- Welcome to Oklahoma Gardening.

Join us as we head to Tulsa for a sneak peek of the Tulsa Garden Club's Annual Garden Tour.

We visit three of the four beautiful landscapes, plus we'll share all the details about when and how to visit them in person.

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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.

Oklahoma Gardening's 50th anniversary.

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

- People in Oklahoma love their gardens.

- I feel like this is the people's show.

We all know we're working towards the common goal, and that's to produce the best quality television and information for our audience.

It's our favorite time of year.

We're back over here at Tulsa for the annual Tulsa Garden Club's Garden tour.

And joining me today is Jimmy Black with all of the details.

- Yes.

This year we are so excited.

We have four amazing homes and gardens.

Three of which you get a sneak peek in.

- We're really gonna see the homes in some of these.

- Yes.

Yeah.

Two of the homes you get to go in and see the majority of the homes.

One is the Home Builders Association Designer Showcase home.

You get to see the entire home.

- Wow.

And I've heard it's amazing inside.

It's still under work a little bit Right now - They are doing the finishing touches on it.

Yeah.

But it will be in perfect condition for the public and to show how wonderful of a home it is.

And, and one of the other houses had a famous interior designer in there.

- Yes.

Get to see Yes.

Here in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Everyone knows who Charles Fare is.

The current owners Bill and Chris were good friends with him.

They bought it after his passing and have done everything outside themselves.

But the inside was still original to win Charles Fare.

- Right.

And while the inside's amazing, the outside, they've done an incredible job squeezing so much into a kind of a smaller space.

Actually.

- Yes.

I mean, it's, it's a great example of formal gardening.

Every square inch is meticulously maintained.

I think Bill and Chris said there's four or five sitting areas, so it holds a lot of - People.

I wanna, - And it's wonderful.

- One of the things I always love about this is we come a couple of weeks prior to the actual tour.

Yes.

And there's a lot of azaleas and dogwoods, but it's amazing how the seasons change in just three weeks to Mother's - Day.

Yeah, absolutely.

I mean, everything's in full bloom now.

The dogwoods, the azaleas, but everything, a lot of the homeowners are planning now are going to be in full bloom in about two weeks.

- Right.

We're gonna have hydrangeas and things like that Yes.

That are coming up.

- Roses.

Yes.

- Peonies.

Yes.

- Peonies.

They're, they planted petunias just, I mean, yeah.

It's, it's ready to explode.

- Well, so tell us, how do we get tickets to this event and also what the date is?

- Well, it is May 10th, which is the tour the day before Mother's Day.

- Always a good idea to bring your mom.

Right?

- Absolutely.

I've got my mom, my sister, my nieces all lined up.

They're coming.

And our patron event is here at Wonderful Woodward Park, the Tulsa Garden Center at the Teaching Garden.

Okay.

It's just gonna be a wonderful Friday and Saturday night.

- Okay.

So anybody can be a patron if, if they want to find more information on that on your - Website.

Absolutely.

Yeah.

Just go to our website and that money goes to us giving back to the community.

We give to 4H, we give to food on the move.

Global Gardens, I mean, the list goes on.

- A lot of OSU scholarships that have, - And a lot of OSU scholarships.

Yes.

- Yeah.

- Absolutely.

- Well, that's fantastic.

So again, if you wanna just come to the actual garden tour, where can people go?

Your website has information on that.

- They can go to our website.

Yes.

Or they can get them right here at the Tulsa Garden Center at Woodward Park.

- All right.

Mark your calendars May 10th.

- Absolutely.

May 10th.

We'll be here.

- All right.

Thank you so much.

- Thank you.

- My name is Tanya Shallenberger.

I work for Paul and Marshall.

I'm her personal assistant and house manager here.

She bought this house, I wanna say it was built in the seventies around 76.

And she wanted to have a backyard where friends family could get together.

She's a very outdoors person and so it started out small and it's just patios and pools have grown and grown throughout the years.

We have an area that's right off of the kitchen that she loves.

