As many of you know, horticultural education is one of the prime directives, for not only the Tulsa County OSU Extension but also for the Tulsa Master Gardeners. Because of this, we teach about horticulture wherever we can and in whatever ways we can. As part of that educational outreach, we have two opportunities for you on the horizon.

Here’s a question we get asked many times: what type of plant would you recommend for my location/situation? We have lists of plants that are appropriate for certain locations that are both annuals and perennials but sometimes it’s hard to make decisions based on photos or descriptions. What really helps is to see the plants “in the wild” so to speak. To help that happen, the Tulsa Master Gardeners have a yearly Garden Tour with Master Gardeners available at each location to answer your questions. This year’s garden tour theme is Luxury Landscapes, and we have 5 beautifully landscaped homes to inspire you with possibilities for your home garden.

The first home is titled From First House to Forever Home. These homeowners have lived in this house for 47 years and they have transitioned their home from trampolines and soccer goals into a beautiful landscape that includes sun and shade gardens. They also have a beautiful butterfly garden.

Next is a home titled Inspired by Family…Seasons of Life. This garden is filled with perennials and has a specific seasonal area associated with each child’s birthday. Do you know what Hugelkultur is? You will after visiting this home garden.

The third home is titled A Generational Garden. Members of this family have gardening in their blood as it has been passed down from generation to generation. It contains homemade containers made by the owner’s daughter as well as hydrangeas from the homeowner’s grandmother. This Generational Garden is also filled with pollinator plants.

Fourth we have a Landscape for Leisurely Living. If you are looking for ideas on what to grow in shady locations, this is the place. This homeowner has been cultivating this shady garden space for 35 years. It contains a variety of tropicals that move indoors each winter and there is even a fig tree that was brought from Greece.

And last but not lease we have a landscape called an Ornamental Beauty and Intentional Gardening. This garden features a variety of native plants, has a special pollinator plant area, and features a vegetable garden like we all wish we had. This homeowner utilizes timed watering and in-ground composting as well as Integrated Pest Management practices.

The Luxury Landscapes Garden Tour happens on June 4^th and 5^th. Advance tickets can be purchased on our website for $10 each and will be available at the homes during the tour for $15. Addresses will be posted on our website during the tour and on your tickets (www.tulsamastergardeners.org).

Next up we have the fall version of our Urban Gardener Training. We teach the fall series for a variety of reasons: it’s timed to coincide with fall vegetable garden planting schedules, fall is the best time to select and plant trees and shrubs, and cool season turf grass does best when seeded in the fall. Believe it or not, gardening is a 12-month activity each year.

There are six Urban Gardener classes covering a variety of topics. The first three classes are what we call Seed to Supper which covers soil management, composting, types of vegetable gardens, seed selecting, seed starting, tips for growing vegetables successfully here in Oklahoma, and natural pest control practices. The second series of three classes is called our Lawn and Landscape group which build upon the first Seed to Supper classes and continue with pollinator gardens, trees and shrubs, and turf management.

The classes begin on Tuesday July 19^th and continue for a total of six evenings as we meet from 6:00 p.m. To 8:00 p.m. On Tuesday evenings at the OSU Extension office on 15^th street.

This year we started our Seed to Supper Farm which serves as a place to not only educate Master Gardeners about growing fruits, herbs, and vegetables but this year’s Urban Gardener classes will include a field trip to the Farm for some hands-on learning about growing vegetables. Another driving purpose for our new Seed to Supper Farm is to donate the produce grown on this farm to groups in Tulsa that distribute food to those in need. In this sense it becomes a true Seed to Supper Farm. We are very excited about the possibilities.

You can register for the Urban Gardener classes on our website (www.tulsamastergardeners.org). When signing up, you can register for all six classes or either the Seed to Supper segment or the Lawn and Landscape segment, depending on where your interest lies. Of course, we hope you sign up for all six. Registration for all six classes costs $45. Signing up for either of the two segments instead of all six classes runs $25. Seating is limited for these classes, and they usually sell out, so if you have an interest, don’t delay. See you in the garden!

You can get answers to all your gardening questions by calling the Tulsa Master Gardeners Help Line at 918-746-3701, dropping by our Diagnostic Center at 4116 E. 15th Street, or by emailing us at mg@tulsamastergardeners.org.