- Welcome to Oklahoma Gardening.

Today we're sharing some garden inspiration.

As we visit Martin Park.

We learn more about the history of the Oklahoma City Park system.

And then we look back at our trip to Franklin Park in Columbus, Ohio.

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Oklahoma.

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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.

Today we're here at Martin Park Nature Center, just north of Oklahoma City, near the turnpike.

Surprisingly you wouldn't think it.

Joining me is Neil Garrison, who has a long history here at Martin Park.

Neil, thank you so much for being here with us.

I mean, what a beautiful office.

Yeah, right.

- It is a nice place.

- So tell us a little bit about your history with this place.

- Well, I worked here for 30 years.

I retired in '09 and it's, well, the main reason for working here for 30 years, it's a wonderful place.

I really enjoyed what I was doing here.

And then after I retired, I said, what am I gonna do with my life?

Well, I still come out as a volunteer here and do the things that I love.

Lead in nature hikes and stuff like that.

- So, and you were a naturalist?

Yes.

Was your role here, right?

- Yes.

- And what, one of the reasons why we're down here is Oklahoma Gardening, celebrating our 50th anniversary.

And I know you guys are too.

Can you tell us a little bit about the history of this park?

- So it's been park land for 50 years, and prior to that it was privately owned property.

And that used to be an active cattle ranch.

Back at that day, it was in the sixties, is when they had an opportunity to go to the voters and says, here's the idea we're thinking about there.

There's a parcel of land here.

And if the voters say yes, then through a bond issue we'll provide some funds to actually buy this, keep it as a green space, and then we'll do have it in the park system and we'll deal with that from there.

So from 1962, the voter said, yes, the bought the land, it was a green space.

And then the question came up, well, what are we gonna actually do with it?

Are we gonna put some swing sets and slides and stuff in here like this?

And in 19 74, 75 is when they actually decided, well, it has so many natural features, how about if we actually have a nature center here?

So that's how this all got started is it's, it's a natural ecosystem with hiking trails that go through the area.

There's an interpretive facility that's here in the park itself.

So it's a place for people to come out, enjoy the outer doors, and then also learn more about the out doors too.

And the, and the real nice feature about the park is that it is in Oklahoma City.

- Yeah.

Managed by Oklahoma City.

- Yes.

- The city of Oklahoma City, correct, yes.

Yeah.

- This is Martin Park is a neat attribute in that if you've got a couple of hours to spare - And - You don't want to drive halfway across the state, come to Martin Park and enjoy the natural system.

- Absolutely.

We're right off the turnpike.

I mean, you wouldn't even know it.

And as you get deeper into it, you lose all that city traffic noise.

- Yeah.

- What are some of the wildlife that people can see here?

Obviously birds.

We've got one that's kind of playing around us here.

- Yeah, there's kind of an unusual situation right here.

For the most part, the birds are kind of standoffish and they're not gonna get close to people.

But this one little individual bird that we have this morning for some reason, well, there we go on cue.

He, he has this fascination with people that for some reason he's acclimated to people the most remote corners of the park.

Way in the back is managed as a nature sanctuary where there are no established trails.

And the main reason for doing that is to have a hands-off area, is that there are those species of animals that are not like this little bird here, that they, they would not do well with excessive human disturbance.

And so what we do is provide a home for them, a sanctuary for them where they can go, they can still live in the park, but they don't have to be shoulder to shoulder with people.

- And also not just animals, but you have beautiful plants.

Right.

As a, as a horticulturist.

I'm coming to look at the plants too.

And I mean, this is a massive baroque we have behind us.

Let's talk about some of those key features that you'll find in the park - Also.

Okay, so the flora standpoint, the native plants, the wild plants and stuff like that, that's kind of the forte of Martin Park in that there's those species that are Oklahoma species.

Those species that are central Oklahoma species that are cast iron plants, they don't need any kind of pampering.

They've always lived here.

And if there's a drought, they can, a drought, if there's a excess moisture coming outta the air, they can deal with that.

If it's hot, it's cold and all that kind of stuff.

They don't need people to come out with a garden hose, a bucket of fertilizer or something like that.

They, you pretty well just stand back and they just take care of themselves.

But the other thing that goes hand in hand with that is we have a lot of native Flo that's out here, but the native wildlife that lives out here, they've always lived in association with those native plants.

So when they're looking for food sources, the food sources is gonna be there.

When they're looking for places where they can hide from some animal that might wanna do them harm, there's places for cover where they can get away.

So that's, that's what's kind of - Neat.

It's a beautiful place out here.

I mean, and there's so much to see.

We can spend all day out here with you.

And I know you're a wealth of information and we're so excited that you guys are celebrating your 50th anniversary.

