The weather is continuing to be very hot and dry in central Oklahoma. We are still over 100°F here and this is unusually hot for this time of year. The severe drought is really affecting the trees and grass in the area. We are still dealing with a lot of grasshoppers in the garden. Some of the garden plants are still doing well and I saw an evening primrose blooming this week. We had racked up some points at our local nursery for their rewards program and needed to use them this week to get a discount. So we got some more grasses that seem grasshopper proof as well as a summer chocolate mimosa. We have already planted the grasses but plan to wait a few weeks to plant the mimosa. It will hopefully cool down soon but I think that there will be fewer butterflies in September this year. I saw a really cool wasp in the garden called the bramble wasp. It is unique because it has a smiley face shape on its thorax. I saw a very pregnant garden spider near the grapes. I spotted a gray praying mantis on a cedar tree. Something has started to eat the parsley and I suspect it is the grasshoppers. Birds are one of my favorite subjects to draw and I drew a colorful flamingo this week. September is almost here. Remember to take care of your body, it’s the only place you have to live.
Lisa Ledbetter 