(upbeat music) (upbeat classical music) - Today on "Oklahoma Gardening," we visit a unique Stillwater landscape.

We then head to campus to see the newest horticulture feature.

We learn more about the velvet ant and David Hillock introduces another Oklahoma proven plant.

Finally, Jessica Riggins is cooking up a delicious fall meal.

(upbeat classical music continues) Underwriting assistance for our program is provided by the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food, and Forestry, helping to keep Oklahoma green and growing.

(upbeat classical music continues) So if you're looking for an easy, low-maintenance plant.

(upbeat classical music continues) We have two different types of flowers on one plant.

(upbeat classical music continues) Capsaicin oil that gives the pepper its heat.

(upbeat classical music continues) Believe it or not we are still in Stillwater, Oklahoma and in fact we are in Nate Priest's home landscape here in Stillwater.

If you're familiar with the area, you probably have seen his handy work with Yucca Point Landscape Company.

And Nate, you have a very unique style, right?

- Yeah.

- It's definitely has more of that Southwest desert look.

- Right.

- But yet we still have turf grass too.

- Yeah.

- Tell us a little bit about, kind of your background in getting into this style.

- Well, of course I started out with the tree service about 23 years ago, and just as a hobby, I was into reptiles and was taking trips to the Southwest and really fell in love with desert plants.

And I wondered if any of 'em were cold hardy.

And I started to experiment with those at my first house that I owned, not knowing what I was doing and figuring out what would work.

It kind of worked better than expected.

And it just kind of evolved from there.

- It looks like you found a few that are cold hardy.

- Right, right.

- Because most of these, they're perennials, right?

- Yes.

- They're all perennials for the most part.

- Yes Yes, that's right.

- Okay, so it's not our traditional Oklahoma landscape plants that we typically see.

- Right, right.

- Tell us a little bit about some of the plants that we have here behind us if you don't mind.

- [Nate] Well, the biggest ones are, the big one in the back corner there's Yucca faxoniana, that great big one back there.

And this one behind here is Yucca rostrata.

- [Casey] Okay.

- It could become a really popular landscape plant throughout much of the United States because of its cold hardiness and it, it kind of has, it gives the effect of palm tree without the lack of hardiness of most palm species.

It's really a diverse, a versatile plant for a lot of different areas.

It can tolerate pretty high rainfall but obviously pretty low rainfall.

And it's native to far west Texas, so in its native environment it's probably getting about 14 inches of rain a year or less.

And, but it does well, and I mount the stuff, I build the stuff up in berms of cactus blend soil, rostrata it, Yucca rostrata can kind of go straight into the ground here, but it's always better to get a sandy gritty mixture.

And I've experimented with that and come up with that with our own recipe over the years.

- So we usually have the Oklahoma clay soil.

- Right.

- So you've kind of amended that a little bit bit.

- Exactly, exactly.

- Get some more aggregate.

- Right.

- And then of course the slope helps with the drainage as well.

- Exactly.

Yeah, yeah.

- And I've noticed too that it's not just, you know the yuccas and some of those that we maybe think are unique but you've got a lot of actual plants that we see in everyday gardens as well.

- [Nate] Right.

- [Casey] The Gaillardias, the Salvias.

- [Nate] Right, right.

- [Casey] But they're just kind of tied in with that more drought tolerant succulent look to it.

- Exactly, yeah we're always looking for flowering perennials that do well in a rock garden environment with little to no supplementary irrigation.

Like Dianthus Neon Star is one that's you'll see a lot of around here because not only does is it drought tolerant and really unfussy and requires almost no maintenance but it also stays in a nice little clump rather than getting large and expansive like some of the other species that cover up their neighbors and get kind of crazy and require more maintenance.

So we're always looking for ways to add color and diversity for pollinators and just for colors and all that, you know.

- [Casey] Well, and you've got the red yuccas that I know the hummingbirds love right?

- [Nate] Right, yeah, exactly.

- [Casey] So there's definitely, we've seen butterflies and moths and all sorts of, but you have another sort of creature that likes your garden a little bit.

Tell us a little bit about the lizard you have.

- [Nate] Oh, okay.

(Casey laughing) Well I've got several species of lizards here.

Probably the most prominent is the eastern collared lizard, which is Oklahoma state reptile.

And they're a rock dwelling lizard so they do really well here and they're fun to have around.

