charge of everything.

Some mornings at Stillwater Gardens, I can walk outside carrying a head full of worries, plans, unfinished chores and things I’m trying to figure out—and somewhere between the flowers, the birds and the breeze through the trees, my shoulders begin to drop.

Nothing has necessarily changed.

But I have.

Perhaps that is part of the gift of a garden.

It gives us a place to become still enough to notice God again.

Not because He wasn’t there before, but because sometimes our lives get so noisy that we have trouble hearing Him.

🙏🏽💜 “Be still, and know that I am God.” — Psalm 46:10

And I don’t believe peace is found only among flower rows.

Sometimes our “garden” is the porch with a cup of tea. A walk beside the water. A quiet chair with a good book. Dinner with people we love. A few minutes alone before everybody else wakes up.

The important thing is that we make room for those places.

Places where our souls can exhale.

Places where gratitude gets louder than worry.

Places where faith has room to grow.

And maybe that is why that old hymn still touches something in me after all these years.

The little girl sitting in that Piedmont church could never have imagined that one day she would spend her mornings growing flowers in a little Eastern North Carolina village beside the Neuse River.

But God knew.

And every now and then, standing among the flowers, I think perhaps I understand that old hymn just a little better than I did back then.

Reflection for today:
Where is your garden—the place where the noise quiets enough for you to feel peaceful, present and close to God? And when was the last time you gave yourself permission to go there?

Rooted in Faith. Growing in Harmony. 🌻

https://amzn.to/4xDyTht

© Benita Gibbs. All rights reserved. 2026.

08/25/2026

Good morning, friends. 💜

One thing flower farming keeps teaching me is that mistakes are part of growing.

I’ve planted things too early. Too late. Too close together. I’ve watered too much, watered too little, chosen varieties that looked absolutely beautiful in a catalog and then watched them flop spectacularly in an Eastern North Carolina summer.

And, Lord knows, gardening isn’t the only place I’ve made mistakes.

There are things in life I wish I had handled differently. Words I might have chosen more carefully. Decisions I would make differently knowing what I know now (or heeding what I knew then). Moments when I simply missed the mark.

I suspect most of us could say the same.

But here’s what I’m learning: failure may be painful, but it does not have to be final.

The real danger isn’t making a mistake. It’s refusing to acknowledge it, learn from it and allow it to change us.

That’s what struck me again while reflecting on Psalm 51. David didn’t try to pretty things up. He had made some terrible choices, and when confronted with them, he finally stood honestly before God.

🙏🏽💜 “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love.”
— Psalm 51:1

There is something freeing about that kind of honesty.

No excuses.
No pretending.
No blaming everybody else.

Just: I got this wrong. Help me do better.

That theme of owning our mistakes sits right at the heart of Psalm 51. David’s story reminds me that being a person after God’s own heart doesn’t mean getting everything right. It means being willing to tell the truth about where we’ve fallen short, accept correction, turn in a better direction, and trust God to keep shaping and restoring us.

That sounds a whole lot like gardening to me.

When a row fails, we don’t spend the next ten years staring at the empty dirt feeling ashamed. We figure out what happened. We amend the soil. We change the timing. We choose a different seed. And then, when the season is right, we plant again.

Maybe grace works a little like that.

Grace doesn’t pretend the mistake never happened. Grace gives us enough room to learn from it without allowing it to become our identity.

And sometimes, the lessons we learn from our failures become the very wisdom we later pass along to our children, our grandchildren, our friends, our neighbors and our community.

So today I’m giving myself permission to keep growing.

And maybe somebody else needs that permission too.

Reflection:

What mistake are you still carrying that God may be asking you to learn from, lay down and stop allowing to define you?

🌻 FLOWER FARM & FLOWER STAND UPDATE

We’re giving the flowers—and ourselves—a little midweek breather.

📍 Stillwater Gardens Roadside Flower Stand
30 Stillwater Lane, Oriental

⏰ Closed Tuesday and Wednesday.

Weather permitting, we’ll reopen Thursday around 8-ish for Thankful Thursday and stay open until dusk—or until the weather tells us otherwise.

I’ll share the Thankful Thursday special before we open.

