Magic Is Just Science We Don’t Understand Yet

My first tomato harvest! This is a dwarf tomato (Bing); I was enamored with the idea of a tiny tomato and it has lived up to its appeal. It’s determinate, so once all these fruit have ripened it’ll be done. Worth it, though, as it is MUCH easier to grow than most tomatoes. And ready to eat in early July is a bonus!

One of my neighbors gave me this Eyelash Begonia as a thank you for some garden plants I divided and I am in love. She was growing it in a North facing window so the leaves were fairly dull but you can see how much it is enjoying my grow lights. It looks poisonous and I could not be happier.

Hoya flowers!

My H. fitchii has been blooming constantly since early May and I am completely obsessed! The flowers are a lot larger than my other two Hoya that have bloomed and they smell lightly floral, similar to hyacinths.

Pinguicula!

These guys are little but they have a big impact. They are already doing their job and catching the random fungus gnat and fruit flies in my kitchen. Each has already doubled or tripled in size since I got them in early May, I’m hoping they start flowering soon!

I said I wouldn’t get a Monstera deliciosa while living in this place due to size restrictions, but a close friend surprised me with a cutting from her plant in April. This is its first leaf in my care and it’s double the size of its original leaves. It’s now in the running with my Dracaena for the biggest leaf in my (indoor) collection.

Speaking of big leaves! This is year two with my Elephant Ear (Colocasia esculenta) and it is growing so much! I’m so proud to have overwintered this properly and can’t wait to see how big it will get.

Bonus to my vertical planter you can see which is doing so well so far.

If I remember right, the three greenish yellow ones are Pinguicula x Bronze Butterfly, the middle two cute pink ones are Pinguicula x Sweetart and the squishy more purple one in the top right corner (it’s supposed to look that way) is Pinguicula x Lovers Lane.

Despite making this post in August, this post spikes in brief periods throughout the year, depending on when folks like to start.

Reading all the cool costume projects people are working on

‘Crow and Chicken Extol the Flame’

Lucien B. Hale, 2026

I don’t like this approach to spirit work. I feel like it treats spirits as if they are coin operated fortune telling machines or magic eight balls - insert offering receive “message”. Spirits have their own existences outside of us, they aren’t just sitting around, waiting for practitioners to reach out to them so that they can relay information to us regardless of if they have had contact with us before.