- Join us today on Oklahoma Gardening as we remind you that soon summer will be returning as we visit some of Tulsa's most beautiful landscapes that were featured on the Tulsa Garden Club's Annual Garden Tour.

Underwriting assistance for our program is provided by the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, food and Forestry, helping to keep Oklahoma Green and growing Oklahoma Gardening is also a proud partner with Shape Your Future, a program of the Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust shape your future, provides resources for Oklahomans to make the healthy choice the easy choice.

I love sharing with you guys the cool things that plants can do.

We're back here at the Student Farm.

I wanna share with you a tropical plant that you might find in some Oklahoma landscapes.

It's important to know which plants we are dealing with so that we can continue to maintain them successfully for years to come.

We are back with another one of our most popular shows.

It's time for the Tulsa Garden Club Garden Tour Show.

And joining me today is Kathy Blazer.

Kathy, thank you so much for joining us.

You're welcome.

So let's first start talking about a little bit about the history of the Tulsa Garden Club.

- You know, that's easy thing to do.

This is a legacy club.

It's 94 years old.

They begin in the oil boom when the town wasn't looking good and these women wanted to it.

So they proceeded to do just that.

And over time they added terraces of rose gardens to the Woodward Park and eventually they convinced the city to buy the mansion at Woodward Park to house the plant societies.

And so from 1954 on, we've been housed there.

They were a very active group and we've continued that, but we've evolved into some other areas.

- Yeah, you guys are always doing a lot in the community also.

Yes.

Let's talk a little bit about what you guys do as a club presently.

You - Know, that's a long list.

I'll give you my favorites.

Okay.

Really it's that we do empowerment and so we pick groups that are doing horticulture related things and every, all the money that we ever raise goes to them.

And things like 4H Global Gardens, new leaf up with trees, penny Pines Prairie, the Tall Grass Prairie, and then of course scholarships for Oklahoma States Horticulture and Landscape Program.

And Dick Connor's Correctional Center.

- Yes.

Yes.

It, it we're covering everything.

You really are all - Over.

Yes, but I'd saved my best for last.

We have decided that we're not always gonna be here.

Obviously there's gonna be, the Earth is gonna have to be taken care of by others.

That is the young.

And so we have started a program called Generation Green to get those young kids in.

And we've got all sorts of things going on with that, including a center just for children that's at the Teaching Garden barn.

So this is our current, like big push.

- Well that's fantastic.

So I know you guys also do a lot just as a club socially.

Tell us a little bit about your monthly meetings and how somebody might become a member - As well.

Our monthly meetings are fabulous.

We have 105 members that mostly come on and off to those meetings and our programming is over the top and we just bring in specialists in all kinds of gardening, environmental areas.

You know, if it interests you to work with a garden club, you could work with kids, you could work in the garden.

We have lots of options.

Please look at our website.

We'd love to have you.

- Okay, well thank you so much.

I know you guys are an active group and we look forward to seeing the gardens today.

- Thank you.

- We're here at the helm house and joining me now is one of my favorite landscapers here in Tulsa.

Jane Fanning.

Jane, thank you for showcasing another one of your beautiful artwork.

Really.

I mean it's, it's fabulous what you guys have done here.

Tell us a little bit about this front entrance.

This is amazing.

- Well, I actually get to come in on the heels of some other, the home has been owned by two or three other homeowners and they originally started some of it, but there was a lot of struggles with plant material.

So we had the opportunity to come in and revitalize, rejuvenate, and create and bring in and redo some things.

Lots of transplanting to help embellish and take what was and take it to another level to create a garden because she is an avid gardener.

- So tell me some specifics.

I know you had mentioned to me earlier that you moved rudbeckia and some grasses.

How do you decide what needs to be moved and, and what's better location?

Well - Then one, I communicate a lot with the homeowner.

That's very important to me to say, okay, what do you really like?

Or what do you don't like?

The second thing I do is pray a lot because I think it unlocks the door.

