Sleepy Orange

We had a nice rain in central Oklahoma on Friday. We also had a little rain on Saturday morning. It was a very busy week at work and I didn’t see many butterflies on my balcony this week. We went out to the farm on Saturday and I did see a few butterflies there. I saw two late monarchs, lots of skippers, a pearl crescent, and a new one called a sleepy orange. The sleepy orange looks a little similar to the clouded sulphur but with a much brighter neon orange yellow color. I was pleased to see that there were still some flowers around the garden. The scarlet sage, celosia, zinnias, gaura,morning glories, mistflower, and black eyed Susans were all still blooming. The Texas star hibiscus is growing well. The confederate rose doesn’t look as happy the star hibiscus. I also saw a new flower that I forgot I had planted called toothache plant. The cat is doing well but I heard her sneeze again. There were a lot of daddy long legs around the garden. I also saw a garden spider with two egg sacs. I saw many varieties of crickets, grasshoppers, and katydids. I also spotted a leaf footed bug. I harvested lots of cherry tomatoes and peppers. I am now trying to think of what to do with all of them. I also got some herbs for cooking including rosemary, oregano, sage, and chives. The thyme is still alive but not doing well enough to be harvested. The fig trees are doing well and have grown a lot. The banana tree has grown but was shredded by the wind. The original hydrangea is doing well but the other two aren’t doing as well. The pear tree is still alive but doesn’t have new growth. The walnut tree has not grown from the grafted limbs but has a few suckers at the bottom of the tree. The pawpaws are alive but struggling with too much sun. The two vitex haven’t grown much. The peach trees looked droopy. The rose of Sharon, goldenrod, and crepe myrtle are still alive. The milkweed was taken over by oleander aphids. We put up some posts for the grapevines to climb. I planted some coral bells and geraniums yesterday. I also spotted a heart potato and a seven legged spider this week. Halloween is this week and I got a new skeleton sweater to wear for it. We went to Panda Express this week and I bought my favorite candy again. I made a potato soup and a white bean soup this week. I plan to cook less this week since I made a lot of soup. I did a little drawing for my art class on Wednesday but skipped today’s class because I needed to nap. I took sequential pictures of the garden because I want to make a layout of where to plant next year. Next time we go to the farm, I plan to plant some wildflower seeds if I can get my hands on them.