Resources

Winter 2018

• Southern Exposure Seed Exchange – 1/28/19 – I just ordered flower seeds from here. For March planting – French Marigold, Sweet Pea, Black-eyed Susan, Bee Balm, Poppy, and Bachelor’s Button. For May/June planting – Zinnia, Cosmos, Evening Sun Sunflower, Color Fashion Mix Sunflower, and Butterfly Weed.

• Park Seed – 1/30/2019 – More ordering. This time, I’m thinking about some shady borders around my house. I ordered Royal Wedding Hosta (4) and Tricyrtis ‘Gilt Edge’ Toad Lily (4) – both in 1-quart size containers. I also ordered some American Crosses Mix in Hosta seeds. Thought I might see how difficult or easy it is to grow these things myself. And then I turned to coleus. I fell in love with this plant last year. I’m determined to have lots of it. I’m trying to grow from seed. I’ll be trying (a) Chocolate Covered Cherry, (b) Kong Empire Mix (which includes Mosaic, Salmon Pink, Red, Rose, and Scarlet), and (c) Wizard Mix (which are much smaller plants in a gorgeous array of colors (Rose, Jade, Golden, Mosaic, Coral Sunrise, Sunset, Velvet Red, and Scarlet). Finally, I ordered one Maypop Passionflower Plant in a 1-quart container.

Spring/Summer 2018

• Mike the Gardener – Last year, Cooper gifted me with a monthly seed subscription so many of my seeds come from here.

• Territorial Seed Company – I have purchased seeds from here before, many years ago. I looked at several other seed companies but realized that I started my research too late to be as in-depth as I would like. Seems like there should be a seed company in or around Oklahoma that specializes in seeds that do well in this region of the country. If you know of one – please share that information with me! As a side note, I do like the Territorial Seed Company. Their website has easy-to-find, easy-to-read information on every seed. I also like their seed packaging – ample information, consistent look, and coordinating color schemes. I appreciate that attention to detail.

• Home Depot – I’ve always been a fan. For my garden, I am literally starting from scratch. I needed lumber to build raised beds, fencing to keep out the critters, gardening tools to dig and hoe, hoses to water. I purchased everything from Home Depot.

• Twisted Oak Products – Top soil. Mulch. Compost. You won’t find this place on Google. The lesson here is ‘ask around.’ I could have paid hundreds of dollars more than I needed to by going to one of the big boys in town. Lucky for me, a neighbor told me about this place.

• Myriad Botanical Gardens – This is an amazing 15-acre natural escape in the heart of downtown OKC that is free and open to the public. In addition, it is an amazing resource for information and regularly offers educational classes. There is an annual gardening school (March) that I attended in 2017. There is also an OKC Garden Festival in May. The Gardens offer a variety of quick, single-topic classes that allow you to focus your efforts on what you need to know. And the website also features Monthly Horticulture Tips that touch on a variety of subjects – and I find it particularly helpful.

• TLC Garden Center – There are two locations. I typically shop at the one on Memorial – which is the original location. The website says that this is “Oklahoma City’s largest Landscape and Garden Center, since 1980.” On Memorial, it consists of a 20-acre operation which includes a nursery and greenhouse. This is where I’ve purchased my tomato and pepper plants, marigolds, and flower seeds.

• Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service (coordinated by Oklahoma State University) – Primarily, I have use this service online, accessing their vast library of fact sheets. The topics have included everything I need, addressing both broad subjects (i.e. Garden Planning Guide) and very specific guidelines (i.e. tomatoes). The information is presented from an Oklahoma perspective so it is extremely applicable to what I am doing. In addition, I recently discovered that the Extension Service staff are extremely accessible, and actually want to help! There is a staff listing with phone numbers and emails addresses on the website, listed by county. Plus, I have learned that there is an extension service in each state. If you live outside OK and need yard/garden resources, I would definitely encourage you to find your local extension service.