Room to grow: Tulsa Botanic Garden to host a variety of fun, educational events this June | Home & Garden

Whether you’re a gardening enthusiast or are just looking for a fun summer activity, the Tulsa Botanic Garden has something for you this June.

From interesting plant workshops to child and dog-friendly programs, the Garden has organized a varied agenda of indoor and outdoor events for this month.

“The main theme for our summer workshops and offerings is trying to help folks have some indoor experiences in the heat, because sometimes gardening in Tulsa in the summer can be brutal,” said Ellen Weatherholt, curator of the Children’s Discovery Garden at Tulsa Botanic Garden. “We wanted to create ways to enjoy the gardens inside, as well as outside.”

On June 4 at 11 a.m., young guests are encouraged to visit the Children’s Discovery Garden to hear a nature-related story, told by a Garden staff member. Amber Hallford, a Lakeside Promenade Gardener, will read Holly Keller’s “Farfallina & Marcel,” a story about the enduring friendship between a caterpillar and a gosling.

Storytime is free with admission.

Grab your bestie and head to the Garden on June 8 for National Best Friends Day to receive two-for-one admission.

June 11 is all about celebrating furry friends at the Garden. Staff have partnered with ARF Tulsa to host an on-site dog adoption as well as a giveaway from companies like Pet Supplies Plus and Dogtopia.

Visitors are encouraged to bring their own four-legged companions to enjoy the Garden’s grounds alongside them. Wading pools will be provided to help your pup cool off its paws after their visit.

“This partnership started because we have so many staff members who really love their companion animals, so we’ve tried to find local organizations that we’d love to feature to help get more adoptions and just educate our guests on the best ways to care for their pets,” Weatherholt said. “We’ve been getting a lot of new visitors with our Dog Days because lots of folks love to bring their pets with them wherever they go.”

This event costs regular admission and $4 for non-member dogs.

Also on June 11, join horticulturist and nursery manager Lori Fry and design your own succulent planter bowl.

“We grow a variety of different succulents in our garden — maybe up to 40 different kinds — and Lori will have those available for the workshop,” Weatherholt said. “Every participant will get their own bowl and pick out which succulents they’d like to use, and Lori will teach them how to plant them, how to best care for them and where to situate them in your home and yard so they get a lot of sunshine.”

The Garden will offer participants succulents of a variety of textures and colors, including hens and chicks (also known as houseleeks), aloes, sedums and haworthia plants.

Guests can purchase wine, beer and non-alcoholic drinks. Registration for the workshop is required and costs $35 for garden members and $40 for non-members.

On June 14, each guest will receive a free mini U.S. flag in honor of Flag Day.

All dads who visit the Garden on June 19 will receive a gift with paid admission or a member ticket.

In honor of National Pollinator Week, the Garden will host a plant sale from June 21-26. Guests can shop for a variety of plants that provide nourishment to butterflies, bees, hummingbirds and other pollinators that keep our ecosystem going.

“We really love to support our pollinators here at the Garden — they’re a big part of what we do here,” Weatherholt said. “We grow a lot of plants here to help pollinators. We have nectar plants where adults can feed and collect pollen, and also host plants for the larval stages of different insects — the plants that bugs eat to become grown-up butterflies or beetles.”

This June will commemorate the Garden’s first time hosting a pollinator plant sale.

“It’s something we’ve seen a lot of interest in — a lot of folks are beginning to garden with pollinators in mind, trying to attract them to their yards,” Weatherholt said. “We’re trying to support that and help them connect to the perfect plants for their gardens. If you add (pollinators) to your home garden, you’ll see more beautiful things every year.”

Pollinators play a critical role in our environment and are essential not just for other animals, but for humans as well, Weatherholt said.

“Pollinators are vital to the lifecycle of so many plants, animals and fungi — basically everything that makes up our world,” Weatherholt said. “They help plants complete their life cycles, and if plants aren’t pollinated, we and other animals won’t have anything to eat. We have to make sure we have enough of a habitat for these pollinators, so they can do their jobs all over Oklahoma, and the world, too — they keep everything else rolling.”

Garden members will receive a 10% discount on all plant sales. The Garden is only accepting credit cards, Google Pay and Apple Pay.

Both kids and adults can explore the whimsical world of fairy gardens at the Garden’s workshop on June 24.

“Our education staff is making a choice list of different herbs and other aspects of these bowls to help kids feel some independence and gain knowledge about plants,” Weatherholt said. “We’ll have herbs with fuzzy leaves, some with strong stems and some that smell differently from others, as well as fun things to accessorize the fairy gardens — textured stones, marbles and bark, and toy bugs and butterflies to encourage children to engage with the plants and take something home they can play and imagine with.”

Participants can choose from herbs like oregano, thyme and parsley to add to their fairy garden to take home and use for cooking throughout different seasons, Weatherholt said.

Kits can be purchased for $25 for Garden members (or $30 on the day of) and $30 for non-members (or $35 on the day of). Admission should be purchased separately for each attendee.

On June 28, members are welcome to beat the lines (and the heat!) and enjoy the Garden early in the morning, before it officially opens for the day. Amble through the grounds, practice your photography and witness the Garden’s many birds and other animal species before the hubbub of the day begins. Members can visit the Garden from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m.

The ultimate goal of the Garden’s June programming is to reach more people — especially children — and show them all the wonderful facets of plant life and gardening, Weatherholt said.

“We have a great audience of interested and engaged adults, but we also love to be able to engage the families that might want to visit us,” Weatherholt said. “We want to immerse different audiences. Kids love visiting the Garden, so we love to help them make things they can take home so they can continue learning about gardening, even when they’re not here.”

For more information, tickets and event times, visit tulsabotanic.org.