And I would encourage anybody, again, it's just a short hop right over here from anywhere in the downtown Oklahoma City metropolitan area.

Really.

- Admission is free too.

- Admission is free.

Yeah.

So where can people find more information if they wanna come out and visit?

There are hours.

And those change from season to season.

Yes.

But a lot of programming that you guys offer as well, including some you do yourself.

- Yeah.

I've been retired since oh nine, but I love this place and I love doing nature hikes and stuff, so I still come out here as a volunteer.

I lead birdwatching hikes and then I also lead native plant hikes as well, so people can participate in that.

And there's no charge for participating in those educational programs.

But in addition to that, there's a lot of other programming that's out here as well.

- So your website would be the best place to get that information?

- Yes.

- Alright.

Well thank you so much Neil, for sharing all of this with us.

- You're welcome.

- Today we're here in the beautiful Color Garden at Will Rogers Park in Oklahoma City.

And joining me is Brian Dory, who has recently retired from the Oklahoma City Community Foundation.

And you probably have seen him on our show quite a few times in the past, but you're here today because you have turned author during retirement and it was - Kind of at the retirement party.

They said one more thing.

And it was the Kirkpatrick Philanthropies wanted to remember, I guess me, through retirement and publish a book on the parks of Oklahoma City.

- It's a beautiful book.

And I don't think there's a better person that they could have asked because as a landscape architect, and I know a history buff also, you know, you, you did a beautiful job of the account of how Oklahoma City really was established based off of the park system, including this one we're out here today.

- Yeah.

And I wanna say it was, it was a fantastic thing.

I knew of Bob Blackburn, I've talked to Bob Blackburn for years and different things, and I just said, Bob, why don't you co-author it with me?

So you had that global history of Oklahoma City and then some of the unique parts of parks and horticulture and trees in Oklahoma - City and, and it, and it goes back all the way to the evolution of the land.

That's right.

Really.

And then fast forward to the land run, I should say.

And then That's right.

You know, to modern day with Scissor Tail Park and everything.

That's right.

It, it's, it's phenomenal.

So, you know, I used to work at Myd Gardens, you know this.

- That's right.

- And we all know downtown Oklahoma City has a lot of street names and I think you brought those street names to life.

Shartel, Classon, all of these names that were founding fathers.

Really?

- That's right.

I mean, you know, Wheeler Park and the Wheeler Bank.

You have so much of that in that history as Oklahoma City starting to develop and following this American Park movement that pretty much started with Central Park in New York and then fast forward 50 years in Oklahoma cities here.

And you know, it wasn't about one park, it's about a system of parks and how the Grand Boulevard developed.

And there were four carn stone parks and how everything, and there was politics in it, and there were wars and depression and the dust bowl, oil boom, oil bust.

Right.

Everything happens and it all affects the way the parks work.

- Parks play a significant role in human health and human activity.

And they recognize that early on.

Right.

Don't, can you - Share, share a little bit about that?

Well, I don't think I, you know, when you talk about Central Park and you read any of those original accounts, it's all about give people a place to breathe.

People were congested.

They were there.

It wasn't, we didn't have good running water.

We didn't have good sewage system.

We did.

They wanted a place where these people that were working six days a week could go, it would be free anybody because it was small, rich, or pool - Was industrial, - Right?

That's right.

It was, it was.

Industrial revolution had happened.

Tenement houses had happened and it was about give them a place.

And a lot of times it was that cool place down by the creek where it was the picnic grounds.

And the parks were originally called pleasure grounds.

They were called picnic grounds.

They weren't, and they were for rest and relaxation.

They really weren't for public activity.

In fact, it wasn't until about 1900 that the first swing sets were introduced and they were told to kind of stay in the corner and stay fenced off because people wanted it as a place of beauty, rest, relaxation, return back to nature like maybe they had had in the countryside.

- Okay.

And now we know a whole different kind of idea of what parks are with scissor tail.

That's right.

And the engagement and the activity of it all.

That's, let's talk a little bit about, I never realized why there's so many lakes at all these parks too.

That's right.

Let's talk about what those were.

The original swimming pools.

- Yeah.

A lot of times the bathing beaches and all, you know, there was, there was a lot of things that happened.

One is, it was cooler and the trees in the great Southern plains here, it was a prairie.

So where were the trees, the native trees?

They were down in the riparian soils.

They were down next to the ponds.

So that was the place where shade was.

And they would talk about Wheeler Park and they said 10,000 people a Sunday would descend on Wheeler Park.

But what it was contingent on, a lot of it was contingent on was it a place that people could get to.

So the trolley lines would go out to where an area was, that's where the park was.

And that's where development happened.

Unfortunately, at the same time, because they were rivers and low bodies of water, a lot of times that's where flooding happened.