God created so many amazing and beautiful diverse plants and flowers and perennial, and it's taking those and blending them and moving them so that there's a, a flow and a harmony, a symphony of color.

- And - That's what we want.

Perennials, as you know, do that a lot.

We have to have some that bloom early, some bloom mid, some bloom late.

And that's what we're trying to do.

- And so with some of the rubeckia, I know you, you mentioned you broke up those clumps so that you sort of have that space and kind of that repetition of that color throughout this garden.

- We did, - But yet the grasses, you sort of clumped some of those together more, right?

- Yeah.

Some of the grasses were kind of, if you will, random.

And it's like, well, why not?

Let's take a flow and bring that.

And then transplanted so many different other, you know, spireas and - The peonies.

- The peonies.

We move the flocks, we move the grasses, we move the abilia, we move, you know, the, some of the candy corn, spyria, we moved around in order to, to take color and growth and flowers and move them so that they would highlight each other going from one area.

Oh yes, there it is.

But it pulls your eye, - Right, - Taking the abilia and pulling your eye from one area to another.

Why not?

- Right?

And, and that candy corn spiraea definitely does that.

It's got that tinge of red on the tip that - Right.

- Kind of grabs this Japanese maple color a little.

That right.

The garden here with the water feature too is exquisite.

You know, just having that sound, that relaxation, it's right here in the front yard.

A lot of times we think that is in the backyard.

Now I, I have to ask a little bit about, we've got a giant tree that just got planted here beside us.

Tell me a little bit about this tree.

- Last father's day a year, well be a upcoming year ago, they had a massive, massive, probably four to five, six foot diameter oak that in that windstorm came down and it took down part of the jack maple, took down the fence, took down everything, took down the archway and wiped out what used to be shade is now full sun.

And that all had to be redone.

And so many plants moved, you know, re revamping the wisteria over the newly built arch.

The Japanese maple, I'm thankful is coming back.

And then what was boxwood hedges, we turned into an herb garden, which she's always wanted an herb garden.

So then we stuck a few jalapeno peppers in there too.

- You gotta have some peppers in there.

- Yeah.

That and same thing across the way is we, we transplanted an entire hedge that was blocking a beautiful set of peonies and other perennials 'cause they couldn't get the sunlight they needed.

And then we transplanted some peonies from the back to the front and made that, this is more of a French country, random fun type, - It's little secret garden along the fence - There, there is a secret garden.

I hope y'all be able to enjoy walking down that way.

She always wanted a secret garden trail and path.

So - Yeah, anything that you can create that discover and curiosity out in nature.

And that definitely has done it.

- And then probably 80% of the plant material that is now in the secret garden was once in full shade in the back.

And so we used it up in the front to create a beautiful shade garden.

- Okay.

- And a trail through the forest.

- And the style is kind of different in the backyard.

- The style is very different.

Probably more of an English formal garden or something you might see maybe in Williamsburg where it is, it is more structured, more formal.

You can do almost anything you, your heart desires.

It's just understanding plant material.

Some loves the sun, some loves the shade.

So it's like finding and moving.

And a key thing also is what's going to be perennial dying all the way back and what will stay through the season, stay green, give be - That structure.

Yeah.

- You have a good evergreen structure.

There's nothing wrong with moving plants around.

- And I'm sure one of the perks of having a Y garden when they're back there enjoying their landscape is just in the evening, white tends to glow with the moonlight.

It does, right?

It does.

- And the big white crepe myrtles, the architectural structure of the white crepe myrtles is really neat.

I love the branching that twists and turns and it, when the lights are on or at Christmas time when the lights are on, it's really pretty back there.

- Oh, I bet it's beautiful.

Sometimes we don't think about, oh, my landscape has now changed because of the tree.

Right, right.

Like all of a sudden you've lost your shade.

- You can have lots of fun.

It's, it's not being, you have to not be afraid to be adventuresome in your garden and to try some things.

Ask lots of questions, you know, go to the nurseries, talk to 'em, look at things.

And you may take one or two plants home and try 'em, see how you like it before you actually invest in a larger area with that.