It has a TV and a solo stove, and that's where she loves to do her cooking and grilling.

We also have an a pergola out back that she has.

We utilize the dining area.

There's just lots of spaces you'll see throughout the whole yard that has chairs and ready for people to come sit and gather and have fun.

She loves anything outdoors, anything from fishing to tennis.

She plays tennis weekly.

She's, she's not here when she's home.

She's at the tennis quarter at the country club, golfing.

There are some things in the pool house that, like a swordfish that her son and her caught in Marathon, Florida, and it's kind of grown over the years.

Some she buys at fundraisers, some she gets given to her.

And anything that deals with tennis or golf, you'll see probably out in the pool house.

When you step off the, the deck or the kitchen and you walk out, you wouldn't realize that you're in Midtown Tulsa.

It's very quiet.

We've got a lot of, a lot of yard here around, and it, the outdoor space is just part of the house.

She kind of wanted it that way.

She wanted it to be a retreat for her family to have fun and come over and play and not worry about neighbors.

She has some peonies and she has some roses.

She loves them.

And we have one area where the kids will hide Easter eggs on Sunday and they'll do their Easter egg hunt.

And it's just an area that she wants pretty for the kids and to walk through and to find eggs.

So that's why we have the rose garden up on top.

We just kind of gathered a lot of plants that we like and, and planted them.

It's, it's not, there wasn't a rhyme or reason behind any of it really.

Just if she liked it, I tried to put it out there for her.

So this area right here is the rose garden.

Paula loves Roses and peonies.

So we've tried to put a lot of those in for her around here - Sunday.

Well, they're just about to pop, aren't - They?

Oh, we had some bloom.

- Okay.

- Already, but it, it's really pretty when it's all, they're all bloomed - And we missed the daffodils, but I bet they were - Beautiful here.

They were.

They were pretty, - Kind of lighten up the shady area a little bit.

Yes.

- And we have some hydrangeas, we have more hydrangeas on the other side, but this area right through here, we use for Sundays Easter.

So the Easter bunny normally hides as eggs throughout here.

- Okay.

- And she's got several grandkids that will be here.

And it's just a fun spot for them to walk through and do their Easter egg hunt.

- Well, I wasn't expecting this topography back here.

And it's a good vantage point to kind of see over everything there - Too.

Well it, the construction we just did.

It kind of opens it all up.

So you see the pool and the pergola area.

And we've got a new slide.

We've got a new spa area, we've got all new pool equipment.

We changed the fountain into a grotto so the kids will love it.

And yeah, it's had a lot of renovations throughout the years.

- Well, the place has beautiful curb of appeal here.

We've got a lot of different foundation plants and a few pansies still lingering.

I - Know they'll be coming out really soon and we'll fill 'em this whole area with sun patients.

- Okay.

I think - That's really pretty.

- Do you do any particular color or, - Red was last year, I believe.

- Okay.

All right.

Well, it's hard to compete with the azelia color - Right now.

Aren't they pretty, I kind of like the purples.

I think they're my favorite color.

- It's a good combination.

They're just such a pop of color.

But I mean, these dogwoods are giving us - Quite a show too.

I know.

And they really stand out among the pink and the purple.

I think we tried to make it, the plants that we put in, try to make it homey and, and feel like they've always been here.

We didn't want it to be like landscaped in a way that it was so precise that you knew someone else came in to do everything.

Because we've basically done it ourselves here.

So she just wanted it to be representative of the home.

- Hi, I am Christopher Roberts.

And I'm Bill Mullen.

We've been in the house for about 11 years in May.

It belonged to a friend of ours, Charles Padre.

And we just like the cottage style and his look.

This is our kitchen, Casey.

Beautiful.

And a lot of the stuff you see in here came from Charles Padre.

Okay.

The beams are, he put in, they're probably over a hundred years old.

I'm not exactly sure where he got them.

The floors were gifted to him by one of his clients as a housewarming gift for this house.

- I feel like there's a lot of texture in his style.

I mean, from the beans - To the, yeah.