And the fear of malaria from - Mosquitoes.

Oh yeah.

- So you, you turn around and it was kind of a love hate.

Everybody wanted to go down there, but at the same time there was repair, there was stagnant water after a river flood and all.

So you started seeing the city move upland and they do that, but they had to sit there and plant more trees.

They had to make it comfortable.

- And yet now our Oklahoma River.

That's right.

Right, that's right.

Is has got the Wheeler District that That's right.

And we've got Bricktown.

That's right.

And we've got all of this activity engagement.

That's right.

That's kind of come full circle from what those people early in the 19 hundreds.

That's right.

1800, late 18 hundreds kind of had envisioned, - If you read about Wheeler Park and all these people and all, and now you look at Scissor Tail Park, myriad Gardens, and you look at those activities, very much the same.

Only 125 years difference.

- And what's really cool is the Ed Lichen Conservatory.

That's right.

Was originally at Wheeler Park.

It had moved a couple of times, right?

Yeah, - Yeah.

There was a greenhouse that was there.

And there's some talk about, was it actually that conservatory?

But it was Lord and Burnham.

And they talk about that.

And then because of all the flooding in Wheeler Park, they needed to sit there and move the zoo.

Original zoo was there and they moved and the greenhouse moved to the Fair Park, which is where Douglas High School is.

- Okay.

- And that's it.

But at the same time, 1929, the O Oklahoma City oil field was founded right by Troper Park there.

Guess what one?

And they said the fumes and the vibrations were so much they couldn't keep the glass from breaking.

So it was taken back down and it was moved and kind of mothballed what we'd call to Will Rogers Park.

And then Henry Walter and his crew during the war did a lot of the construction.

They hu a lot of the wood themselves here and they put up the original greenhouse here at Will Rogers.

- I think your book is just fantastic.

And a lot of it is history.

Obviously it's, it's true history, but it's got drama in it because of the, the oil booms, the bust, the economy, things like that.

How it went into disrepair.

And then it's come and, and Will Rogers is an example of that too.

- And you know, working with a plant material in the end you have USDA coming in and trying to figure out these alkaline soils of what was gonna grow here.

OSU working, the Woodward test station, Henry Walter working here.

There were trifectas of very brilliant people that we're trying to figure out how we're going to turn around and let this place develop.

- Well, and speaking of plants, I see some cannons right behind you.

And there's kind of some stories about how the cannon played into Oklahoma City development also.

So it - Played in at a big role from back at Wheeler Park all the way through.

- Well, I can't sing your praises enough about this book.

Where can people find a copy?

- People can get this through Kirkpatrick Publishing in the local bookstores.

They can ask their bookstore to order it.

It's available many, many places.

And love the, the, you know, there always need to be that next generation of park advocates.

And hopefully this plays part of the history of what's been and what's to be - Awesome.

Thank you so much.

- Well, in addition to the fun trips, just in the state, you know, to see different gardens and visit with gardeners, we were fortunate enough to attend Amer Flora in 1992.

And it was really a a, a worldwide flower show held in Columbus, Ohio of all things at the Franklin Park Conservatory.

I think it was 80 something acres of just unbelievable gardens.

And it was over a six month period.

But our team of three flew and traveled up to Columbus and we did segments there, which was quite interesting to do those and among all the other people touring the gardens.

But it was beautiful.

And what a, a great opportunity for three boys from Oklahoma.

- We snuck out of the Cultivate conference to head over here to Franklin Park Conservatory.

And joining me is Chase Williams, who is the horticulture manager here.

And it's a beautiful garden.

It is.

Tell us a little bit about Franklin Park, if - You don't.

Yeah, welcome.

So Franklin Park is an 88 acre park that sits just east of the downtown area.

And we have a lot of different conservatories here, gardens throughout the Palm House show house original 1890s.

Okay.

So we have some historic, - It's beautiful.

- Yeah.

Conservatories here too, as well as some modern ones as well.

- And you have a couple of different rooms to the conservatories, - Right?

Yes.

Yep.

So we have areas that represent different areas in the world.

So we have a Pacific Islands biome, we have a Himalayan biome, a rainforest, and a desert.

So you kinda get all of the different plant palette here when you come to visit.

- Okay.

And then outside here, beautiful grounds that you've got.

Tell us a little bit about some of the gardens that we're gonna see outside here.

- Yep.

So we're standing in our grand mall.

This is kind of a formal garden with lots of different plantings throughout.

We also have out here our poi garden railway.

And that runs throughout the year and into the early winter.

It's a really cool exhibition that we have.

It's all handmade, all natural materials that make up these miniature houses and all of the different minis throughout the railway there.

They're - Beautiful.

You've got 'em going overhead underneath.

- They're everywhere.

