Tulsa Master Gardeners' Showcase Tour June 26 & 27

-

Tulsa Master Gardeners Showcase Garden Tour
Self-guided tours:
Saturday June 26 from 9 to 5 and Sunday June 27 from 11 to 5
Contact: Sheryl Chadd, Garden Tour Chair, 918.742.7662 or mg@tulsamastergardeners.org and www.tulsamastergardeners.org,
Tickets $7.50 includes tour and garden talks at the OSU Extension Center

Saturday talks: 11:00 Safe Sex in the Garden by Sandie Bailey, 12 noon The Buzz About Bees by Helen Hickey, 1:00 Dealing With Tomato Problems by Lew Melone, 2:00 Gardening for Butterflies by Jim Thayer

Sunday talks: 12 noon Safe Sex, 1:00 Butterflies, 2 Tomato Problems, 3:00 Bees

Next weekend the Tulsa Master Gardeners Showcase Garden Tour will attract hundreds of plant lovers. Sheryl Chadd, tour chairwoman, said that 140-volunteers have been involved in putting on the tour this year.

There will be Master Gardeners at each home answering gardening questions, Chadd said. And, we will have cold water at all of the homes.

According to Chadd, the variety of gardens range from sunny to shady, from huge to small and from basic to elaborate.

The Master Gardener program was started in Washington in 1972. When the extension agents were overwhelmed by calls for information about gardening, plants, soil, etc., Dr. David Gibby decided to train local gardeners in exchange for their staffing the telephone. The first 300 volunteers helped 7,000 gardeners that year See http://bit.ly/cG7lGa.

Today, 60,000 Master Gardeners across the country staff horticulture hotlines, coordinate planting projects, run demonstration gardens, manage public gardens, work with groups, publish newsletters, and broadcast radio and television programs. For example, OK Gardening from OSU and the Rogers State University Master Gardeners programs are on public television weekly.

David Hillock, state coordinator for the OK Master Gardener Program said there are currently 1500 active Master Gardeners in OK. The Tulsa group has a new program called Tulsa Blooms, placing planters in business districts.

Annual conferences are available for graduates. The Oklahoma MG conference is June 18 in Norman and OK Master Gardeners attended the Texas MG Conference in Dallas last month.

Muskogee Master Gardeners Oyana Wilson, Anita Whitaker and Leah Cawvey staff an information table at the Muskogee Farmer's Market to answer questions and distribute OSU Fact Sheets. Look for them June 26th at Grill Crazy.

Many garden answers can be found on Master Gardening websites. A 5-page list of links called Websites for Oklahoma Master Gardeners - Problem Solving is at http://bit.ly/aixwpJ with links to Extension service offices around the country as well as dozens of other resources.

GARDENS ON THE TOUR

1) Colonial Revival Garden, 2417 South Owasso AV near South Peoria and E 61st is an 80 year old home in Maple Ridge; Colonial Williamsburg inspired garden, formal beds, roses, lavender, and redwood pergola. Flowers, herbs, perennials and recycled plants.
2) Tropical Paradise, 7926 South Hudson AV off East 81st ST, pool, cabana, meditation garden, greenhouse and water features. A 3-year old garden with western sun.
3) Get Away Garden, 7340 South 69th East Place near 71st and Sheridan, koi pond, arbor, rustic implements, greenhouse, succulents.
4) The Patio Garden, 3120 South Florence Court near South Harvard AV and East 31st ST, 20 by 60 foot duplex garden with 90 plant species. A shade garden was destroyed by the 2007 ice storm, making room for all new sun-loving plants.
5) Victorian Tea Garden, 6302 East 77th Place near 81st and Sheridan, bright yellow and brick house with romantic gardens and pink flamingoes. Victorian inspired furniture, poolside gardens, herbs, shade.
6) OSU Extension Office gardens, 4116 East 15th ST near Tulsa Fairgrounds, 11,000 plants put in and cared for by Master Gardeners, Wall Garden of heat tolerant plants, Confetti hanging baskets, Rainbow Kitchen Garden, Container Kitchen Garden, Italian Cuisine Garden.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Moldy Tulip Bulbs

-
Image
Moldy tulip bulbs are a big disappointment when you are hoping to fill a bed or some pots. It is not that unusual for their skins to have a bit of penicillin mold but these are beyond that tad bit stage. Mold penetrating tulip bulb  Mold on emerging tulip bulb growth  So, what to do? The plant references say to throw them out and buy new ones but I already spent $22 for 50 of these white tulip beauties. First, they got a soak in 1% bleach solution in the kitchen sink in the hope that the bleach would stop the mold from continuing to grow without killing the life force in the bulb itself. After a good slosh around, I wiped them off to see how much damage was beneath the blue and black.  This tulip bulb is soft to the touch and there is little chance it will thrive in the soil. This basal root on these have been ruined by mold. The final step I took to try to salvage part of them  was to spray them thoroughly with fungicid...
Read more

Propagate Begonia Stem Cuttings in water - Cane-like Angel Wing Begonia

-
Image
Propagating by stem cuttings is just about the easiest way to make more begonias for next summer's garden. During the fall, I regularly trim off 3-node long cuttings and put them into the growing pots where they take root. Now that cold weather has arrived, I root the stem cuttings in a vase of water. It's a great way to produce more pots of Begonias for next summer's garden. Water the plant well the day before. Take a cutting about 4-inches long, with 3 nodes, from a healthy stem. Use a perfectly clean container. Rinse the container with a drop of bleach if you are uncertain about its spotlessness. Remove all but the top leaf or two. There should be no leaves in the water. The cutting should  have a healthy leaf node at the bottom. Don't leave a stub below the node. Place the cutting into the water, and place the container out of the sun. In a couple of weeks, you will see new roots beginning to form. Check the water periodicall...
Read more

Create Nesting Areas for Birds and Wildlife

-
Image
From the website, Choose Natives , this lovely and instructive article helped remind me to continue to increase the amount of habitat and nesting that we provide in our garden. Many, though not all, are native or considered to be native in Oklahoma. So, I did a little research on each recommended plant and provided a link to more information. You'll see the plant name in italics - those are my links for your edification. Here's the post Derek Stoner, Project Coordinator for the Delaware Nature Society, helped restore the 860-acre Middle Run Natural Area by “intensive habitat management”, including planting 12,000 trees and shrubs.  His lecture, ‘ Native Plants for Nesting Birds: Connecting Flora and Fauna’,  given to a group of enthusiasts at the Millersville Native Plant Conference   in Pennsylvania, focused on his observations. Here are Derek’s landscaping recommendations for attracting birds: Plant shrubs in clusters (“habitat circles”) that will c...
Read more