- [Casey] Okay.

- And then there's the, a bunch of native species like skinks and six lined race runners and oh, what else we got?

Some whiptail species and stuff like that that that do well here too.

- So you kind of created a haven for 'em here in the neighborhood, haven't you?

- Yeah exactly.

- Well, and I think it's interesting 'cause a lot of people are like, how did you go from what is a traditional landscape to something like this?

- Right.

- Can you tell us?

- ...a little bit about maybe what that process is, If somebody comes to you and says, how do I even start converting?

- Right.

Well, some people have had us do their entire yard like this, but most of our clients just start with a small bed, like, maybe across the front of the house.

Of course, south or south-facing is ideal for these sun-loving, drought-tolerant plants.

East and west works fine, too.

North side's a little bit more challenging.

We have to use some different species up close to the house, since they'll be shaded all winter.

But a lot of the time, we'll just put in a nice feature bed along the front of someone's house and maybe taper it up along the sidewalk, and that might be all they want, or they might have a spec to expand from there until the whole yard right winds up a rock garden, or they might wanna keep areas of turf for pets or kids to play on.

and just to have the diversity of some rock garden and some turf.

- Well, and speaking of rocks, you've got a lot of rock around here.

Tell us a little bit about how important those rocks are into that landscape and the microclimates, too.

- Yeah, so the rocks absorb a lot of heat from the sun, which they can slowly release at night, which helps keep the plants a little warmer at night.

I also try to use big rocks on the north side of the plants so that in the wintertime, they not only block the north wind when we get cold north winds, so the plants on the south side is protected from the north wind a little bit, and meanwhile, they're also absorbing the south sun.

So they're really important, and they make a good barrier with which to build up a mound.

So if you have a walkway or something, you might want to use a row of boulders and then slope the whole thing to the south, and those boulders prevent you from having to have a gently tapering mound on the north side.

- Okay.

so they kind of hold all that aggregate soil back up?

- Exactly.

Yeah.

- Well, and I noticed too, you know, a lot of times we think something like this means you can't have a lawn, but we are, in fact, standing on a lawn area also, so it can be incorporated.

- Right, absolutely.

- And water, you know.

having that water in something that seems like a little more arid is a nice kind of a mental break, right?

The relaxing sound of water.

- Well, it's really nice to have water to kind of enhance the ambiance and also provide a contrast to the otherwise dry landscape.

And then the wildlife really benefits from having them as well.

- [Host] Yeah.

- This one behind us, the honeybees really like to visit.

I think because of the way the water bubbles over the rock, it's easier for the honeybees to drink water, apparently, from that than just from a pool, 'cause I noticed they use this one a lot more, so... - Okay.

Well, I can only imagine, if this is what your front yard looks like, do you mind if we go take a look at the backyard?

- Not at all.

Let's go take a look.

- Okay, great.

(calm country music) Nate, this is amazing.

- Thanks.

- I love this kind of stadium of cactus and succulents you've got here.

- Well, thanks.

- So, I mean, obviously, we're on the north side of your house.

- Right.

- Does that help with them getting more sun?

- That's exactly right.

So the north side, as I was saying earlier, it can be a little challenging for growing these plants.

So I just, on the north side of my house, I decided to do patio space up close to the house and put some of the utility type stuff up there, and then the part of the yard where the sun does hit, even in like, around the winter solstice, when the sun's at the lowest angle in the south, I wanted to use that part of the yard for these plants.

- [Host] Okay.

- And to even maximize the potential more, we built this retaining wall, and it's south-facing, so it functions like a south-facing slope.

- [Host] Right.

- And it also allows you to see the plants really well, but it definitely heats 'em up and gives 'em the maximum warmth in the wintertime.

- So you watched where that sun actually came over your roof, and that's where you started your retaining wall, or... - That's exactly right.

- That's awesome.

- Yep, yep.

- So you're really capturing all of that sun, and it's just prettier than seeing a fence, right?

In your backyard, so.

- Yep.

Yep, for sure.

- Also, I would imagine it helps with that drainage factor, too.

- Oh yeah, for sure.

They definitely get excellent drainage.

We've used some desert willows that have really just grown tremendously.

These desert willows in here were put in 30-gallon pots like, two and a half years ago, and they're already like, 12 to 14 feet tall, so... - [Host] And it looks like we just missed the flowering display on those, unfortunately.

