Tulsa Botanic Garden – Tulsa, OK
The Tulsa Botanic Garden is a 170 acres botanical garden under development at 3900 Tulsa Botanic Drive, approximately 8 miles northwest of downtown Tulsa, in Osage County, Oklahoma. It is located at the intersection of N 52 W Avenue and W 43 Street N. The mission of Tulsa Botanic Garden is to promote the beauty and importance of plants and nature to create a more sustainable and harmonious world. Dr. F. Todd Lasseigne, a noted horticulturist, was the first full-time President and Chief Executive Officer of the Garden and held the position from April 2011 to August 2020. Prior to his appointment in 2011, he was Executive Director of Paul J. Ciener Botanical Garden from 2005 through early 2011. Before that, he was Assistant Director of the JC Raulston Arboretum. Chuck Lamson, the former owner of the Tulsa Drillers baseball team, became President and Chief Executive Officer in January 2021.
Tulsa Botanic Garden Vision
Working with landscape architects from Dallas, Atlanta, and Tulsa, Tulsa Botanic Garden unveiled this exciting master plan in December 2012, which lays out a vision for developing 60 acres of gardens over the next 25 years. This plan concentrates garden spaces around the seven-acre lake, fully utilizing the beautiful views across the lake by setting gardens around it on all sides. From the Amphitheater on the north side to the Children's Discovery Garden, A.R. and Marylouise Tandy Floral Terraces, and Inspiration Gardens on the west, to a Chapel, tropical Conservatory, and Edible Gardens on the east, these gardens will highlight the worldwide importance of plants to human civilization. Contrasting with these gardens are the remaining 110 acres of natural beauty, to be experienced in the western reaches of the garden site.
Lakeside Promenade
The Lakeside Promenade encircles the Garden’s seven-acre lake and is the central pathway leading visitors to the A.R. and Marylouise Tandy Floral Terraces.
This three-quarter mile pathway meanders past an ever-changing palette of color, texture, pattern, and fragrance with opportunities to enjoy this floral panorama reflected on the lake’s surface.
Cross Timbers Trail
Just west of the A.R. and Marylouise Tandy Floral Terraces, the Persimmon Grove is a gateway into the Garden's 110 acres of natural beauty. Visitors can explore the native flora and fauna found in the unique Cross Timbers ecoregion - where the tallgrass prairies from the west meet the eastern deciduous forests. The convergence of these two habitats offers an abundance of life and diversity. Each season offers something different: wildflowers, migrating birds, butterflies, changing leaves and majestic grasses.
The Cross Timbers Trail is approximately one and a half miles in length originating from and looping back to the Persimmon Grove. The path is mowed in the prairie with many rocks along the trail in the forest. Benches can be found along the trail.
Tips for this trail: comfortable walking/hiking shoes, hat, water bottle, insect repellent.
J.E. and L.E. Mabee Grange
The building serves multiple purposes for the Garden, with a large meeting room that can be divided for smaller functions. A panel of folding doors allows the space to be opened to an adjoining patio and lawn. The building exterior features cedar planks set in metal and decorative gabion, or wire cage, walls filled with layers of rock including blue sandstone, river rock, and lava rock. Interior features include alder wood plank gable walls with LED color-change lighting, a ceiling of spruce wood slats, a catering kitchen, and private rooms.
Children's Discovery Garden
The focal point of the garden is the Stream Valley, with the water source emanating from the Spring Giant, a 15’ rugged stone face entered through a hidden grotto. The Stream Valley includes fountains of spitting animals and the nearby Art Wall, a favorite for kids of ALL ages! The stream flows into the Bonnie Klein Round Pond near the entrance planted with aquatic plants including water lilies, papyrus, hibiscus, and more. Keep an eye out for tadpoles or turtles. Be sure to look for the Bog Bowls near the pond where Venus flytraps and other carnivorous plants catch their next meal.