Botanic Beet: Escape to the Xeriscape
by Scott Davidson
Tucked back in the southeast corner of Woodward Park is the Tulsa Garden Center’s Linnaeus Teaching Garden, and although Linnaeus has been a part of the park for over fifteen years, a new garden has been added to the collection of gardens that comprise this remarkable jewel of the park.
In case you’re not familiar with the Linnaeus Teaching Garden, this garden grew out of the fertile imagination and vision of the Director of Horticulture for the Tulsa Garden Center, Barry Fugatt. Barry’s idea was twofold: one, to create a public garden space dedicated to providing home gardeners with ideas in both plant and hardscape uses that could be applied to their home landscapes and gardens, while also providing a beautiful public garden space that could be enjoyed by all; and two, this garden would be maintained and staffed by a trained cadre of volunteers.
Today the Linnaeus Volunteer Program has over 300 dedicated men and women that run most of the day-to-day operations of the Linnaeus Teaching Garden. These volunteers wear many different hats as well. At one moment they might be assisting a garden visitor as an ambassador for the garden, at other times providing programs and events to teach and inform gardeners of all ages, but always working to plant and maintain the nine different gardens that make up the Linnaeus Teaching Garden.
So what is this new garden addition? It’s the Linnaeus Xeric Garden located at the entrance to the Linnaeus Teaching Garden. This garden, like the other gardens at Linnaeus that are funded by our wonderful philanthropic donors, was funded by the Linnaeus Volunteers with the acreage donated by the City of Tulsa. Some of you reading this article may be asking yourself, “what exactly is a xeric garden?” The word “xeric” is a Greek word which means “dry,” so literally a dry garden, or more precisely, a garden that uses plant species that exhibit drought tolerance.
Blooms of a Texas Red Yucca
Not all drought tolerant plants are created equal. Some have good drought tolerance like many native plants we find in northeastern Oklahoma, some have great tolerance like plants native to Western Oklahoma, and some have exceptional drought tolerance like native plants in desert regions. Xeric gardens are gaining in popularity nationwide for a number of reasons - least of which is water conservation. Obviously, drought tolerant plant species require less watering to maintain them, and over-watering can be detrimental to these plants which have been genetically adapted to lower water environments. Xeric plants also require less maintenance and fertilization, which equates to less time required to have and maintain a beautiful garden space.
Like other gardens, xeric gardens still require up front bed preparation. Xeric plants need well-draining soil, so anyone considering a xeric garden will need to amend a poor draining soil. This can be accomplished with the addition of organic matter, compost, sand, small (pebble-size) rocks, or a combination of these items.
Since the Linnaeus Xeric Garden is located in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where we average close to forty inches of rainfall annually, our xeric garden contains plant species that exhibit a range of drought tolerances. One of the plants in our garden that has the characteristic of exceptional drought tolerance would be the prickly pear (Opuntia cacanapa, cultivated variety ‘Ellisana’). Being a public garden where young children are often our guests, this variety of cactus is thornless.
Two others that exhibit great drought tolerance in our collection are native to the areas of West Texas and Eastern New Mexico are the small tree-like Vitex Daytona Heat Petty Blue (Thymus c.v. praecox pseudolanguinosa), and the Texas Red Yucca (Hesperaloe parviflora). A lot of people may find these next two plant species out of place for a xeric garden: a yellow flowering Baptisia variety Lemon Meringue, the parent plants being native to the piedmont region of the Carolinas, and the Mugo Pine (Pinus mugo) a dwarf pine species native to the alpine regions of Europe. These two plants you would normally not find in a xeric setting yet both of these plants have good drought tolerant characteristics.
Please be sure and visit the Xeric Garden and the other gardens of the Linnaeus Teaching Garden on your next visit to Woodward Park.
At the time of writing, the main gated area of the Linnaeus Teaching Garden is closed due to COVID-19. However the Xeric Garden, Entry Garden, and the Butterfly Garden at Linnaeus are outside the gated area and are open to the public. Scott Davidson is a Linnaeus Gardener and the curator of the Linnaeus Xeric Garden.