- [Nate] We just missed the flowering.

Yeah.

- But again, a nice, showy kind of feature in the summertime.

- Right.

- And I love how, I mean, even in this sort of a landscape, you've still incorporated all those things that you need for your backyard, such as a pool, right?

We all need a pool in our backyard.

Tell us a little bit about how you've incorporated that design in and around your pool.

- [Nate] Well, I wanted to tie the landscape in with it, so around the pool, I've got some succulent gardens that are limestone planters that the pool people just plastered right in around the pool, and then around the water slide, we incorporated rock, and along the sides of the house, I left room, instead of just having concrete, I left enough space to have some landscape beds in there, so it kind of tie the whole thing together.

- Well, Nate, I even like how you've added the rock up against the house to kind of tie in that vertical element with the rock as well.

You've done a fantastic job out here.

Thank you for sharing your home landscape with us.

- You're welcome.

Thanks, I enjoyed having you (upbeat country music) - Today, we are on the east side of OSU's campus, and joining me is John Lee, who's the director of landscape services, and we're talking topiaries, today because... - When people come to visit OSU, it's hard to deny the unique features that we have here on our campus.

So tell us a little bit- - Yes.

- About just our history with topiaries.

- Thank you, Casey.

We have a history going back to 2011.

And that was our first debut of our first topiary, which was the cowboy boot.

- Okay.

- And- - Right on the corner.

Everybody sees it down there.

- Right on the corner of University- - By Theta Pond.

- [John] Yes, University and Monroe corner.

If you haven't seen it, you've gotta come visit, check out the cowboy boot.

That started it all.

And so our very talented team built that entire topiary in-house.

- Oh really.

- And planted it, and we crane it in and we crane it out.

And we debut that for graduation starting in May.

And it lives there on the corner of University and Monroe for the entire summer.

And then we unfortunately have to take it back indoors because the plant material that make up that cowboy boot are not cold-hardy.

- Okay.

- So it goes back into our greenhouses for safekeeping over the winter.

And this one is a little bit more different than that.

- Yeah, so fast forward a few years.

How many topiaries do you have now on campus?

- This is our ninth.

- This is your ninth one.

- Yes.

- So if people have not been walking to the interior of campus during game day, they need to make sure.

'Cause let's real quick, can we list the other topiaries- - Sure.

- Before we get to the one behind us here?

- Let's do.

So started with the cowboy boot.

- Okay.

- In 2011.

We fast forward and we started with another cowboy hat topiary.

And so that is in the Formal Garden most of the time throughout the growing season.

Now we have OSU fans, and they're doing the OSU.

- Uh huh.

- And those are located on the east side of the Alumni Center, their plaza area there.

We have OSU topiary letters, which used to live in this location.

And so we're designing a new home for the OSU topiary letters.

And then this is our ninth.

- Okay, and you also have a butterfly, right?

Is that?

- We do have a small butterfly topiary- - A smaller?

- That shares a uniqueness with this topiary as well.

- Right, so tell us a little bit about, and it's kinda bookend on the other side of the native one, corridor that you have here north of the library.

This is the latest one.

Tell us about the bison here behind us.

- This is our latest, maybe not be our greatest.

It's our favorite because it's new, right, and exciting.

- Yeah.

- And it's very unique and different in the details of this planting that it's gonna stay put.

So this topiary, you will see year-round.

- Okay.

- So compared to our other topiaries, the boot, the hat, the OSU letters, the people, we have to crane in and crane out to take care of those topiaries.

This one, we have strategically planted it with native grass that will stay year-round.

- All right, so we've got some native plants on here.

Is it all one type of grass to give it this hairy look?

- It is.

(Casey laughing) It is.

We will shear parts of the topiary to give it the look and the shape of a bison.

And it is one plant- - Okay.

- Species.

It's Carex pensylvanica.

- Uh huh.

- [John] And it's doing fantastic.

It's already starting to grow and root and fill in.

So we have the right plant.

It's in the right location.

We're taking great care of it.

You can see it watering already.

We're excited.

- And then, as far as the location, we're right here on Hester Street, which is also the promenade for the parade.

So if anybody is up here for the football game parades- - Yes.

- They're gonna walk by this guy.

- They will see this bison.

