Another hot and sunny week in central Oklahoma. It is October but it feels like August. I had some time off work last week but I wasn’t able to go to the farm. My boyfriend had to work a lot and we share a car so it wasn’t possible for me to go to the farm. I spent most of my time off sleeping and cleaning up the apartment. We are planning to go to the farm on the 26th of October. Of course, I went plant shopping at the local nursery during my time off. I bought a small geranium called azure rush for seven dollars. It has really lovely lavender colored flowers and attracts butterflies and hummingbirds. In addition to the geranium and the coral bells, I have a few other things to transplant. There are a few black eyed Susan, blanket flowers, and dianthus that are big enough to be planted. However, I know it is very late in the season to be transplanting anything since our average first frost date is Halloween. It is recommended to transplant a few weeks before the first frost date so the plants have time to establish roots before the cold weather comes. However, last year it didn’t freeze until much later so I think it might work out. It was a very good week for butterfly watching. I saw most of the usual suspects including the gulf fritillary, the cloudless sulphur, and many skippers. I also saw a male monarch several times this week. I saw a different monarch when I went to my local nursery. It was on a turk’s cap plant and this plant is on my wishlist. I learned how to tell the difference between the male and female monarchs this week. The male monarchs have two small black dots on their lower wings that females do not have. These are scent organs and can only be seen when the monarch has its wings open. I also learned about the four generations of monarchs. The first three generations in a year only live a few weeks but the fourth generation are super monarchs that can live for 8 or 9 months. These monarchs travel long distances to warmer places in the fall and rely on fall blooming flowers during the trip. The squirrels have not been eating many sunflower seeds this week because there are plenty of acorns nearby for them. They have been doing a lot of digging and burying acorns on my balcony. I made some chicken enchiladas this week that turned out great. I did a lot of reading and drawing this week as well. I have decided to wait and apply next year for the art grant so I can have more time to work on it. I think this week will be busy and I hope that the weather will cool down.
Lisa Ledbetter 