You gotta look all around to make sure you don't miss one.

- Yeah, absolutely.

And then there's also a similar style of the arches over here.

Tell us a little - Bit about that.

Yeah, so again, Paul Busey studio built these arches that are representing each individual season.

So as you walk through, you'll see the seasons change from one area to the other.

Again, all natural materials, very neat to walk through with an immersive experience with water and sound and all of the colors on the arches.

- Okay.

And I know you've got a busy kids' children's garden going on.

There's a lot of camps over there, kind of noisy today.

Yep, yep.

But tell us a little bit about that.

- Well, it's about one 30.

They say that nap time's round two.

Oh, okay.

So it might be climbing down a little bit at this point.

But yes, we have our children's garden built in 2018, the Scotts Miracle Grove Foundation Children's Garden.

And there's a lot of different experiences you can have in there.

It's a garden of discovery around every corner.

It's really designed beautifully.

And it's a space for not only kids, but adults alike.

It's a really nice garden to visit and see and get a little respite and hear the kids playing and having fun.

- Yeah.

And so all of this is sort of in the paid experience, right?

Right.

Yes.

And but you have so much outside of that.

Can you tell us a little bit about outside the fence area?

- Yes.

So like I said, we sit on a 88 acre park and part of it we own.

And then other part is City of Columbus.

So the parks and recreation.

There is a large city park just like you would see in the kind of arboretum setting.

There's a set of waterfalls and lakes out in the western part of the park as well as a community garden campus with a lot of different demonstration gardens out there, but also plots that people rent out.

And then they grow their own fruits and veggies outta there.

- And I think we're gonna go visit your community garden next, but before we leave, can you tell us if somebody wants to come visit Franklin Park, where can they find more?

- Yeah, check out our website.

It's updated with all of the different hours and evening hours that we have, as well as our social media.

We're always posting on their fun stuff.

- Excellent.

Thank you so much.

- Thank you.

- We are now in the Scotts Miracle Grove Company Community Garden Campus.

And joining me is Katie Spiker, who manages a lot of the area around here, but in particular, this community garden.

It's a huge community garden.

Yeah.

Tell me a little bit about it.

- Yeah, so the community garden campus was installed in 2009.

The space consists about of four acres of gardens.

And in this area where we're at, we mix ornamental and edible horticulture together.

- It's beautiful.

Yeah.

We've got the pollinators flying around us.

Yes.

Obviously.

And the vegetables as well.

So you have to kind of divide it up into themes in each area.

Can you tell us some of those themes?

- Yeah.

So yes, like you said, different gardens are designed into different themes.

So we have a cutting garden where the plants primarily in that garden are planted to be used as cut flowers.

We have a fragrance garden, so that's designed with a focus on like the plant's fragrance.

We have in the garden that we are in currently, we refer to it as pot, but the French term is potage, so kitchen garden.

And so this is designed kind of in that traditional pot garden design where it's incorporating vegetables and herbs, different flowers that you can use for different purposes.

- Well, you've done it well and and I love that it showcases different ways of growing vegetables.

'cause you also have traditional rows, right?

Yeah.

And then of course, the community garden.

Let's talk a little bit about that space, where the community actually comes in.

- Yeah.

So the section we're in right now is actually maintained by Franklin Park Conservatory Horticulture staff.

But we do have plots in one section of the community garden campus that community members can rent out and grow vegetables or flowers.

So they maintain that space.

- And then you've got a lot of different programs, outreach that's happening not only here, but also beyond.

Tell us a little bit about some of those programs.

- Yeah.

So within the Community Garden campus, it's kind of the home for a couple different programs.

So we have our Teen Corps program.

They actually have a garden within this space as well.

Teen Corps is a summer program for teens and teaches them different life skills and work skills with a focus on urban agriculture.

- Okay.

- So they actually have a garden space that they maintain.

Then they'll harvest that produce and sell it at our farmer's market that we host weekly on Wednesdays.

- Okay.

And so some of your staff help with that team core program and educate them about gardening or, - Yeah, so our education and community outreach department are the ones who run the program, but then they do rotations.

- Okay.

- And so they work with horticulture staff twice a week during their - Program.

Fabulous.

And then also tell me a little bit about this outreach program where you're, you've got kind of a cooperative of other community gardens, it sounds like.

- Yeah, so we have our program called Growing to Green, and that is a program that provides tools and resources and education to different community gardens throughout central Ohio, so they help to - Establish those gardens.

Well, Katie, thank you so much for sharing all of this.

It's just a beautiful garden you could spend all afternoon really looking around here.

So thank you.

I appreciate it.

Yeah, thanks for coming by.

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

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

Join us next week as we bring another fun episode of Oklahoma Gardening 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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Tune into our okay 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.