What’s new here in our Forest Portal garden world? Well, for me who observes, nurtures, and cultivates things more intimately on a regular basis I’d say a lot, but in comparison to other areas, we experience things on a different time table. Although things progress much more slowly here at the higher altitudes of the Sierra Nevadas, things also can go quite fast when their window does open. That’s why I’ve been waiting on garden updates so that I can share the evolution of things over the course of a period of time, which more greatly reflects the changes. That said, I constantly see daily transformations, but these are the kind only a mom or dad appreciates from watching their babies grow up.

I thought that today, July 4th’s Independence and Freedom Day may be fun for sharing one of the pieces of my life that brings me a sense of liberation and independence since it’s my own little world I spend time in away from everything. Rather than celebrate in bursts of colors lighting up the sky, I opt to celebrate more gently in bursts of colors lighting up my garden of life.

Today’s share is a little peak into the evolution of things in garden land here, so far, now that we’re in Summer’s embrace. So much has already come and gone, but so much more is yet to emerge near Summer’s end and Autumn’s appearance.

It’s been fun to watch the transformation take place – some of it being Nature’s own spin of the roulette to see what she’d like to create this season – and some of it being a progression that reflects the shifts in my and our lives here, as things anchor and ground more solidly and peacefully.

I find it interesting that every time I sit down to write a blog, lately, a thunderstorm and drizzles or downpours are taking place, which is happening right now. Feels like Nature supports cozy writing time and it feels extra nurturing for inspiration to flow.

Since last share on May 28th (now over a month ago) a lot of growth has taken place and quite a few new plant babies have joined the family, along with a couple of sweet magick mushrooms and mini gnome with watering can.

I added quite an array, to include mostly all perennials to the garden, yard, and Garden Tower, but also several annuals and experimental plants that I’m testing for other reasons, mostly in planters for now and a few in the Tower. I’m happy to report that with all the fluctuations in weather, I managed to only lose one plant – a cantaloupe – but everything else survived and flourished, including the two tomato plants I was monitoring when they got hit by the frost.

For those of you plant enthusiasts and garden lovers, here’s the long list of what I added since last share:

• 4 dark red lilies
• 3 more yellow lilies
• 5 more Lamb’s Ear
• 3 Salvia Mysty Blue – 2 small and 1 large
• 2 Purple Sage
• 4 Muehlenbeckia creeping wire fine for rock garden
• 3 Ajuga Bugleweed for rock garden
• 1 more African Daisy (4D Harvest Moon)
• 5 more Dahlia – 2 red, 2 golden yellow, 1 peach
• 1 Dianthus
• 6 Italian parsley
• 1 more peppermint
• 2 pineapple sage
• 3 yellow bell pepper
• 2 red bell pepper
• 1 Serrano hot pepper
• 1 Habanero hot pepper
• 1 Cherokee purple heirloom tomato
• 1 Container tomato
• 2 Purple Coneflower (echinacea)
• 2 Clemson spineless green heirloom okra
• 1 Japanese long cucumber
• 3 crimson sweet watermelon
• 1 heirloom Jack-O-Lantern pumpkin
• 2 Wee B Little pumpkin

Weeeeeee indeed! So much fun stuff!

I recently had ordered plant nannies as well – actually right before our silent retreat away – as I felt like they’d be helpful when temperatures are higher or we’re away, to keep the extra thirsty, sweet babies hydrated without having to be out there watering constantly. I haven’t actually used them yet (I’m still waiting on a back-ordered second package as well), as I’m still gathering bottles to use with them and the thunderstorm afternoons have kept things on the cooler side. But I do plan to implement them in the next couple of weeks, as I want to make sure they’re doing their job well before I’ll really need them here shortly.

They are Astrid approved though, as you can see. 🙂

And speaking of Astrid, she’s been a bit more quiet these days from the public eye, but I assure you she’s doing fantastic, got a great, regular vet check-up, and is snuggly fun as ever. She’s just wanting to be behind-the-scenes for a bit, as she’s prepping a lot of things for our focal switch here that’s been underway. But she did want me to send her love and to let you all know she hasn’t dropped the ball on all the collective work she so generously does with her off-Earth friends and those in the unseen realms.

That leads me to one of the things that’s also developed since our own silent retreat away.

Not only has the faery garden continued flourishing in the vein of enchantment, but upon return from that reflective time, our upper, back deck that looks out on the forest has since turned into a serene sanctuary of blooms and mindfulness.

It wasn’t pre-meditated and just happened to align with our silent retreat energy. Dave surprised me with a Buddha and Buddha Bunny statue that arrived when we got back. He ordered them some time before, but that’s when they showed up.

He didn’t know that I had a bunch of plant baby inspirations, wanting to bring more blooms to the deck that we could see both from the deck furniture AND from inside the living room that looks out at it.

I also wanted Dave to have flowers to look at from his office, which is upstairs, since my office looks out on the garden and is abundant with flowery and magickal friend views already.

