It has finally cooled down a bit here in central Oklahoma. The rain is still teasing and going all around us. The scarlet sage is looking especially nice this week and it has done great this year in quite challenging conditions. We have had an unusually long, hot, and dry summer this year. We also have a huge amount of grasshoppers at the farm this year. The scarlet sage has continued to bloom all season. It also attracts lots of pollinators. It is not a perennial here but returned in my garden from self seeding last year. I’m hoping that it will do the same this year and come back for me next year. The Turk’s cap is another standout plant for me this summer. It handled the hot summer well and also attracts pollinators. I’m planning to plant pansies and violas once it cools down more. We still haven’t planted the mimosa tree yet and may have to wait longer. We have gotten some other plants this week, two more Russian sage and a pink muhly grass. We plan to plant these things this weekend. Russian sage seems to do pretty well in Oklahoma and grasshoppers seem to leave plants in the sage family alone. One of the Russian sage plants is the original one but the other one is a dwarf form called Little Spire. The Little Spire has been eaten a little bit by something since it has been on my balcony. The original one was left untouched. I have been studying chickens this week since we have decided to get chickens in the spring after we move. I got a book about raising chickens at the library. It has a lot of detailed information about different types of chickens. We are also drawing a chicken this week in my art class and I sketched some chickens to practice. It has been a busy month at work but this week is short. There are some holidays and I will have a few days off to rest. I will make some sourdough bread and sourdough discard waffles in my free time. I think it will be a delicious week.
