2008 Southern Region Master Gardener Conference

Tour Agenda
Home Contacts Convention Facilities Conference Agenda Committees Silent Auction Speaker Schedule Keynote Speakers Breakout Sessions Tours Registration Vendors OKC Visitor's Bureau	MASTER GARDENERS 2008 REGIONAL CONFERENCE TOURS A GARDEN OF DREAMS IN NATIVE AMERICA From public and private gardens to commercial enterprise, Oklahoma gardeners across the state have worked to bring their dreams to life . . . and they want to share them with you!! Please take special note that all tours require the use of commercial bus transportation and involve extensive walking over various types of terrain, including stairs and unpaved pathways. Participants should wear comfortable, light-weight clothing and sturdy walking shoes.
	TOUR 1 WILL ROGERS PARK ARBORETUM, OSU/OKC ALL AMERICA TRIAL AND DISPLAY GARDENS and OKLAHOMA COUNTY EXTENSION CENTER GARDENS Wednesday, 18 June, 7:30 am – 12:00 pm

	Tour three wonderful public gardens in an urban setting! A 15 acre living tree and plant museum, Will Rogers Park Arboretum (www.okc.gov/Parks/will_rogers) is located in central Oklahoma City. Originating in the 1930s when City Horticulturist Henry Walters planted the first trees on the grounds, the Arboretum features plantings of oak, juniper, crab apple, crape myrtle, and redbuds. OSU/OKC is the only two-year higher education institution with official All-America Selections Trial and Display Gardens for both annual flowers and vegetables. The gardens and greenhouses are located at the 40 acre John E. Kirkpatrick Horticulture Center, one of the country’s finest horticultural education facilities, on the OSU/OKC campus. (www.osuokc.edu/agriculture) The gardens surrounding the Oklahoma County Extension Center are truly a labor of love for all things gardening. Designed, planted, and maintained by volunteers from the Master Gardeners Association of Oklahoma County, the gardens include a variety of trees, plants, and grasses that offer year round beauty to the Extension Center grounds.
	TOUR 2 and TOUR 8 MYRIAD BOTANICAL GARDENS AND CRYSTAL BRIDGE CONSERVATORY and THE OKLAHOMA CITY NATIONAL MEMORIAL Tour 2: Wednesday, 18 June, 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm Tour 8: Thursday, 19 June, 2:00 pm – 6:00 pm

	Come see the amazing plant collection at Oklahoma City's tropical conservatory, The Crystal Bridge at the Myriad Botanical Gardens (www.myriadgardens.com) located on 17 acres in the center of downtown Oklahoma City. Outdoors, walk through the Meinders Gardens including water features, native plants, appealing hardscape, and more. Afterward visit The Oklahoma City National Memorial (www.oklahomacitynationalmemorial.org) commemorating the bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in 1995. The symbolism of the landscaping will be explained by a park ranger. All admissions are included.
	TOUR 3 GREENLEAF NURSERY COMPANY and LAVENDER HILL FARM Wednesday, 18 June, 8:00 am – 6:00 pm, (Lunch Included)

	Greenleaf Nursery Company (www.greenleafnursery.com), located in Park Hill, Oklahoma, is one of North America’s largest wholesale nursery growers, producing millions of container grown plants for retailers, wholesalers, and landscapers across the U.S. and Canada. Primary products include one of the industry’s widest selections of broadleaf evergreens and deciduous shrubs, 70-plus varieties of ornamental grasses, a full compliment of shrub roses available twelve months a year, a broad conifer selection derived from Greenleaf-Oklahoma’s original “Predictable Quality” list, and annual, perennial, and tropical color. Follow the sweet, heady perfume of the purple blossoms to Lavender Hill Farm. Were it not for the fact that this is Oklahoma, one might easily mistake Judy and Dave Wheeler's countryside property for one of those picture-perfect lavender fields seen so often in the Provence region of southern France. This 60-acre hilltop hideaway, with approximately 1700 plants, has become Oklahoma’s largest commercial source of lavender. Soaps, candles, personal fragrances, sachets, and scented oils made by local artisans using the Wheelers’ lavender are sold at the farm. (www.lavenderhillfarm.net)
	TOUR 4 OKLAHOMA STATE UNIVERSITY (OSU) STUDIO GARDENS and BUSTANI PLANT FARM STILLWATER, OK Wednesday, 18 June, 8:00 am – 5:00 pm, (Lunch Included)

	Travel to Stillwater, Oklahoma, and see the home of Oklahoma Gardening at the OSU Botanical Garden and Arboretum (www.oklahomagardening.okstate.edu). Visit the many theme gardens. Following lunch, visit Bustani Plant Farm owned by garden author and former Oklahoma Gardening host, Steve Owens. His gardens include specimens discovered on his trips to the South Pacific as well as an unusual collection of native plants. (www.bustaniplantfarm.com)
	TOUR 5 OKLAHOMA CITY ZOO AND BOTANICAL GARDENS Thursday, 19 June, 2:00 pm – 6:00 pm The Oklahoma City Zoo (www.okczoo.com) is the oldest in the Southwest, often ranked in the top 10 zoos in the United States. With over 100 landscaped areas and a number of exotic animals, and special exhibits. Wayne Chambers, horticultural technician, will guide you through many exhibits, including the new Oklahoma Trails exhibit that features over 1000 native plant and animal species. We'll also tour the Butterfly Garden, a 20,000 sq. ft. exhibit that contains over 15,000 plants with the aim of attracting butterflies; the 4.2 acre Cat Forest/Lion Overlook; and 6 acre Great EscApe, featuring gorillas, orangutans and chimpanzees in a tropical forest.
	TOUR 6 PRIVATE GARDENS OF KAMALA GAMBLE and ANNE GRISWOLD Thursday, 19 June, 2:00 pm – 6:00 pm