And so the rest just evolved, creating a peaceful, zen feel and reminded me of the gardens we walked while away on retreat. This is also where I now have a lot of my experimental planters, which are part of a bigger vision I have.

I’ll save that for when it actually does.

In the meantime, my Garden Tower is full and abundant, having provided several harvests for Astrid and us already.

Here’s the latest harvest, mostly for her.

And my sweet bubblegum pink, mini rose bush has been abundantly giving, too.

We’ve enjoyed mini bouquets and I already have a full jar of dried rose petals to use in my faery kitchen creations. My mini, crimson red roses are now making a debut, so soon I’ll have those to add as well.

Every slot in the Garden Tower, though, is full and they’re all doing so well. Again, I’m so grateful that with all of the see-sawing weather surprises and frost still biting that I only lost that one cantaloupe.

Everything else has been doing fantastic. Some plants and flowers have already gone through their cycle for the season and others have yet to dance. The side yard is jumping with happy little wildflower plants galore, but they are going to take time to fully mature. If they follow in the footsteps of my garden, they’ll get to a good place come early to late Autumn, but next year will flourish amazingly, right when Spring warms up.

My garden wildflowers are popping one-by-one…they’ve cycled through one round of oranges and are now on to the array of beautiful pinks, fuschias, purples, lilacs, whites, and crimsons, with so much more to come!

And scattered throughout I have lavender, foxgloves, dahlias, African daisies, salvia and then delphiniums, lilies, and salvia along the walk way.

The one incredible plant that deserves its own mention, however, is my very first yellow lily plant that I got last year.

She started pushing through the snow, as temperatures started rising and hasn’t stopped growing since. I actually go out every single day with a measuring tape to see how much she sprouts each day, as it’s mind-blowing!

As of this post, she is currently 52 inches tall from bottom of stalk at dirt level to the very tippy top of the tallest spire to her four-spire tower. There are a few smaller ones at the bottom as well, but these four are going for it big time! She has been steadily growing about an inch a day, recently, and is going to be amazing once all of the buds open at top with yellow lily stars reaching for the sky!

Interestingly, all of my other lilies, except for one dark red plant, have all cycled through their blooms already. But this towering giant is taking her own sweet time to put on a show.

She sits directly in front of my office and feels very reflective of things for me. I’m excited to see both of our evolutions unfold.

I find the pace of growth in my garden to reflect the changes in my life – sometimes these huge spurts, but mostly just steady, forward movement that takes the perfect time it needs without rush.

I have a feeling she’ll begin blooming just as I shift gears fully.

And like me, my garden and plants don’t try to be like the rest of the world, or other parts of the state or country that move at a different pace. We’re happy creating our own peace process and unfolding in our own uniquely creative ways.

The more embodied I feel, the more fully embodied my garden has become. And vice versa, the more plants blossom, the more I see new ideas and possibilities blossom for me.

Another thing I love is that there are always amazing surprises that my garden will unveil. I have SO many plants and flowers that I never planted and yet they are growing right before my eyes. And even a couple of plants that were here previous to my starting a garden, but never would grow abundantly or even bloom, are now suddenly this year really flourishing and I have flowers on them for the first time.

All of these pointing to me of a new cycle and that what was seeded before is finally able to see the light and come forth now in bigger and newer ways – integrating the old and new into something more than either.

One more beautiful story is that of a tree that sat at the edge of the back deck. It was one that the previous owners had planted, but it just never did well and died this last Winter. I saw it hanging over the deck with lifeless barren branches and felt like it was calling me to remove it and let it go fully.

So, I went out one day and cut it down myself with loppers, which was quite a task, and what do you know? Small new growth popped through the ground right next to the short stumps I wasn’t able to get myself and since then has flourished and is on its way to being a whole new, happy, and healthy tree.

From death, there is life. One door closes and another opens. A chapter ends and a new one begins.

There is never loss, just recreation.

I’m currently awaiting four new super enchanting additions to arrive for the garden world of unseens brought to life. I can’t wait until they do. They will truly add icing on the cake as the perfect mirror reflection of Wonderland, outside, that reflects my office and shared creative portal with Astrid, inside.

In the meantime, I’m still feeling into some expansions and changes we’re looking to do in and around the house, yards, and garden spaces. I have some research to do still and also seeing how my experiments go. But all of it, again, mirroring the inner world of evolving changes in motion that I’m/we’re taking our time to feel into the when’s and what’s of, rather than rushing forth into.

It’s exciting for sure, but since it all points to major change, I’m making sure these are the changes that feel aligned for the next leg of the journey and asking myself if this is truly the direction I want to go?

May you also create your own divine space and timing for yourself and life’s unfoldings.

Allow yourself to deepen into fuller embodiment of what you would like to experience, while allowing sweet surprises to tickle your heart along the way.

If Nature can, so can you.