Hummingbird

This week started out with rain and ended up hot and sunny in central Oklahoma. I saw a hummingbird again twice this week on my balcony checking out the zinnias and scarlet runner bean. I was happy to get a photo of it this time but still had trouble identifying the type of hummingbird it was. Google told me that it was a ruby throated hummingbird but it didn’t have a red throat. I saw a lot of butterflies on the zinnias this week but I only got a few photos of a gulf fritillary. The zinnias, nicotiana, and marigolds are still blooming on the balcony. Something is eating my peppers on the balcony and I don’t think I will get any good ones this year. However, I went to the farm yesterday and I harvested some serrano peppers. There were also a lot of cherry tomatoes ready to pick but I didn’t have time to get them. I didn’t take any herbs either but the sage was doing well. The oregano, thyme, and rosemary are not looking their best now. It was over 90° F yesterday and quite humid. Only a few things were blooming in the heat, including the lantana, zinnias, scarlet sage, mist flower, rose of Sharon, goldenrod, and celosia. The four o’clocks were also blooming and some pretty pink balsam impatiens have come up. Most of the garden looked too dry and so we increased the watering schedule. We planted the walnut tree and the pear tree yesterday. I also planted a few other things including: red yucca, blanket flower, nicotiana, black eyed Susan, irises, anemones, one allium in poor condition, dragon’s blood sedum. Most of the things we planted last time were alive but struggling in the heat. Something has been eating my milkweed and I think it might be monarchs. The pawpaws and the hydrangeas had some brown and crispy looking leaves and they need more shade and increased water. I had a small coral bells to plant but forgot about it and left it there. Hopefully it will survive until I return to plant it. I saw some cool caterpillars yesterday at the farm. I saw a yellow striped armyworm, a question mark caterpillar, many black swallowtail caterpillars on the fennel, and a tomato hornworm parasitized by wasp larvae. I didn’t have much time to photograph butterflies yesterday because I had so much planting to do. I had hoped to see the datura blooming but I didn’t see any flowers although it had a lot of buds. I did see some of the cool spiky fruit of the plant under the leaves. The fig and peach trees are doing good but don’t have any fruit. The hardy banana tree has grown since we planted it. The comfrey has died back in the heat. My cat is doing well but I heard her sneeze once. I made some mango chutney from a recipe from a book called Preserve It! It has to age for a month so I don’t know how it will taste yet. It is my first time to make chutney. I also made some kimchi for my boyfriend using the recipe from Maangchi. It was challenging to make and it will be ready to eat tomorrow. I will probably pickle the serrano peppers from the farm but I may freeze them instead. I tried a delicious Dubai chocolate bar this week. The chocolate was super creamy and the filling was crunchy. I have not had much time to draw or read due to cooking a lot this week. I don’t think we will be going to the farm this week but I have some time off next week so we might go then. I am looking forward to the long vacation.