So yes, the walk starts at the Student Union, goes straight to the stadium.

It's an extremely busy area on game day.

He's gonna get a lot of attention.

- So how do you maintain some plants in this?

Can you talk a little bit about some of the infrastructure?

- [John] Sure, so it starts with our very talented greenhouse team.

It starts with our design shop too, the partnership, development of a topiary.

We use in-house construction.

Bio-Ag Systems did all the welding of the frame.

We have internal irrigation system that we designed and installed.

We have a heat tape inside this guy that's gonna keep the soil temperatures up in our brutal Oklahoma weather.

- [Casey] Right, we have plants that die in the ground and this is up- - Right.

- In the ambient air, right.

- And this is exposed and it's going to be okay.

- Yeah, yeah.

- [John] So all of that thought process is in-house in Landscape Services, partnership with other team members of OSU.

It's an OSU project.

- That's amazing.

- It is.

- [Casey] So as we go into wintertime, we're gonna be able to still see him out here on campus while the other ones go inside.

And that's a lotta labor, right?

(laughing) - [John] It is, so it's, if you've never seen the topiaries being delivered to campus and crane it out, that's a process in itself.

So there's a lotta photos where you'll see the topiary boot traveling on a trailer to campus.

Then it's flying through the air, so to speak, to being craned in place.

The same thing happened with this big guy, but he's staying put.

- Yeah.

- So that process for all the other topiaries won't exist with this one.

He's here for indefinitely, and the other topiaries, they have to play the musical in and out around that temperature of 32 degrees or more.

- Well, I know we have the best campus landscape.

- Thank you.

- (laughing) I know that.

- I agree.

- And I know several of our alumni and visitors who maybe have never been to OSU recognize that as well.

Is this topiaries kinda unique to a campus, a university campus?

- I'm going to say yes, they're unique to OSU specifically, because we have nine.

- Okay.

- You will see topiaries on other campuses around the United States.

However, nine on one location and strategically placed, thinking about the process of craning them in, craning them out, and having them look like this.

- Yeah.

- And that unique newness of- - The season when we get to bring the topiaries out for graduation, it's an exciting process that I think is very unique to Oklahoma State.

- Well, John, you and your team have knocked it outta the park once again.

- Thank you.

- Thank you so much for sharing this with us.

- You're very welcome.

Thank you.

(upbeat music) - Hi, we're back for another Bug of the Month.

And this month, we have selected the velvet ant, which is often referred to as the cow killer ant.

But it's not a cow killer.

It's not even an ant.

It is actually a wingless wasp that's very common in Oklahoma.

If you're looking down at the ground, you'll find 'em in pastures.

You can find them in your yard.

They're red and black and very fuzzy and very fast.

They're not able to kill your cows, and they're not going to kill people.

It is one of the most painful stings that we have in the world, but luckily, it's pretty short-lived.

And keep your eyes out for one maybe in your yard this season.

(light music) - Today we're highlighting our Oklahoma-proven selection plants for 2023.

Today we're here with our perennial, which is Turk's Cap, Malvaviscus arboreus, variety drummondii.

And this is a native plant.

It is hearty to Oklahoma.

Further south, it actually can behave more like a shrub, but here it's gonna typically die back to the ground.

It is extremely drought-tolerant.

So once it gets established, there's pretty much nothing you have to do to it.

It is pretty much pest-free.

And it has these beautiful colored flowers late in the season, so late summer and fall, has these beautiful red flowers.

And they are hibiscus-like flowers, and the petals are overlapping and never really fully open.

But they resemble that of a loose Turkish turban, thus the common name, Turk's Cap.

These are very attractive to pollinators.

So hummingbirds love them, butterflies, moths, and many other insects.

Now, this also comes in other flower colors.

There's a cultivar called Alba, which has white flowers.

There's a pink flowering type, and there's also some that have variegated foliage.

Now, this plant will grow in full sun, but it actually prefers shadier conditions.

It is again not very picky about its soil conditions.

It's very tolerant of a wide variety of soils.

It just really needs well-drained soils.

(light country music) - It is a beautiful day here, and we are grilling.

And I am gonna be showing you a hamburger foil pack.

Now, foil packs are exactly what they sound like.

It is a food package wrapped up in foil, and you put it on the grill.

They gained some popularity in the past few years, and there's lots of different combinations that you can put in your foil pack on your grill.

