It has been somewhat rainy and cool this week in central Oklahoma. The rain and cooler temperatures have been great for my garden. A lot of flowers are blooming now and there are many new ones coming up. We visited the farm on Friday and we planted the ginger, bridal wreath spirea, and white drift rose. I spent some time pulling weeds and I planted a seed everywhere I pulled a weed. So hopefully in time I will have less weeds and more of the plants I do want. I saw lots of interesting mushrooms this week due to the recent rain. I find them fascinating and always like learning about new ones. I have my first sweet pea blooms this year and they smell amazing. They don’t like the hot summer here so they may not make it through June. The daylilies are blooming and they look beautiful. I also learned that daylilies are toxic to cats but edible for humans. I was pleased to see that I have some milkweed coming up. I have four kinds now, including the native green one. I also discovered two wild rose bushes in the pasture that are huge and very beautiful. I think one is a Carolina rose and the other is a Cherokee rose. I was eaten alive by chiggers trying to take photos of them. Some other new flowers this year are giant yellow coneflower, American basketflower, and native winecups. I saw my good buddy, the ornate box turtle, again this week . I saw a few butterflies this week, even though it has been cloudy. I saw the first monarch for this year on some cornflowers. I also spotted a Common Buckeye butterfly hanging out by one of the grapevines. I also saw an unusual white moth in the tall grass by the fence. I had little time to draw this week but did do some drawing for class. I made Aloo Gobi this week using the recipe from Swasthi’s Kitchen. I think it turned out well. Next week, we are planning to plant more plants in the shaded areas. I took a lot of pictures this week. Happy Memorial Day!
Lisa Ledbetter 