And as always, special orders and pre-orders are welcome. Call (919) 335-6704 or send me a direct message right here, and I’ll be happy to set a bouquet aside just for you.

Here’s to learning, forgiving, growing…and having enough grace to plant again. 💜🙏🏽

Rooted in Faith. Growing in Harmony.

https://amzn.to/3UD1rt2

© Benita Gibbs. All rights reserved. 2026.

08/24/2026

Good morning, friends. 💜

It’s that time of year again.

Whether a child is headed back to public school, private school, or settling in for another year of homeschool, the rhythm is beginning to change. Those long, loose days of summer are slowly giving way to alarm clocks, backpacks, books, schedules, new teachers, old friends and that little flutter of anticipation that comes with wondering what the new year might bring.

When I was growing up, I could always tell school was getting close by the commercials during Saturday morning cartoons. Suddenly everything was notebooks, pencils, new shoes and “back-to-school sales.” There was no escaping it.

But I have always loved learning.

And funny enough, that has not changed one bit.

In fact, becoming a “baby” flower farmer has reminded me just how much I still have to learn. Every season teaches me something. Every crop teaches me something. Sometimes a lesson comes from another farmer, sometimes from a mistake, and sometimes from simply paying attention to what the soil, the weather, or the flowers themselves are trying to tell me.

And the older I get, the more I realize that some of my greatest teachers never stood in front of a classroom.

My mama taught me things.

My grandparents taught me things.

Neighbors, church members, friends, mentors and folks in the community taught me things.

And, yes, there were teachers along the way who saw something in me, encouraged me, challenged me and helped shape the person I would eventually become.

That is one reason I have such a soft spot for teachers.

They do so much more than teach reading, math, science or history. A good teacher can help a child discover confidence, curiosity and possibilities they did not yet know existed.

And sometimes that teacher never even knows how deeply a few encouraging words took root.

Maybe that is why this little flower farm has become another classroom for me.

I am still learning.

Still asking questions.

Still making mistakes.

Still listening to people who know more than I do.

And still discovering that there is something wonderful about admitting, “I don’t know that yet…but I can learn.”

Scripture tells us:

🙏🏽💜”Let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance.” — Proverbs 1:5

There really is no age limit on growing wiser.

So as the children around us head into a new school year, maybe this is a good reminder for the rest of us too: stay curious. Stay teachable. Ask questions. Listen to people whose experience is different from your own. And never become so certain of what you already know that there is no room left to learn something new.

And while we’re at it, maybe tell a teacher—past or present—thank you.

Somewhere along the way, somebody helped water a seed in each of us. 🌻

Thought for the day:

Who is one teacher—or perhaps one person outside the classroom—who taught you something that has stayed with you for life?

Rooted in Faith. Growing in Harmony.

https://amzn.to/3UD1rt2

———————-

🌻 FLOWER FARM & FLOWER STAND UPDATE

It’s Monday, the sun is expected to shine, and the Stillwater Gardens Roadside Flower Stand will be stocked and OPEN around 8-ish this morning! 🌻

This week’s bouquet is Sunlit Abundance — a bright, fragrant late-summer mix of sunflowers, cosmos, obedient flower, tuberose, amaranth, mint and basil, with beautiful blooms from our friends at Swing Low Farm in Ayden.

Bright, lush, fragrant and just a little wild…pretty much exactly how August feels around here. 😊

📍 30 Stillwater Lane, Oriental
⏰ Opening around 8-ish and staying open until dusk — or until the weather tells us otherwise.

Special orders and pre-orders are always welcome. Call (919) 335-6704 or send me a direct message and I’ll be happy to set one aside for you.

© Benita Gibbs. All rights reserved. 2026.

08/23/2026

It’s Sunday, the sun is shining, and the Stillwater Gardens Roadside Flower Stand is stocked and OPEN! 🌻

This week’s bouquet is Sunlit Abundance — a bright, fragrant late-summer mix of sunflowers, cosmos, obedient flower, tuberose, amaranth, mint and basil, with beautiful blooms from our friends at Swing Low Farm in Ayden.