All different colors.

The wallpaper is from his signature wallpaper line, the oak leaf and, - And he's from Oklahoma, right?

- Yes.

- Okay.

- Oak - Leaves are, - Yeah.

Yeah.

He loved that design.

So you'd see that in a lot of his pieces and works and stuff.

- Beautiful.

- Staffordshire cows, I was told was one of his favorite pieces.

And we were lucky enough to get those.

There's some back here too.

And he had those in all of his houses that I can remember seeing them from years ago.

So this - Was his last house that he was in.

- It was his last house, yes.

- And so you guys were able to go ahead and keep some of the pieces - Right.

They, his family allowed us to come in and pick what we wanted.

Some of the pieces had already been selected, but everything pretty much was for sale.

So we were fortunate enough to get a lot of, a lot of things from that belonged to him.

- So very beautiful.

And and you knew him for - Several years, right?

Yeah, I met him in 1981 and we were friends for quite a long time.

So he was an awesome person.

Very generous, talented, obviously.

- Yeah.

- A good guy.

- No, absolutely.

And I love kind of the recycled wood and, and materials he's used also.

Can you tell us a little bit about the light fixtures and the cabinets as well?

- Yeah.

The pantry doors were from an old Amore and the upper peak parts of it and bottom were new lumber.

And they just stained the whole thing to make it look like it was an original piece.

So it looks a thousand years old almost.

It's pretty cool.

- Well, what a treat for visitors to be able to see - Some of of this.

Absolutely.

Yeah.

It's wonderful.

- Beautiful.

Thank you for sharing with us.

Yeah, - Absolutely.

- So since the inside was pretty much done to our satisfaction, just a matter of moving in and furniture placement, we took the entire backyard and made it our footprint and project over the last 11 years.

- We were told that the designer in the 1950s from Phil Brick originally designed the yard.

We added the patio room and really all the landscaping in the yard, except for the larger trees we put in ourselves.

- I don't think we've left any of the sections untouched.

We've, we've added everything where we could and then probably then some.

So the pool was the last thing that we put into the backyard, and there was no access for the larger equipment to be brought in.

So it was actually a, a hand dug pool.

The dirt was hauled out by wheelbarrows.

So we connected with Tom's Outdoor Living and they were instrumental in getting us what we wanted here.

- We love the patio room.

It's just nice to be out.

We, you know, enjoy watching football.

We can see the TV from the pool and just, you know, hanging out.

- We have Christmas parties every year, and this seems to be the place where everybody congregates.

We turn on the fire, have some music, and sometimes it's standing room only in there.

Everybody ends out there.

We, we always end up outside.

We have a lot of different sitting areas in the, in the yard, if you haven't noticed.

We do have the pool area.

We've got a fire pit area, our seating behind the patio room that we just kind of hang out with friends for cocktail or whatever.

We have park benches placed around in the landscaping area.

And so yeah, just anywhere you'd like to sit and enjoy you, you have a place to go.

- The color of the azalea is really bringing you around this corner, doesn't it?

- Yes, it does.

This is one of the sections where we decided to go with the, the red color pink colored azaleas.

- Beautiful.

And then of course, you got your fountain here that kind of drowns out any city noise, right?

- Yes, it does.

This, this thing, if you wanna just come out and relax, this is very tranquil area to sit.

- I love this combination of the dark purple with the, the pink tulips.

- Yeah.

What's the - Plan for - Summer?

Well, when, when the tulips have, have run their course, we are going to take all of these out and obviously come back in.

We've got some purple verbina that's gonna come in here.

- Oh, okay.

Okay.

- So we're gonna keep with the purple, but it'll just be a whole different look once it's all done.

- Well, I love the tailored Junipers and how you use those kind of as a softened boundary, you know?

- Yeah.

We, we went with this option just because the, they're easy to maintain.

They do create a, a cover, a buffer with the fence that you don't even really see.

They do grow very tall.

And we were really in love with that option as well.

So - Yeah, we actually have done two renovations in the backyard.

