First steps

To begin you want these things, lots of bones, lexicon, seeds.....not the blue stuff, the lapis. Sixteen flowers. You don't have to have them all to begin, but I like to. You HAVE to have white, cyan, and dark blue to begin with. 

 Next make a petal apothecary. I like to have a water source near it. Make a pure daisy.

Ring your daisy with wood logs until it changes to living wood.

Make a few batches of wood and then use stone to make living stone.

Next use your living wood to set up a Hydroangeas tank to generate mana. Fill with water.

This is a mana collection system. You need 4 Hydroangeas, the water tank, a Mana spreader and Mana pool. You will need to make a Wand of the Forest to be able to point the spreader at the pool. The Hydroangeas wear out and you will have to replace them.