Bright, lush, fragrant and just a little wild…pretty much exactly how August feels around here. 😊

📍 30 Stillwater Lane, Oriental
⏰ Open now until dusk, weather and heat permitting.

Special orders and pre-orders are always welcome. Call (919) 335-6704 or send me a direct message and I’ll be happy to set one aside.

08/23/2026

Good Sunday morning, friends. 🌿

Growing up, my main experience with figs came in a little rectangular package called a Fig Newton. And truth be told, I kinda liked them.

But here in Eastern North Carolina, figs are something altogether different. It’s not unusual to see an old fig bush tucked beside a house—sometimes planted decades ago by a mama, daddy, grandmother or grandfather and still producing fruit for another generation. Around here, folks love figs enough to hold entire festivals in their honor. We recently enjoyed one on Ocracoke Island (Ocracoke Fig Festival) and I’m already hoping to make it to another upcoming fig celebration in Greenville.

And since I’ve been dreaming and talking about our future Stillwater Gardens Serenity Garden, I’ve decided that a fig tree—or two—belongs there.

So naturally, I started researching.

Y’all.

A fig is a fascinating little thing.

What we casually call the “fruit” is actually a structure filled with tiny flowers growing inside it. Instead of putting its blossoms on display like a sunflower or zinnia, the fig carries an entire little garden tucked within its walls.

And I couldn’t help thinking about people.

Some communities are a little like that fig.

From the outside, you see one thing. But tucked inside are dozens—sometimes hundreds—of individual lives, gifts, stories and purposes. Each one different. Each one contributing something to the whole.

That sounds a lot like family.

And church.

And a little village.

And, quite frankly, Stillwater Gardens.

There are the people who grow the flowers, the farmers who share blooms with us when ours are scarce, the folks who stop at the stand, the customers who become friends, the neighbors who encourage us, and those who simply pause to admire a flower on their way by.

Different little “blossoms,” all helping create something larger and sweeter than any one of us could create alone.

Maybe that is one reason community matters so much.

We weren’t meant to bloom entirely by ourselves.

🙏🏽💜 “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor.”
— Ecclesiastes 4:9

And maybe the fig offers one more lesson: some of the most beautiful and important growth happens where nobody can see it.

Not everything God is doing in us has to be on display.

Sometimes roots are deepening. Relationships are strengthening. Faith is growing. Healing is happening quietly.

There may be an entire little garden developing beneath the surface.

So here’s today’s question:

Who are the people tucked into the “garden” of your life—and have you let them know lately how much their presence matters?

🌻 FLOWER FARM & FLOWER STAND UPDATE

Hurray! The Sunday forecast is finally giving us a break from the rain, so the Stillwater Gardens Roadside Flower Stand should be open and fully stocked around 8-ish this morning.

We missed seeing everybody at the Oriental Farmers' Market, yesterday, but after a couple of experiences with sudden harbor downpours, we decided not to tempt fate. Our flowers are decidedly unhappy campers when wind and rain come sweeping across the harbor.

For that matter, Tony and I aren’t particularly happy campers either. 😂

This week’s bouquet is:

💐 SUNLIT ABUNDANCE

A joyful late-summer gathering of sunflowers, cosmos, obedient flower, fragrant tuberose, cascading amaranth, mint and basil—including beautiful blooms gathered from our friends at Swing Low Farm in Ayden.

Bright, lush, fragrant and just a little wild.

Pretty much exactly how August feels around here.

📍 Stillwater Gardens Roadside Flower Stand
30 Stillwater Lane, Oriental

⏰ Opening around 8-ish and staying open until dusk, weather and heat permitting.

As always, special orders and pre-orders are welcome. Give me a call at (919) 335-6704 or send me a direct message right here, and I’ll be happy to set a bouquet aside just for you.

Here’s to hidden gardens, good neighbors, old fig trees, new dreams…and remembering that some of life’s sweetest things are created when many small parts come together.

Rooted in Faith. Growing in Harmony.

© 2026 Benita Gibbs. All rights reserved.

08/22/2026

Good Saturday morning, friends. 💜

Yesterday afternoon, the storms rolled through and brought some much-needed rain—along with a power outage that lasted a few hours.