Sometimes it's good to have a poupourri of different perennials and mixing in annuals with the perennial, but sometimes it's nice to have a very formal structure, you know, so - Well Jane color is definitely not your problem here.

I mean, you have done a fan, a phenomenal job, and we thank you so much for sharing this with us.

We are here at the Rhodes residence and joining me is Frank Rhodes, who you have a lovely yard, thank you for inviting us into your backyard.

It's a little more contemporary modern than some of the other ones we've seen.

Tell us a little bit about your style.

- Well, you know, my style basically was what we did with the architecture of the house and everything.

And so then Carrie Blankenship landscape guy, he came in and gave him, you know, pretty much said make it look part as part of the house.

- That was the inspiration.

Right.

And so the house was - Part of inspiration and so he put stuff in and then it's old stuff died out, you know, he is replaced it and moved stuff around.

So it's always in the changing to something else.

- Well, I like the straight lines that I've seen, especially in the front yard and some of the pavers and things like that.

Nice.

Good.

Open area.

What's kind of your, what what's your favorite thing about your landscape?

- Well, it starts with the, with the a hundred and some odd year old oak tree that we have here.

And it, we, we lost a, a couple of big branches off of it last father's day, And they were covering the, the, the patio up there.

So that's when we decided to, I saw an ad for a pergola, so we said, okay, we need shade back in that area.

So we, we put that in and, and so that's worked out real well.

And so, and it kind of matches everything.

So it was, we were lucked out that way and we just didn't enjoy the, all the birds and stuff that come around.

And then we've got a fountain here and one in the front and the birds come and take baths and get drinks and stuff.

So we had a pool at our last house and ended up not using it that much.

And it's a lot of maintenance and stuff, so we said, we're just gonna go with landscaping this time and, and, and go with that.

- So time to sort of restructure your needs of that landscape.

- Right.

- And so you can really get out here and enjoy it.

- Yeah.

And I didn't wanna damage the tree by putting a pool in, so.

- Right, right.

Well, it looks fabulous and I'm sure you spend many hours up there underneath that pergola.

- Well, it just got finished two days ago, so I'm, I'm, I'm in the process of that.

- Well, that's fantastic.

- Yeah.

Yeah.

- Thank you so much for sharing this with us.

- All right.

You're welcome.

- We are here at the Gilbert residence and joining me is Carla Gilbert, and I should say thank you for inviting us into your backyard.

It is just absolutely fabulous here.

Well, thank you so much.

You've got plenty of seating so I can tell you enjoy getting out into your garden and really just appreciate what you've created here.

- I i, I have loved it.

44 years in this house and this garden has really evolved.

- Wow.

Tell us a little bit about how it's evolved from when you first - Started.

Well, this used to be just dirt and mud and things like that, and a big old gum tree.

And it just, everything has evolved.

This is all a new area here just a couple of years ago and, and - We're - Kind of on side of your we plants and trees that come and go.

Yeah.

And we just kinda add one, lose one and just keep filling it up more things that I can find to put in here the more I get - Squeezing everything in.

- Yeah.

- Well, what I love is we, we came around from the side of your house and we're actually sort of on a side patio here.

This is just the best side use of a yard I've ever seen, actually.

- Oh, well thank you.

I, I do love it.

And I, I sit and I watch the birds, you know, there's certain birds that are up here, certain birds over there.

And I just love being out.

- Well, I know a lot of times when we try to put in a sidewalk, we try to just put enough for our feet, but you've got a nice wide space here that you can actually sit and enjoy.

Yeah.

- It's, it's a lot of fun when we have a party.

- I bet.

Well, tell me a little bit about, so you've got, a lot of the azaleas are kind of on their tail end here, it looks like, but you've got a lot that's gonna be coming on your peonies, your hydrangeas - And the oak leaf hydrangeas.

Yeah, they're just, they're just starting to bloom.

I see some little spots up there right now.

They're, they're - Green still up there.

Yeah.

