Do I need to stay away from the house that long? I seems like it's been longer than that and my alchemy ingredients and food and the garden are still empty.The garden was one of the reasons I went with Honeyside instead of Breezehome.
I can't think of any reason why those plants would be different from all the other wild plants in the game. Stuff takes ages to grow back, so I don't pick it if it looks pretty.