Thankfully, the heat was bearable. After wandering around trying to remember where I had put the lanterns (note to self: hurricane season is NOT the time for hide-and-seek with emergency supplies), I poured myself a glass of water, turned on an audiobook, and just sat for a while.

No television.

No computer.

No rushing to finish one more thing.

And somewhere in that quiet, I was reminded of something I already know but too often forget:

Life is not meant to be one long to-do list.

There will always be work waiting.

Another load of laundry.
Another email.
Another w**d.
Another row that needs attention.
Another bouquet to arrange.

But life is happening while we are doing all of that.

The people we love are growing and changing. Sunsets keep happening. Friends are waiting for a phone call. Trips become stories. Long conversations become memories.

And sometimes an unexpected evening in the dark with a good book turns out to be exactly what the soul needed.

I love the work we are doing at Stillwater Gardens. But I never want to become so busy building the life I prayed for that I forget to actually live it.

Scripture says:

🙏🏽💜”That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God.” — Ecclesiastes 3:13

There is work.

And there is also joy, rest, laughter, family, friendship and the simple pleasure of being present.

So today, maybe give yourself permission to leave one thing unfinished.

Sit outside.
Call somebody you love.
Read a chapter.
Take the drive.
Eat the dessert.
Watch the rain.

And if the opportunity presents itself…buy yourself(or a friend) some flowers. 🌻

What is one thing you would love to do more often if you stopped feeling as though you needed permission to do it?

———————————

🌻 FLOWER FARM & FLOWER STAND UPDATE

It is still raining here this morning, with more possible, so we will not be setting up at the Oriental Farmers' Market, today.

If the weather gives us a reasonable break, we plan to put fresh bouquets out at the Stillwater Gardens Roadside Flower Stand, 30 Stillwater Lane. I’ll post an update when they’re ready.

This week’s bouquet is:

💐 SUNLIT ABUNDANCE

A joyful late-summer mix of sunflowers, cosmos, obedient flower, fragrant tuberose, cascading amaranth, mint and basil, featuring beautiful blooms gathered from our friends at Swing Low Farm in Ayden.

Bright, lush, fragrant and just a little wild—pretty much exactly how August feels around here.

As always, special orders and pre-orders are welcome. Give me a call at (919) 335-6704 or send me a direct message right here, and I’ll be happy to set a bouquet aside just for you.

—————-

And one practical reminder to my fellow Eastern North Carolinians: hurricane season is here. Check those flashlights, batteries, lanterns and emergency supplies before you need them.

Take it from the woman who was searching for hers in the dark yesterday.

Rooted in Faith. Growing in Harmony.

https://amzn.to/3UD1rt2

© 2026 Benita Gibbs. All rights reserved.

08/21/2026

There are some lessons that sneak up on you in the most ordinary places.

Earlier this week, as part of our NC Agritourism Networking Association farm tour, Tony and I had the pleasure of visiting Stonefield Cellars Winery in Stokesdale.

Now, y’all know I’m not much of a drinker. Heck, my most regular interaction with wine is probably that tiny sip during Communion.

But it was a lovely place, and our hosts were gracious, welcoming and wonderfully knowledgeable. And somewhere in the middle of learning about wines and flavors and all the things my very inexperienced palate was supposed to be noticing, something surprisingly simple caught my attention.

A cracker.

And a glass of plain water.

Between tastings, we were encouraged to cleanse our palate so the flavor of one wine wouldn’t interfere with our ability to fully experience the next.

And somewhere between the cracker and the water, my mind wandered.

Because apparently I can turn just about anything into a life lesson these days.

I started thinking about how desperately we sometimes need to cleanse our emotional palate, too.

We live in a world where we can wake up before our feet ever hit the floor and immediately consume tragedy, outrage, disagreement, fear, scandal, predictions of disaster and somebody yelling at somebody else about something.

And then another story.

And another.

And another.

Before long, yesterday’s bitterness is coloring today.

Fear from one headline follows us into a conversation with somebody we love. Anger we picked up online settles into our spirit. Somebody else’s anxiety becomes ours.

We haven’t even given ourselves time to taste the goodness that may be sitting right in front of us.