We, we planted a bunch of holly trees that didn't survive.

And so this, what you're looking at now is the last thing we did about a couple of years ago.

We love the junipers and the azaleas and all the plants.

- We like the way it blooms kind of in transition through the seasons.

I mean, now we're seeing tulips and azaleas.

In May, you'll see different colors from all kinds of different, other plants that are coming in and being planted and rose bushes.

We have varieties of rose bushes that are now blooming or ready to bloom.

So those will be ready to go for the day of the tour.

- I am Tom Butchko with Tom's Outdoor Living.

My wife and I, Nina, we've got two active boys.

We're out here all the time, including this morning and like most mornings, playing a little tennis on the side yard.

And it's built to, to be enjoyed.

It really is our, our resort backyard.

And my wife and I, we started going to Tulum a couple years back and really liked it and, and just wanted to bring a tropical vibe to the backyard.

And I really wanted it to be different.

Even if you had to, you know, start replacing plants as annuals, it was still worth it.

My wife will tell you it, the only thing she wanted from this project was pickleball.

And so there, there was a definitely a scramble for a ball that would bounce on this.

- And now you don't hear that pong pong back and forth.

Right?

- Yeah.

Yes, exactly.

It really turned out well.

And it's the best of both worlds with touch tennis, you know, it's almost pickleball and the soccer and the basketball and, and really just the room to, to run and play.

- And all of this is movable.

Right.

Exactly.

You have a full basketball kind of area here, or, or you could have a reception here if you wanted to.

Yeah.

- Or multiple sports with, you know, multiple groups going.

I mean, we, you know, with the birthday parties over here or end of season basketball parties that, that, you know, we love to host.

It's, it's just, it's great to see the kids figure out how to use the space and, and love it.

You know, we were able to keep the irrigation on through the summer construction and keeping the specimen pieces, the, the coral bark, Japanese maple and the weeping blood Good.

Keeping those alive.

You know, they came with a house and you just really wanted to make sure those were protected during the construction process.

We do a lot of phases of construction at, at Tom's, and this was definitely a stopping point for our construction.

We did the, the concrete wall, which absolutely we wanted at a seat height so that players wait in waiting.

Could be, could be, you know, ready to go.

But the azaleas it, it was, it certainly it knocks down the balls when there was a lot more soccer going on.

It protected the windows beautifully.

And the jack maple it, it certainly took a hit during the construction, but it's some of those old school Maple Ridge landscaping plant material.

And so it'll get transitioned over into the more resort kind of feel here sooner than later with the, with how the chap maple is unfortunately dying back.

- And let's go back to this turf, 'cause I know you have the golf course behind us here too, for the putting green.

A lot of people think that there's no maintenance on this artificial turf grass, but there is a little bit.

Can you tell us a little bit about that?

- Yeah.

You know, so we, when we install turf, we try to have maintenance plans at least one visit a year where we're res sanding, you know, checking on the edges, making sure it's holding up and you know, it, it does have an aggregate base and making sure the drainage isn't washing that out.

It does take some maintenance and you wanna blow it off and, you know, you still have to, you know, keep it clean, especially spring in Maple Ridge with the, with everything, dropping - All the little seeds.

- Oh my gosh.

Yes.

- So part of that function is not having to mow a lawn next to the pool.

Right.

- Yes.

And you know, you go to enough kiddie birthday parties with a pool and the concrete is slick.

And I knew I didn't wanna have to worry about it.

And so this, it, it's also a good gripper.

- Yeah.

- And it, it really helps you relax and, you know, we do so much AstroTurf at, at Tom's, especially in these areas between patio and pool, where it's hard for the grass to survive and it just, it makes a really nice option.

- Right.

And you're, you're absolutely right, the tile would be slick and kids are always falling and around the wet pool.

- Yep.

- So you got some wystiria that are gonna be beautiful.

Yes.

You know, they're getting bigger, right?

Yes, - They are.

They're, they're happy and healthy.

And so future plans, a lot of phase approach around here and at our company, but just have a little old school probably looking metal pergola of sorts just to help shade the patio as well.

