Along with the Roses, I've been growing a small Hibiscus garden that has offered the most potent magic. Double and single-flowering, the Hibiscus have been utterly hypnotizing. The sheer size of these blooms is immediately striking, my largest being nearly ten inches, followed by an array of hues and detail on each petal. They're the type of flower for whom you find yourself wondering, "How are you real? How did you get here?"

I'm growing a family of Passion Flowers again this year, and just yesterday, I spotted the first little bud! Anticipation for these glorious, exotic blooms is running high, to say the least. My Rudbeckia, Zinnia, Cosmos, Calendula and Foxglove have all started to bloom, while my Sunflower is growing taller and taller as the days go on. The Foxglove have been so inspiring this year, with gorgeous shapes and a gradient that makes my heart swoon amid its nuance. The Zinnia, Rudbeckia and Calendula are coming in with ancient hues reminiscent of a vintage color palette, bringing delightful touches of warmth to my arrangements. I am forever in awe of the garden, of watching seed and soil turn to sprout and bloom. 

One of my favorite adventures in gardening, thus far, has been growing, tending and connecting to English Roses. While the Rose has many symbols spanning various cultures and times, in the Pythia Botanica Oracle, I write about this enchanting bloom providing a beacon of compassion. In my eyes, it is a botanical that inverts traditional understandings of love, that uplifts us on even our saddest of days and may serve as a mighty force of healing. It's a strong, soft and powerful bloom of inimitable beauty. Growing such beauties, being among the joy, excitement and love they provide, brings such fulfillment into my heart.

This season, I grew most of my Roses from bare roots, planting them both in the ground and in wooden barrels. There's a feeling of the unknown when you decide to grow from the ground up. Whether it's starting seeds and anxiously waiting to see what germinated, or whether it's growing dormant plants or bare roots and seeking some new form of life. At first, I was intimidated, but after caring for them and patiently waiting, small bits of growth would rise. A new cane coming in turned into more leaves and then more branches, until those bare roots transformed into budding bushes nearly as tall as I am; flourishing and expanding.

The Ambridge and Jude the Obscure emerged next, my largest Rose bushes and slowest to bloom. With cooler-than-normal temperatures in my area, it felt like those little buds had been opening at snail speed, and I had been checking to see if they had bursted forth every day for nearly a month. But, as all good things do, they took their time. The wait was worth it, as it begot such brilliant blooms the day they chose to join the garden.

Over the last month, seeds of Calendula, Artichoke, Nasturtium, Poppy, Zinnia, Sunflower, Cosmos, Scabiosa and so much more have sprouted, grown and been repotted, awaiting the late-Spring warmth, rain and sun. The Rose garden has started to bloom and it seems every morning I go outside a new bud is forming, petals peeking out unveiling the sweetest fragrance and origami-like petals. My Passion Flower garden is slowly growing, vining up potted trellises and I am anxiously awaiting new blooms this year. Over the weekend, I noticed two of my three Hibiscus have formed the tiniest of buds and to say I am excited to watch them grow and open would be an understatement. While my Key Lime Tree is full and healthy, there's no signs of limes yet, and I am hoping June will bring at least one. Any citrus growers out there have tips? My tomato seedlings are growing and very much need to be repotted soon. With the days growing longer, I'm looking forward to have more time to work outside.

I've been bringing out my botanical Oracle and Tarot decks to the garden every morning,  along with my sketchbook and floral shears, reading my cards with the very plants depicted, listening to their songs and setting my intentions. This little ritual has been an integral part of my Spring and Summers for nearly a decade, it's one of my favorite ways to bond with the botanicals on a spiritual level, to ground myself and connect to the earth. 

For now, this has been my May garden update. Cataloging all that I'm growing is an ever-expanding work in progress and it's been such a joy to have this to share with you. 

The Ophidia Rosa Tarot and Pythia Botanica Oracle deck both took root around the same time, inspired by the intersection of my life with plants, mythology, art, and a myriad of energies I had yet to fully understand. While the Oracle deck connected my ancient Hellenic heritage closer to an enchantment with botanical mythology, the Ophidia Rosa drew on a broader timeworn truth I've received from the Tarot.

The Pythia Botanica instills the ancient mythological lineage of plant magic with present-day personal meaning to guide readers through fate. Beyond its initial intentions, the deck somehow springs with elements that remain a mystery even to me. This gives it an amorphous power where others can find light that is uniquely their own.

For reading these cards, I would suggest embracing the openness that an Oracle deck uniquely offers, bringing an open mind, heart, and pure intentions to the table. I always spend time with my decks, and get to know the cards on the one-on-one level that one might meet a person or group of individual energies. 

Oracle cards can be read alone or in unison with a Tarot deck; they can be read in many spreads (one-card pulls, three-card spreads, traditional Tarot spreads such as the Celtic Cross and Zodiac). The advice I tell close friends is to follow one’s intuition and trust in oneself, especially when you first start reading and it can feel a bit overwhelming. You hold all of the answers, and the cards can serve as a window to peer inward, a prism of truth, or a reflection to glare purpose back upon oneself.

One of the ways I like to ring in the beginning of Spring is by starting seeds. The promise of what could be, what may germinate, grow and bloom is enthralling, as is tending to them during the process. There's perhaps very few things that feel as fulfilling as waking up to the tiniest of sprouts peeking through the dirt. 

Like last year, this season I'm focusing on a cut-flower garden with various species of Poppy, Calendula, Cosmos, Scabiosa, Black Eyed Susan, Nasturtium, Sunflower and a host of others I can't recall as I type this. There are some veggies germinating, too: various types of tomatoes, an Artichoke that will be beautiful in floral arrangements and delicious at dinner, summer squash, snow peas, eggplant.