All the Dirt on Gardening

The 170-acre Tulsa Botanic Gardens is located just northwest of downtown Tulsa at 3900 Tulsa Botanic Drive in Osage County. It's filled with lots of plants, walks and water features, plus a children's garden. The focal point of the garden is the A.R. and Marylouise Tandy Floral Terraces that features the Garden Cascade - a six-foot wide water runnel that flows down from the top of the hillside into the lake. In the spring, thousands of bulbs are in bloom and are one of the most impressive in the region.  Visitors can explore the four levels located in the terraces and enjoy the trees, shrubs, ornamental grasses, roses and perennials, while taking in the views of downtown Tulsa. The Children's Discovery Garden is a favorite spot. The Spring Giant is a 15 ft. stone face that is the focal point of an experience-based learning garden. This wonderland garden covers 2-acres and includes a Sensory Walk, Art Wall, Tree Fort and lots of hands-on activities. There's

Tuesday,  July 25, 2017  in the Tulsa Garden Center Ballroom (Downstairs) , 2435 S. Peoria Ave, Tulsa at  6:30 pm  for Hospitality  7:30 pm  for Program We welcome Cherlyn Wilhelm Reeves of Tom's Outdoor Living as our speaker  Tuesday .   She will enlighten us on dwarf shrubs you can utilize in your landscape to reduce your trimming tasks as well as using hostas in your landscapes. You can sign up for hosta clothes to  wear for the plant sale on  September 16th , sign up for the fall trip on S eptember 23rd . https://www.facebook.com/HostaConnection and www.hostaconnectiontulsa.com Also - Sue Howard has invited us to Philadelphia to attend the national hosta conference on  June 20-23, 2018 (https://www.ahs2018philly.org/) .  She says it is a 16 hour drive from Tulsa.   She would love to see us and show us her garden.  I will have a sign up sheet.  Longwood garden is 15 miles away. If people are interested, I will work up a trip.

This is an ideal time to visit the Butterfly Papilion at Honor Heights Park. The days are finally hot enough to get the butterflies going. The Papilion is an open-air butterfly house with 26 native butterfly species, a teaching garden with lots of host and nectar plants, and a new children's garden. There's plenty of free parking at Honor Heights Park and the Papilion is next to a splash pad, a new playground and a 1/3 mile trail around the pond. If you enjoy walking there are other trails both surfaced and primitive. Don't miss the stroll through the Arboretum across the park street from the Papilion. Restrooms available. Accessible for handicapped individuals. Something fun for adults and children. Spicebush Swallowtail Butterfly Hours of Operation Mon-Sat 10 am-5:00pm,  Sun 1:00pm-5:00pm  Admission $3.00 Adult ,  $2.00 Child/Student ,  $2.00 Senior/Military

Jo Craven McGinty wrote a worm-affirming article for the Wall Street Journal that was published in the July1-2 2017 weekend edition. Here's a link to the entire article . Natural Farming Worms turn 8,000 pounds of earth on an acre of land in two weeks, according to McGinty. The worm tunnels aerate the soil and the castings (poop) fertilize the ground it squirms in. Darwin called worms nature's plows. A recent study has been completed that concludes plowing kills worms, damages soil fertility, reduces soil's ability to absorb water and diminishes worms' food supply. It can take up to ten years to repair the damage done to soil by conventional plowing. Now 34% of US cropland uses no-till farming according to the USDA. Additional benefits include using less fuel and fewer soil improvements. Did you know that when summer heats up worms move 18-inches down into the soil to protect themselves from the heat? Here's an interesting Purdue U. article about worms

  Both true Lilies and Day Lilies are blooming in abundance right now. What's the difference? It's more than just their names since they are planted, grown, divided and propagated differently.  The top photo of a Lily in our yard lily bulb . is a true Lily or Lilium that is grown from a bulb that looks like a garlic bulb. True flowers are trumpet-shaped, bowl-shaped, funnel-shaped and recurved. They have six petals. True Lily  Propagation  You can separate lily scales and grow more lilies from them as illustrated in the photo. Or you can dig the mother bulb and separate her bulbils (tiny bulbs surrounding the main, large bulb) to be planted into pots while they grow or plant directly in a prepared bed. While most true Lilies have their bulbils underground right around the top of the mother bulb, Tiger Lilies have their bulbils along their stems. Harvest them and plant them in moist compost until green emerges and then put them into individual pots. I