Sunday 27 October Tour Schedule

7:30 am: load buses

7:45 am: leave hotel, travel to Greenleaf Nursery in Fort Gibson (51 min)

8:45 am: tour Greenleaf Ft. Gibson (1 hr)

9:45 am: load buses

10:00 am: travel to Sooner Plant Farm (30 min)

10:30 am: tour Sooner (1 hr)

11:30 am: load buses

11:45 am: travel to Greenleaf Nursery in Park Hill (10 min)

12:00 pm: LUNCH at Greenleaf 

1:00 pm: tour Greenleaf (1.5 hours)

2:30 pm: load buses

2:45 pm: travel to Sugartree Nursery (45 min)

3:30 pm: tour Sugartree Nursery (1 hr)

4:30 pm: load buses

4:15: travel to Tulsa Botanic Garden (1 hour, 15 min)

5:30 pm: tour/dinner/drinks at Tulsa Botanic Garden (2 hr)   

7:30 pm: load buses

7:45 pm: travel to hotel (15 min)

8:00 pm: arrive at hotel

Tuesday 29 October Tour Schedule 

7:30 am: Load buses

7:45 am: travel to Philbrook Museum of Art (15 min)

8:00 am: tour Philbrook Museum of Art garden (1 hr)

9:00 am: load buses

9:15 am: travel to Sanders Nursery (40 min)

9:55 am: tour Sanders (1 hr)

11:00 am: load buses

11:15 am: travel to Gathering Place (45 min)

12:00 pm: arrive at Gathering Place, distribute box lunches 

12:00 pm: Lunch

12:30 pm: tour Gathering Place (1.5 hr)

2:00 pm: load buses

2:15 pm: travel to Southwood production facility (20 min)

2:25 pm: tour Southwood production facility (45 min)

3:10 pm: load buses

3:20 pm: travel to Southwood Garden Center (10 min)

3:30 pm: tour Southwood Garden Center, Happy Hour (beer, wine, non-alcoholic drinks) 

5:00 pm: load buses

5:10 pm: travel to hotel (20 min)

5:30 pm: arrive at hotel, dinner on your own (take a student to dinner night)

8:00 pm: Ice-cream Social and Question Box

Sunday Tour Stop Descriptions

Greenleaf Nursery 

 Founded in 1945, Greenleaf Nursery is one of North America’s largest wholesale nursery growers, with four locations (Oklahoma, Texas, and North Carolina). Greenleaf produces over 8,000 cultivars of plants, including broadleaf evergreen and deciduous shrubs, 70+ cultivars of ornamental grasses, shade, and ornamental trees, as well as a color program featuring annuals, perennials, and tropical plants. Between all locations, their nurseries are nearly self-sufficient in propagation. Their primary markets in the U.S. and Canada are retailers, wholesale distribution centers, and landscapers. The Fort Gibson location produces bare-root deciduous trees and shrubs for high-quality liners destined for larger container sizes. The Park Hill location produces container-grown plants on a beautiful site adjacent to Lake Tenkiller, making water management a crucial nursery component. https://www.greenleafnursery.com/

Sooner Plant Farm 

 Founded in 1999 by Brian and Marsha Chojnacki, Sooner Plant Farm specializes in mail-order plants (direct to consumer). The nursery produces over 4,700 cultivars of popular landscape plants as well as hard-to-find and rare cultivars in quarts (perennials), 1-gal, 5-gal (5 to 6-foot trees), and 7-gal (shrubs). Pioneers in e-commerce, Sooner Plant Farm’s online sales website was launched in 2004 and proved to be such a strong market that the nursery began focusing exclusively on online sales in 2007. Partnering with FedEx Ground, they perfected their shipping methods and are now a top-ranked internet nursery retailer. https://www.soonerplantfarm.com/

Sugartree Nursery 

 Sugartree was founded in 1994 by Daryl and Deborah Bailey in Hulbert, OK, producing container-grown trees for local field growers. Purchased in 2015 by Scott and Bethany Maxwell; production was expanded, and container-grown shrubs, grasses, and perennials are now produced for regional rewholesalers and select retailers. The 40-acre facility contains 350,000 sq ft of covered overwintering houses with 15,000 sq ft of propagation space. No supplemental heating is used on the nursery. All shipping is handled by Sugartree. The crop mix of landscape plants currently consists of 676 varieties (238 shrubs, 86 grasses, 350 perennials).

Tulsa Botanic Garden 

 Tulsa Botanic Garden is an all-season oasis blooming in the rolling hills just 8 miles northwest of downtown Tulsa. A 2012 master plan envisions 60 acres of developed gardens and facilities contrasting with the remaining 110 acres of natural beauty. The A.R. and Marylouise Tandy Floral Terraces opened in 2015 and features themed terraces on a natural hillside with a central water feature surrounded by seasonal display beds and beautiful art deco design elements. The Children’s Discovery Garden is a wonderland for kids of all ages with the iconic Spring Giant, carnivorous plants, Sensory Walk, Hummingbird Walk, Tree Fort and Round Pond. The Lakeside Promenade gracefully encompasses a seven-acre lake, and the Cross Timbers Trail provides a 1mile hike through the native prairie and forest. In July 2023, The Bumgarner Family Foundation Lotus Pool and Stanford Family Liberty Garden opened. The Jim and Cherry Bost Arboretum will open in October 2024. https://www.tulsabotanic.org/

 Tuesday Tour Stop Descriptions

Philbrook Museum of Art 

 The Philbrook Museum of Art is a premier destination for cultural engagement and garden delight. Opening in 1939, it features a historic home, a world-class art museum, and 25 acres of gardens. The Philbrook Collection features more than 16,000 objects focusing on American, Native American, and European art. On-site growing facilities include a small greenhouse for propagation and overwintering tropical and stock plants. https://philbrook.org/

Sanders Nursery and Distribution 

 Sanders Nursery and Distribution is one of Oklahoma’s largest and most respected nurseries, building upon the traditions of superior quality, fair pricing, and great service. The business sells retail and wholesale plants by offering extensive plant selections locally. Many products are produced on-site, including field-grown trees and container-grown annuals and perennials in greenhouses. Ever-changing to meet needs and opportunities, the nursery has recently added new specialty crop production areas (vegetables and cut flowers), demonstration gardens, and agritourism features. https://www.sandersnurseryok.com/

Gathering Place  

Gathering Place, an award-winning 66.5-acre park along Tulsa’s riverfront, opened in 2018. Recently named USA Today’s Best City Park of 2024 and recognized as a top 100 unexpected travel destination by National Geographic, Gathering Place is a free park for all. From weekly educational programs and high-production events to boat rides on the pond and access to world-class playgrounds, sports courts, a skate park, and a BMX pump track, visitors can experience the magic of Gathering Place at no cost. The park boasts an impressive natural landscape, featuring 1.2 million plants of 400 species, more than 6,000 trees, and 16 acres of prairies. All of Oklahoma’s ecological regions are represented in various gardens throughout the park, including prairies, wetlands, and forests. https://www.gatheringplace.org/

Southwood Landscape and Garden Center, Growing Facility 

Southwood opened its doors in the spring of 1982 as a small landscape design-build firm and grew into a full-scale garden retail, landscape services, and plant production business. The garden center encompasses 5 acres and includes a 25,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art greenhouse. The nearby greenhouse production facility grows many of the garden center's products, including pansies, roses, mums, and summer annuals. It continues to be a family-run operation, headed by native Tulsans Margaret Schulte and Brenda Baird, daughters of founders Joe and Ginny Schulte. https://southwoodgardencenter.com/