	From Bank Examiner to organic gardener/chef/caterer/cooking teacher and Slow Food purveyor is the path chosen by Kamala Gamble of Kam’s Kookery and Guilford Gardens (www.kamskookery.com). Growing organic herbs and heirloom vegetables in her city garden, Kamala supplies local upscale restaurants and her catering business and cooking school with the freshest of produce. Kamala trained with Rick Bayless of Frontera Grill and Topolobampo in Chicago and has been featured on the Food Network Channel. Anne Griswold always says a garden reflects one’s own personality no matter its size. Welcome to her garden of rooms!! “On a cool morning, I enjoy sipping a cup of coffee and smelling the wood aroma from the chiminea in my little Southwest Garden. Strolling down a small pathway, I come to my Whatever Makes You Happy Garden—a little hodgepodge of plants and garden art and then wander over to my favorite area, A Country Garden, with its purple shed and potting bench. There is also an array of pink roses, with an old bed frame entwined amongst the Black Eyed Suzie’s. A duck can be found nesting in her favorite spot surrounded by garden art. I make my way under the large Rose of Sharon to the upper deck and enjoy a bit of quiet reading while the sound of the waterfall from the water pond soothes my soul. I take a glance every now and then to see the fish gracefully swimming underneath the water lilies”.
	TOUR 7 PRIVATE GARDENS OF DON RESLER and KENNETH & NOVA MINICK Thursday, 19 June, 2:00 pm – 6:00 pm

	The Don Resler’s took lemons and made lemonade when the City of Oklahoma City removed several beautiful old trees on a lot between two houses for a water drainage project. The area, now a veritable small park, is planted with a variety of pines-- Lacebark, Bosnian, Korean, upright Mugo, Japanese Black, and Thunderhead Dwarf Black—accented with Dynamite Crapemyrtle, roses, and Vitex. The thicket of pines leads to the multi-level back yard, complete with a sunken garden, fire pit, and meditation area. Nova and Kenneth Minick have been gardening and designing the landscape together since they were married in 1960. Several years ago, they became members of the Oklahoma County Master Gardeners so they could use their expertise to help others. Water features, raised beds, and interesting plant materials fill the spacious grounds of this lovely home. Be sure not to miss the ancient bristlecone pine that is growing in a moss rock obtained through their landscape supply company from New Mexico and an oak tree that they have been told is between 300 and 500 years old.
	TOUR 9 PRIVATE GARDEN OF MARJORIE MILLER Friday, 20 June, 9:00 am – 12:00 pm

	Marjorie Miller is an Oklahoma Gardening Icon; at age 95, she still works her 4 lots located on a corner of a side street in Oklahoma City. A Master Gardener since 1981, last year the Oklahoma County Master Gardeners presented her with a newly created award- "Distinguished Grand Master Gardener" for her over 1500 volunteer hours. Her beautifully organized garden consists of many unique heirloom plants and trees, as well as new introductions.
	TOUR 10 PRIVATE GARDEN OF HUGH AND JENNIFER STOUT Friday, 20 June, 9:00 am – 12: 00 pm

	Tucked away in a rural pocket near the heart of Oklahoma City is the extensive country garden of Hugh and Jennifer Stout. Hundreds of ornamental and drought-tolerant plants are interspersed with touches of whimsy and garden art. Hugh is the past president of the Oklahoma Horticulture Society, and is very active in the Iris and Hemerocallis Societies, both of which toured his garden during their 2007 National Conventions held in Oklahoma.
	TOUR 11 SUNSHINE NURSERY, CLINTON OK Saturday, 21 June, 10.30 am – 5:30 pm, (Lunch Included)

	True Oklahoma treasures, Steve Bieberich, a native Oklahoman, and wife, Sherry, have owned and operated Sunshine Nursery and arboretum in Western Oklahoma since 1981. His research and trial efforts have led him to China and Tibet and brought him worldwide recognition. Bieberich was consulted on preservation efforts for the Survivor Tree, the elm that survived the bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, and their nursery was selected to raise saplings from the tree. More information on the Bieberich’s and Sunshine Nursery is available at www.sunshinenursery.com.
	TOUR 12 LINNAEUS TEACHING GARDENS and PHILBROOK MUSEUM GARDENS TULSA OK Saturday, 20 June, 10:30 am – 5:30 pm, (Lunch Included)

	The Linnaeus Teaching Garden (www.tulsagardencenter.com), a project of the Tulsa Garden Center, is a demonstration/teaching garden located in Woodward Park. Named in honor of Carl Linnaeus, Swedish naturalist and the “Father of Botany”, this unique garden has thousands of lush plants, gorgeous hardscaping, fountains, water features, ornate trellises and pergolas. No admission fee. Originally built in 1928 by oil magnate Waite Phillips, this 23 acre estate and mansion is the home of the Philbrook Art Museum (www.philbrook.org). The gardens include Italianate Renaissance formal and informal gardens, reflecting pools, garden follies, and a sculpture walk. Admission fee is included. Tour includes Gardens only.