Lantana

Lantana - Lantana's aromatic flower clusters are a mix of red, orange, yellow, or blue and white florets. Other colors exist as new varieties are being selected. The flowers typically change color as they mature, resulting in inflorescences that are two or three colored. Lantanas are annuals in our area and are useful in bringing in the butterflies to your landscape. Butterflies which are attracted to lantana flowers are most notably swallowtail and birdwing butterflies. Come see our plot under the flag by the barn. The butterflies have been abundant.

Test plots of annual color

Test plots of annual color - The end of the season of annual plants is always a color extravaganza. The cooler weather brings out the best of their last show. As you can see they are overflowing their planted area and are very dense. Come stroll through the garden and enjoy the color and the cooler weather.

Lorapetalum

Lorapetalum - weeping variety, spring

Lorapetalum - upright variety, fall

The Lorapetalum is a dense, tight growing, cold hardy shrub with leaves that are ruby red when they first emerge and then range through tones of bronze and varying shades of green.

The leaves are delightful on their own, but then you get the added pop of frazzled fringy pink flowers in the spring and fall. It makes a very attractive potted specimen plant which is how we show it in the garden. You can see it displayed in our Linnaeus Garden both as a weeping variety (Herb Garden) and an upright plant (Boulder Garden).

Tatarian Aster

Aster tataricus, the goliath of the asters, is an upright growing variety that can easily reach five to six feet in height and three feet wide. One of the latest bloomers, this aster explodes with lavender-blue, yellow eyed blossoms in flat clusters, each flower the size of a half dollar which is easily supported by its stiff upright growth. Asters are good nectar plants attracting butterflies and bees. This aster can also be found in the Linnaeus Boulder Garden.

Prostrate Heath Aster

This ground hugging little guy gives new meaning to the word "cute." It typically grows to 4 - 5 inches tall and spreads along the ground to form a dense foliage mat. Small, single asters with white rays and yellow centers cover the foliage in a profuse late summer bloom. It's a fascinating, easy-to-grow perennial for the edge of a border, container or rock garden. It can be found at the Linnaeus Boulder Garden.

Most Aster's prefer sunny, well-drained locations and should be fertilized in April with a slow release product such as Osmocote. Asters tend to be healthier and fuller when divided every two to three years.

Rose Creek Abelia

Here is a wonderful perennial with lustrous leaves that emerge with a pinkish cast on crimson stems. It matures to dark green, then turns purple-green in winter. Small fragrant white trumpet flowers bloom spring through summer and continue to have an interest into fall with pink modified leaves at the base of each flower that remain once the bloom fades. It is an excellent foundation plant for continuous seasonal change beneath windows, or to use with a mixed shrub border, or try as a low hedge. Plant in full to partial sun. This plant can be found across from the greenhouse in our Linneaus Garden.

Adagio Maiden Grass

Miscanthus sinensis Adagio, is an early flowering beauty with reddish/white pendulous plumes that move in the slightest breeze. Nothing can compare to the beauty of ornamental grasses in our Tulsa landscapes. They can withstand our hot summers and provide so much interest in the fall and winter when our perennials have gone dormant. Grasses that flower after mid-summer are warm-season grasses, because they wait until the warmth of summer before starting into growth, then grow rapidly and come into flower between mid and late summer. The flowers turn to seed heads and remain showy for many months. They are normally planted where they can fill the ground once spring flowering bulbs or perennials are past their best. Adagio is a year-round grass that remains standing even through heavy snowfalls. The combination of the tan foliage with spring flowering bulbs is a nice contrast. In Tulsa it should be cut back to about 5 inches from the crown of the plant when new growth begins to appear. Miscanthus is easy to grow and is a good choice for busy homeowners. It will grow in almost any soil, and does not require good drainage. Grow this grass in full sun and fertilization is not necessary. We have this grass in a number of areas throughout the garden.

Mexican feather grass

Nassella tenuissima, is a cute little mounding plant worth trying in the garden, especially if you want an easy-to-grow planting that will do the wave all by itself every time the wind blows. This 1 to 2 foot tall perennial bunchgrass grows like a cascading fountain. The wiry, slender, hair-like leaves are green and silky in the spring and buff-colored during winter and our Tulsa summer heat. Once fall arrives it begins growing again when temperatures cool and rains return. It is a wonderful filler in your sun garden to help soften a rocky area or an area where plants are hard to grow. Check it out in the garden throughout the entry and boulder areas.

Ornamental Peppers

Ornamental peppers close-up

The dark purple foliage of ornamental peppers planted en masse
contrast nicely with lighter foliage in the garden.

Capsicum annuum, are early-maturing peppers that point straight up on this miniature ornamental. It is perfect for fall containers, or a delightful front-of-the-border standout. If you want some color in your fall landscape, this is truly an eye catcher. You will find these plants placed throughout the garden and in container plants - you won't have to look too hard because their colorful display makes them a standout.

Encore Azaleas - Still Blooming

There is nothing more eye catching then seeing Azalea blooms in October.

Yes, that is right, Encore Azalea's have three major blooming cycles during the growing season - spring, summer, and fall.

In between their major blooming cycles they continually show their funnel-shaped flower peeking around their beautiful leaves.

Right now in the garden they are in their final blooming cycle for the season and they are really showing their stuff.

A Butterfly Magnet - Mexican Sage Salvia

Mexican Sage is without a doubt one of the most loved fall-flowering plants by butterfly's and hummingbirds.

The velvety purple flowers form on elongated stems from tall, bushy plants in late summer or early fall and continue until frost.

It is in full bloom right now in our garden.

Pansy - A Traditional Favorite

The fall garden has been drenched with color from the planting of pansies throughout the Entry Garden and tucked into all the hidden areas of the Pavilion Garden.

No other plant performs as well as pansy in the cool-season flower beds.

These cold-hardy annuals thrive in the fall, routinely overwinter for most of Oklahoma and provide unmatched early season color.

Color assortment and intensity help bring life to a typically drab time of year.

Flower size ranges from small to large.