Clematis

This week has been somewhat rainy and extremely windy in central Oklahoma. The garden is starting to bloom but it is very overgrown. We will spend an entire day pulling weeds next time we go to the farm. The clematis we planted three years ago is finally blooming for the first time. It is a beautiful magenta colored one that I think is called Villa de Leon. I have just planted another clematis byThe coreopsis and yarrow are blooming now. The irises, larkspur, and phlox are continuing to bloom. I also saw our first rose of the year. The dahlias are coming back but the lantana isn’t yet. I had my first blanket flower blooming near the bulb garden. They are the state flower of Oklahoma. I planted a coral sunset peony in the bulb garden. Sadly, we had to replace the sunchokes because we waited too long to plant them. There were lots of cool mushrooms to see thanks to the rain. I saw one of the stinkhorn mushrooms that smells terrible. I have had a hectic work schedule this week but I did try out my new Fuumuui watercolor block. I painted a fly agaric mushroom. I am pretty impressed with the quality of the block and would recommend it. I have been wanting to talk more about art but usually I am so tired when writing this blog that I put it off. I think art is an amazing hobby because it provides time for self reflection. For many years, I did not pursue art due to disapproval from others. I rediscovered it during COVID and have been drawing most days since then. It is great for stress relief because it is hard to think about problems while drawing. It is a cheap hobby to start with but can easily become expensive later. I’m going to continue talking more about art in my future posts. Next week will be a busy one but I have a few things I want to paint. I will paint a robin for my sister’s birthday and a ladybug for my mother for Mother’s Day.