Sometimes we need a cracker and some water for the soul.

Not because the difficult things happening in the world aren’t real. They are.

Not because we should become uninformed, unconcerned or indifferent.

But because constantly consuming everything doesn’t necessarily make us wiser.

Sometimes it simply makes us weary.

So maybe an emotional palate cleansing looks like:

* Putting the phone down and giving ourselves a few news-free hours.
* Sitting outside long enough to notice the breeze, the birds or the way the morning light falls across the yard.
* Praying before scrolling.
* Taking a walk without earbuds and allowing our minds to become quiet.
* Calling somebody we love and talking about something other than what is wrong with the world.
* Reading Scripture, a good book, or something that restores rather than agitates.
* Working with our hands—gardening, cooking, painting, arranging flowers, pulling w**ds.
* Being intentional about what voices get repeated access to our hearts and minds.
* Remembering that gratitude and concern can occupy the same space.
* And sometimes simply being still long enough to remember that every problem does not require our immediate reaction.

Maybe that’s one reason working with the land has become such good medicine for me.

A flower farm has its own version of cleansing the palate.

One season finishes.

The beautiful flowers we worked so hard to grow eventually fade. Rows become tired. Weeds move in where we weren’t paying attention. Plants that once produced abundantly stop producing.

And eventually we have to clear things out.

Pull w**ds.

Cut back.

Turn old rows under.

Add compost.

Replenish what the soil has given away.

Let some ground rest.

Then begin again.

It can look messy for a while.

Bare soil isn’t nearly as pretty as a field full of flowers.

But underneath that seemingly empty ground, preparation is happening.

The soil is being nourished for what comes next.

And perhaps our hearts need seasons like that too.

Times when we stop piling more and more information, opinions, obligations and noise onto already tired ground.

Times when we allow God to replenish what life has depleted.

I keep coming back to this verse:

🙏🏽💜”Be still, and know that I am God.” — Psalm 46:10

Not fix everything.

Not understand everything.

Not respond to everything.

Sometimes…

Just be still.

Cleanse the palate.

Make room for the next good thing.

Because there is still goodness here, friends.

There is still kindness.

There are still people helping people.

There are still children laughing.

There are still neighbors showing up.

There are still flowers blooming.

There is still grace.

And sometimes we have to quiet everything else long enough to taste it. 💜

So here’s my question for today:

What might you need to step away from—even briefly—to give your heart and mind a chance to reset, replenish and notice the goodness that is already there?

🌻 FLOWER FARM & FLOWER STAND UPDATE

While the flower fields are doing what flower fields do this time of year—growing a little wild, surprising us here and there, and reminding us that every day on a farm is its own adventure—we’ve been busy curating, conditioning and putting together fresh bouquets for the weekend. (Hint: Sunflowers are back …if only for a hot minute.)

Today’s little thank-you special is:

💐 Buy one bouquet for $20 and get the second bouquet FREE.

We only have a limited number available at that price, so if you’ve been thinking about treating yourself and somebody else, today might be a good day to do it. 😊

🌻 Stillwater Gardens Roadside Flower Stand
📍 30 Stillwater Lane, Oriental
⏰ We’ll open around 8-ish this morning and plan to stay open until dusk, unless Mother Nature—or this August heat—changes the plan.

We’re also looking forward to Saturday morning at the Oriental Farmers’ Market, weather permitting. We’ll be down on Hodges Street by the harbor from 8–11 a.m. with fresh Eastern North Carolina gathered bouquets and a few other goodies. (If it’s too hot or rain is threatening, then check out the self-service stand or give me a call.)

And yes…there just might be gourmet popcorn making another appearance. 😋🍿

Because apparently flowers and popcorn have become a thing around here.

Need a bouquet held for you? Special orders and pre-orders are always welcome. Call me at (919) 335-6704 or send me a direct message, and I’ll gladly tuck one aside with your name on it.

Come see us, take home a little color, and maybe share a bouquet with somebody who could use a little unexpected joy today. 🌻💜

Rooted in Faith. Growing in Harmony.

https://amzn.to/4xDyTht

© 2026 Benita Gibbs. All rights reserved.

Stillwater Gardens and Cabins

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