But today, I'm gonna be showing you one that my mother made a lot when I was growing up.

It's just really nostalgic for me, simple and delicious.

So we're gonna start with some potatoes.

I have some of these little Baby Gold potatoes.

You could use red potatoes.

You could use russet, whatever you like, and we're just gonna cut them into bite-sized pieces.

(knife thumping) You also wanna cut up your peppers and onions.

You can do whatever kind of cut, whatever kind of shape you want, but we're going for bite-sized pieces so that everything is about the same size.

It makes it easier to eat, and it makes it easier to fit into your foil pack.

Now that all my vegetables are cut, I'm just gonna put this out of the way and start building my foil packs.

You'll take (foil rustling) a square of tin foil.

And we're gonna start with some potatoes, so just about a handful of potatoes, about 1/4 of the potatoes that you cut up.

- Right in the middle of the foil.

And then on top of that we'll put some of our onion and a little bit of the pepper.

And to this, I'm also gonna add a few baby carrots.

You could add whatever vegetables you like.

There's endless combinations for foil packs but I'm just gonna take a handful of baby carrots and put them on the top as well.

Now I'm gonna drizzle this with a little bit of olive oil and season it with just a salt and pepper blend.

And I'm gonna top it with a hamburger patty.

I have my hamburger patties already done.

I bought them that way.

If you prefer to form your own hamburger patties that is great.

Go for it.

I'm gonna top that with a hamburger patty, and then I'm gonna season the hamburger patty just a little bit with my salt and pepper blend.

And wrapping it up, there's no real science to it.

You're just gonna take two of the sides, bring them together at the top, and then bring up your other sides and kind of turn it into a little pouch.

Looks like leftovers.

And roll that down.

Once you build your other four, you're gonna put these on the grill for about 20 minutes on the medium high heat.

You want your potatoes and carrots to be done.

Your burger will cook quicker than that.

And so once your potatoes and carrots are done, they're done.

If you are working with the grill that has a lid definitely put the lid down on these so that you get more of an oven effect and more even cooking.

Since we don't have a lid on this grill I have tinted my foil packs with another layer of foil over the top.

After about 20 minutes on the grill your foil pack should be fully cooked and ready to go.

So let's check it out.

If you are going to be eating this outside on a paper plate then I recommend that you leave your foil intact.

You can just unwrap it on your plate because there is a lot of liquid in here.

And all that liquid rolling out onto a paper plate is gonna make the plate kind of soggy.

But if you're using a real plate, whether you're inside or outside, you don't have to eat it out of the foil.

You can just kind of slide your food right onto the plate.

So we'll open it up-- (foil crumbling) And you could seat it just like that.

Or, you can take your fork and put your burger patty over on the plate.

And then kind of just slide your veggies on there.

(foil rattling) And here is our finished hamburger foil pack.

It's a simple and tasty meal.

I think your family is really gonna like it and I hope you try it.

(upbeat string music) - [Narrator] There are a lot of great horticulture activities this time of year.

Be sure and consider some of these events in the weeks ahead.

(upbeat string music) Join us next week as we show you how to preserve your plants before winter arrives, right here on "Oklahoma Gardening".

(upbeat string music) - You're at a desert, kind of.

I'm just rambling here.

- [Camera Person] Cowboy?

- That's a bird.

- [Camera Person] That's a bird.

Okay, nevermind.

- That's a mockingbird.

- [Camera Person] Okay.

(upbeat string music) - [Narrator] To find out more information about show topics as well as recipes, videos, articles fact sheets, and other resources, including a directory of local extension offices, be sure to visit our website at oklahomagardening.okstate.edu.

Join in on Facebook and Instagram.

You can find this entire show and other recent shows as well as individual segments on our "Oklahoma Gardening" YouTube channel.

Tune into our "OK Gardening Classics" YouTube channel to watch segments from previous hosts.

"Oklahoma Gardening" is produced by the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service as part of the Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources at Oklahoma State University.

The Botanic Garden at OSU is home to our studio gardens and we encourage you to come visit this beautiful Stillwater gem.

We would like to thank our generous underwriter, the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry.

Additional support is also provided by Greenleaf Nursery and the Garden Debut Plants, the Oklahoma Horticulture Society, the Tulsa Garden Club and the Tulsa Garden Center.

(upbeat string music)