All the Dirt on Gardening

Wildlife  Habitat  Garden Tour & Plant Sale Sat. May 30  9-5 and  Sun. May 31 Noon -5 Rain or Shine.  Begin the tour at any garden    Admission donation $6 Children under 13 Free   Garden Address                                                            Home - 614 N. Fir St. Jenks       Vendor Grogg's Green Barn Jenks Public School - Flycatcher Trail Garden 404 E. F St. Jenks        Vendors Bird Houses by Mark        Jenks FFA Plant Sale        Tulsa Audubon Society Home 8736 S. Evanston Ave. Tuls a      Vendors  Pine Ridge Gardens       WING-IT Wildlife in Need Group in Tulsa Garden 7515 S. Braden Ave. Tulsa       Vendor Wil...

It was a warm and windy day for a garden tour in Tulsa. My volunteer work consisted of sitting chatting with a lovely woman, Diane Fell, chatting with garden visitors and shopping for native plants. Diane Fell Mary Ann King, owner of Pine Ridge Gardens was the vendor at the garden where I spent the day. She brought dozens and dozens of native plants from her Arkansas nursery for us to choose from. Tulsa Audubon Society's annual tour is a great opportunity to visit gardens and learn from other people who love plants and nature in general. It's hard to imagine a better way to spend a beautiful day or $5 than to traipse through gardens seeing what creative ways plants, hardscape and garden ornaments can be combined for the pleasure of everyone lucky enough to visit. Mary Ann King Here's a link to Pine Ridge Gardens catalog - Mary Ann is one of the most knowledgeable native plant growers in the area.

One native plant can make a huge difference in the future of butterflies, birds and humans. Photo Monarch larva are on milkweed in the yard during their migration through Oklahoma to Mexico last fall. Whether you grow a potted plant or a farm, everyone can help stop the extinction of American insects, birds and animals by planting one native plant each year. Tulsa Audubon Society annual tour is this weekend with six home gardens that are wildlife habitats. One vendor will be selling plants, birdhouses and other nature items at each location. Mary Ann King, owner of Pine Ridge Gardens ( www.pineridgegardens.com ) and Marilyn Stewart of Wild Things Nursery ( www.wildthingsnursery.com ) provided information about some of the plants they will have available for your garden. Zanthoxylum clava-herculis — toothache tree /prickly ash /Hercules' Club is a host plant for Giant Swallowtail butterfly and songbirds eat the fruit. Native of all the states in the southeast US. Aromatic, sm...