But they're gonna be coming on pretty soon, probably for the garden tour, hopefully.

- Yeah, that's right.

- We're hoping, - We're - Hoping.

What I love though is with the Japanese maples and the subtlety of color right now, you've got a nice combination of textures and greens.

It's so beautiful.

- Well, thank you.

I had a teacher, art teacher teach me all about those really colors of green, all the different shades of green.

The artists always are outside most of them.

And, and then you have to get some pop some color here - And there.

Yeah.

And you've done that with some annuals.

I see some summer annuals that are early, obviously.

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

You got pentas and some zinnias and things like that.

- Yeah.

And, and my hostas, I love the hostas and some people don't like the flowers, but I do - Go ahead and let 'em, that's less maintenance Right.

To have to trim off those flowers.

Right.

Well, I like how you've added some whimsy into your garden too.

You can definitely tell you've personalized this garden a little - Bit.

Well, they're all my things.

I'm, I'm in a sorority that has owls.

- Well, it definitely adds personality, I think.

So.

I also hear some water, I think.

Is that, oh, really?

Well, we can walk around.

Do you have something that's making some Yes, I think I did.

All right, let's go take a look, if you don't mind.

Alright, Carla.

It seems like there's surprises around every corner here.

Oh, I - Do like surprises.

I, I really love the pond though.

I'll tell you what, it is so much fun.

- You got some big coi in there too.

- Yeah.

And I, I feed them most evenings.

- Do you?

- They really come out.

They've gotten big.

- So you've mentioned your garden has evolved over the years.

How old is this?

- It's probably about 20 years old, something like that.

It's been done over one time.

So it's a little bit different than we started - With.

And I like how you've got some of that setum kind of tucked in there a - Little bit.

Yeah.

Just kind of, it blew in the wind and then we've started collecting it and it's really grown and it, you would think it would freeze in the winter and be gone and it comes bigger.

- It really brings that pop of green to the front because behind you here, behind the waterfall, we've got a nice little fern deep shade garden back - There.

Yes.

I had a neighbor that gave me a start on that and they just grow and grow and grow.

- So I You even got benches back there.

That makes a nice little sitting area too.

Yeah.

Tell me a little bit about how you established that.

- Well, it just sort of evolved.

Okay.

I had two, two little benches and I needed to use them someplace and I stuck it back there and it's just kind of a nice place.

- Yeah.

And again, you've got this beautiful Japanese, couple of Japanese maples over the top of it to balance the green with room.

Yeah.

Some, - Some them have just kind of popped in nature, took 'em over.

Really?

Okay.

They just grew up.

A lot of my trees are like that.

I just, there's a little, little Japanese maple right now that's about that high - On the side of your house.

I think I saw - That over, over here a little.

Okay.

It was where we were walking.

- Okay.

- Alright.

So anyway, these beautiful pink flowers that I love, they migrated from that area over to this, - The primrose over - There and the rocks.

And so this garden we're still kind of building.

- Very nice.

Well, it's, it our all gardens, we're always constantly building and changing them.

That's - Right.

That's right.

And the birds love my holly tree.

Oh yeah.

And that's kind of a centerpiece for the nature.

So we have the, that and the feeder and the birds just are slitting around all the time.

- Well this garden is definitely a garden for the senses, with the sounds of the birds and the water.

And then also just the visual stimulation.

It's, it's a beautiful garden.

Thank you so much for sharing it - With us.

Thank you so much.

This has been a lot of fun.

- Thank you.

We're here at the home of Jane Butts and Jane, thank you so much for inviting us into your landscape here.

It's just phenomenal.

Oh, thank you.

So you, you've lived here at this historic home for - Yes.

A few years, right?

A few years, yes.

42 to be exact.

42.

And, and the house is 102 years old, so it is fared Well, - That's phenomenal.

And tell me a little bit in those 42 years of living here, how the landscape has changed.

- Well, when we moved in, there was not one tree on the front property.

They had all, they had gotten that awful oak Oh yeah.

Disease.

And were all gone and all these, there were no azaleas.

