Mark your calendar for the Living Arts Garden Tour in Tulsa Sept 25-26

It's time for the Living with art in the Garden tour and sale.
Sept 25, 10 to 5 and Sept, 26 1 to 5
Information Living Arts of Tulsa
or Christy Fell 918-747-1919

Cost for the tour is $10 at any garden ($5 students with ID)

What could be better than an art sale in a beautiful garden? The annual Living Arts of Tulsa garden tour and art sale will be in 7 beautiful gardens. Master Gardeners and home owners will be on hand to answer plant questions. And, at each site, an artist will be available to talk about their work on display.

Each garden will provide a showcase for local artists. The tour includes one site-specific multimedia installation by Tulsa artist Walt Kosty. His concept is named sit.sat.set and includes physical art, social media, GPS mapping and(optional) public participation.

The seven gardens on the tour include a wide variety of styles and plantings. You can begin the tour at any location - 1450 E Fir Drive - Sand Springs/Tulsa Exit 81st West Av), 1708 W Easton Ct, 1524 S Newport, 3167 E 22nd, 3828 S Utica, 4407 S Atlanta Pl and 4747 S Yorktown Pl.

The garden of Mark Linholm and Kenneth Joslin at 1524 S Newport is near 15th and Peoria. Linholm worked for Tulsa Parks and Recreation at Woodward Park for many years and now is a horticulturist at the Tulsa Zoo.

Gardeners at the zoo have a wide variety of responsibilities, Linholm said. We garden, haul logs into the elephant yard, assist with building exhibits and find diverse plants for the animals. We try to find plants from other continents that will persist here.

Linholm said that every area of the zoo needs its own look. He is already propagating plants for next year’s displays. The propagation cuttings are grown in potting soil, at 75-degrees with automatic misters running every 3 minutes.

I've grown so many plants over the years, always getting the newest and hottest, said Linholm. Now '’m leaning more toward natives to bring butterflies and hummingbirds.

His home was built in 1918 and has a dozen beds that start at the front sidewalk, meander down the driveway and culminate in a back yard koi pond with water plants, surrounded by shade loving vines and perennials.

When we bought the house, we started first by tearing out the plants that were too big or in the wrong place, said Linholm.

All the rock used to surround the pond, shape the beds and build the patio and walkway were on site but they had to be moved and used in new ways.

Some of the many plants to look for in Linholm's garden -

Yellow starflower, Galphimia gracilis, is a 5-foot tall tropical shrub.

Strawberry bush or Hearts-A-Bustin, Euonymus americanus, is a cold hardy shrub for half shade.

Paw Paw trees, Asimina triloba, were planted to provide habitat for butterflies.

Devilwood, Osmanthus americanus, is a small, cold hardy tree with tiny, fragrant, spring blooms.

Turk's Cap, Malvaviscus drummondii, is blooming under a large tree in the back yard.

On the trellises Linholm built with a friend, look for Spurred Butterfly Pea, Centrosema virginianum, Paradise Flower, Solanum wendlandii, and Bowtie Vine, Dalechampia dioscoriefolia.

Lisa Mitchell, media chair for the tour, said that the garden at 47th and Lewis has turtles and tortoise in the back yard.

Bring a camera to record good ideas and spend a few hours strolling through gardens and looking at art.

Living Arts of Tulsa is Oklahoma's oldest organization promoting contemporary art. The annual tour is a fund raiser that provides art classes and supports the Myers Gallery. Southwood Landscape & Nursery and Custom Exhibits are the event sponsors.