Okay.

And bring up the wisteria and keep it elevated.

We have a, a big southern magnolia in the corner and I, I grew up with a southern magnolia at Tom Senior's house.

And so that, that smell of the bloom and summer that it, it just, it, it brings back good memories.

And so we've got one of those and you can really see in the deck work how we drop the deck so that the, those big leaves didn't just fly into the pool all summer long.

And then we've got a couple big lob lolly pines that we take pride in cleaning up after.

'cause there's, you know, there's always something dropping around here, but the shade that it provides and, and really the screening as well.

It, it's invaluable.

- Joining me next is Kathy Covington, who is the current president of the Tulsa Garden Club.

And you guys always do so much in the community.

Let's talk about some of those programs.

- Well, that is the, the basis of our group.

We, we do community gardening and education.

And education.

We start from the littlest, we have a generation green that we have teaching in the teaching garden and all the way to adults.

We have programs once a month in the Tulsa Garden Center that's our home.

And we have programs that teach our our members all different kinds of things.

- And you, and you take people of all ages.

'cause I know I kind of grew up in the club.

I think - We do.

We do.

And we encourage, we, we would like more.

- So how would people who are interested in the club join?

- Well, our meetings are the first Monday of every month at 11:00 AM at the Tulsa Garden Center.

So you can come there and join.

You can get on our website and join, there's brochures in the Tulsa Garden Center right as you walk in the door to join and you can contact me or to join.

So, - Okay.

A lot of opportunities.

A lot of opportunities.

And I know you guys have like different plant cells and different floral events also throughout the year.

- Yes, we do.

We have, every year we've got one major flower show that we do in the Tulsa Garden Center.

And then we have crazy things we do in June.

We do a magical mystery tour.

We get on a bus, we don't know where we're going and we go somewhere and we learn, - Which just sounds fabulous.

Oh, it's, it's, I know that's soon.

It'll be a to Sounds like an exciting group to be a part of.

It is.

And the garden tour is just one aspect, but it's one of your biggest fundraisers.

- It is our biggest fundraiser, yes.

- So again, remind us a little bit about where that money, those proceeds go to and how important it is for the community.

- Most of it goes to education.

So we give scholarships at OSU, we give help.

The Second Chance program at TCC, they, they have a horticulture program at Connors Correctional Center and we sponsor that.

We pay for all their equipment that they need.

And so most of those that they come out with a degree and they have a job when they come out and that rescission rate is like 87%.

They're, they don't come back.

'cause we teach 'em.

- That's amazing.

- It is.

- So again, the tour is coming up on Saturday, May 10th and people can go to your website for tickets, - Right?

Yes, yes, yes they can.

- Excellent.

Thank you so much.

Okay.

There are a lot of great horticulture activities this time of year.

Be sure and consider some of these events in the weeks ahead.

Next week we shed some light on a few projects we've been working on here at the Botanic Garden.

So join us right here on Oklahoma Gardening for the Tulsa Garden Club's Annual Garden Tour.

And joining me is Jimmy Black, who is here to give us all the details.

Thank you so much for sharing.

Yeah.

Okay.

To find out more information about show topics as well as recipes, videos, articles, fact sheets, and other resources, including a directory of local extension offices, be sure to visit our website at Oklahoma gardening dot OK state.edu.

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You can find this entire show and other recent shows as well as individual segments on our gardening YouTube channel.

Tune into our OK Gardening Classics YouTube channel to watch segments from previous hosts.

Oklahoma Gardening is produced by the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service as part of the Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources at Oklahoma State University.

The Botanic Garden at OSU is home to our studio gardens and we encourage you to come visit this beautiful Stillwater Gem.

We would like to thank our generous underwriters, the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, food and Forestry, and Shape Your Future, a program of the Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust.

Additional support is also provided by Greenleaf Nursery and the Garden Debut Plants, the Oklahoma Horticulture Society, the Tulsa Garden Club, and the Tulsa Garden Center.