They had all just become very, very decrepit.

And so we got to begin and landscape from the very beginning.

- Wow.

It's just phenomenal what you do.

And, and I know you're, we're an interior designer, so it seems like some of that influence might have moved to the outside a little bit - Too.

A little bit.

Right, right.

The color and balance and, and textures.

Yes.

- So I have to ask, is, is pink one of your favorite colors?

- No.

I'd have to say yes.

In fact, even the room I did a designer showcase this year is pink.

Oh, really?

- Well, it works well.

And I'm sorry, we're just on the tail end of your azeleas.

Right.

But you've got a lot of other stuff.

The hydrangeas are gonna be coming on and different things, especially in the backyard.

Well that, - You know, when we planted the out when we planned all the azaleas, I felt like that was great.

But then, you know, come June and July and August wanted some extra color.

So, you know, we added the hydrangeas and added the hosta, which of course the rabbits have enjoyed some of the hosta, unfortunately, added a few pieces of color here and there and everywhere.

- Right.

And even some hello bores for that early late winter interests.

- I mean, that is so interesting to see them when it's as cold as it can be.

Right.

And you look out and you've got a bloom on, on a hellebore.

So anyway, but the hosta and the hydrangeas and the, you know, some ferns - And then of course in the backyard.

Tell us a little bit about what people might see in the backyard.

- Well, there're gonna be more, a few more azaleas, a lot of hosta - Hydrangeas.

- Hydra lots and lots of hydrangea that, because we'd like the color and some of 'em will even hold on.

All summer oak leaf hydrangeas and you know, just the regular summer, big, big bloom types.

And you got a koi pond back - There too.

- We do.

Many, many years ago, my son and and my husband did a koi pond.

And then last year we decided to have it more professionally done.

And it has just really blossomed so - Well, it's a fabulous garden.

And I can tell that a lot of your hard work and your family's hard work has gone into this over the - Years.

Right.

We've had so much fun doing it.

Enjoy it a whole lot.

- Thank you for sharing it with - Us today.

Oh, you're just more than welcome.

Thank you.

- Joining me is Brenda, Michael Haggard, and Brenda, tell us how we can see some of these fabulous gardens that we've seen.

A sneak preview of - The 73rd Annual Garden tour.

Tulsa Heart and Soil is Saturday, May 11th.

The Saturday of Mother's Day weekend.

- Yes.

- Bring mom.

That's what I - Do every year.

I - Know you do.

- High five.

Well done.

We love seeing you and mom, it's, it's a great time with your mother or any of your families, your girlfriend, things like that to get out and see inspiration.

- Yes.

Yes.

- So heart and soil.

I love that.

I love it.

Heart and - Soil.

- Yes.

Tell us a little bit about why you do this every year.

I know how much effort it is for you and all of the members to put on something like this, to get people to open up their gardens to the community.

Why all that effort?

- Well, garden Club members work year round with amazing community members like those of our garden homeowners on this year so that we can present to our community.

Educational, also beautiful, restful fun, family friendly.

And we raise it all for gardening education.

And - You always get an eclectic group of homes and gardens that we try.

Seems like this one behind us is gonna be on the tour too.

It's very modern.

Yeah.

So Unique Gardens that will again be featured this year on the Tulsa Garden Clubs.

What year, again?

73rd.

73rd Garden Tour.

And we thank you so much for doing all of this work.

I know.

- Well, thank you.

Oklahoma Gardening O State and OETA.

- And where can people get tickets?

That's the most important thing.

- So at any point until three o'clock on Friday afternoon the 10th through Eventbrite.

- Okay.

- At Tulsa Garden Center - On your website, there's a link to it.

Tulsa garden - Club.org.

- Yes.

- Okay.

Yeah.

- Well, thank you.

And if somebody shows up at the home, can they also buy tickets there?

Absolutely.

- The advanced tickets before Friday at three are $15 and then $20 a day of.

- Okay.

- Thank you so much.

Thank you.

This is gonna be fantastic.

Great.

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