(warm music) (elegant music) - Welcome to "Oklahoma Gardening."

Stick around as I share a new way to access "Oklahoma Gardening's" information.

We learn how to make concrete containers, I'll share some unique eggplants, we learn about the cicada killer wasp, and finally, we'll check in to see how the Tulsa Garden Center is recovering from the tree damage that they suffered earlier this summer.

Underwriting assistance for our program is provided by the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food, and Forestry, helping to keep Oklahoma green and growing.

(elegant music continues) So if you're looking for an easy, low maintenance perennial.

(elegant music swells) Have two different types of flowers on one plant.

(elegant music continues) Capsaicinoids that gives the pepper its heat.

(elegant music ends) Over the years here on "Oklahoma Gardening," we've done a lot of different plant segments, and those segments usually contain really critical information about that plant's form and habit, the environment that it prefers to grow in, as well as pest and disease problems that you might encounter with growing that plant.

Well, this is valuable information that you can still continue to find on YouTube, but we also thought it would be valuable information for people that are visiting Oklahoma Gardens.

Thanks to the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture Specialty Crop Block Grant that we recently received, we are now able to provide that information to 10 partner gardens that we have established across the state.

When you visit these gardens, we have placed out signs like the one you can see here behind me on certain plants.

What we did was we talked with those gardens about particular plants that were of interest to visitors during different seasons, and then we paired those plants with videos that we had available that we filmed over the last several years.

Now, you can see a lot of the sign.

They look very similar to this.

They just say, "Discover more here," and they have our "Oklahoma Gardening" logo on there with a QR code.

While the signs all look the same, each one of those QR codes are very unique and will direct you to information and a video about that plant that it's placed by.

- So we're happy to partner with "Oklahoma Gardening" to be able to get QR code signs out on some of our plants, basically because it's a much more interactive way for our visitors to experience the gardens.

And then also it's just a way to get more information out.

So a lot of people like to just enjoy the beauty of the gardens, and we love that, but some guests are also looking for a little bit more information, and so this is one of the ways to do that.

- So we're really excited about the QR codes because a lot of them are in parts of our garden that are accessible when the park is open but the garden is closed, and so guests can get more information from those QR codes that is not only specific to the plant they're looking at but also to the Oklahoma area.

- The Botanical Gardens love this because not only does it provide them with more educational content for the visitors, but the visitors are also getting a more fulfilling informational experience as they walk through those gardens as well.

This does not change anything that we're doing weekly here on OETA and on our television show, "Oklahoma Gardening."

We just wanted to be able to continue to use that content to people who might be out in the garden.

So look for us out in those gardens across Oklahoma by simply pulling out your phone and snapping that QR code, and "Oklahoma Gardening" will be right there to tell you about that plant.

(warm music) (warm music continues) - Hi, most of you're used to seeing me out at the student farm at OSU, but this afternoon, on these hot days that we've had this summer, we've decided our late afternoon projects are gonna be making concrete pots, so we've made these cute little concrete pots and we're gonna show you how to make 'em today.

So first, you need to purchase a silicone mold and these can be purchased online.

They come in pieces.

- And they're very reusable.

You can use them several times and they seem to work really great so far.

We've used these about 10 times now and have nothing sticking or anything like that.

The next things you need to purchase are, you need to get cemental.

That's the product we've been using and it has worked very well.

It sets up very quickly so you kind of have to work quickly when you do mix it up.

Measuring cups, a bucket for mixing, a drill with a little mortar mixer on it to help get it nice and smooth and some vegetable oil as a release agent.

So we spray the inside of this that way it won't stick to it.

Some other things you can get also you need a little spatula for packing it in, but you can also add color.

And we purchased these locally at one of the big box stores and it's just, this is a terracotta cement color and then a charcoal cement color.

And we've got a little measuring spoon for measuring our amounts out.

And then once you get all that done, then the students are gonna tell you what's next.

- Hi, I'm gonna help you with step one of making these pots.

So there's different types of molds you can use.

There's a circle one, a square, there's even a rectangle if you want that.

And these are kind of like the end products of what you'll get.

So basically what these molds are is it's just a silicone thing right here that holds the concrete so it doesn't get everywhere.

And it's got this metal piece to keep the concrete up so it supports it.

And then you'll just put these around like this and the silicone will just go right in there.

And then you gotta make sure to put these screws in kind of tight so the concrete doesn't go everywhere when you pour it in.

So take a second.

Okay, finally got the screws in.

So the next step for prepping your pots, 'cause you need to do it quickly because once the concrete's mixed, it goes kind of fast 'cause it dries.

So you're gonna take this vegetable oil and you're just gonna spray it in down in the pot.

You wanna make sure to cover it well so the concrete doesn't stick and that's all you have to do to prep it.

- Now that our mold is ready, we're onto step two which is mixing the cemental.

So the bag recommendations are four parts of cement to one part of water.

Since we've been doing them in bulk, we've added just slightly more than that.

We're going about four and a half to five cups if we were doing one.

And then about a cup and a half of water.

So to mix it, add your water first and then start adding your cement.

(drill runs) That's about the consistency we want.

And if you're going to add color when you're mixing it is the time to add the color.

And when you're adding color, it's usually about a tablespoon of your color mix two to one pot.

And when you're doing this, it's good to work quickly 'cause this is a rapid set cement.

It is good to get it a little bit in there and to give it some good taps to help take out the air pockets and to help it settle inside the mold.

As you can see, it's getting smooth.

And once you got it filled and smooth that a little bit, you can take one of your hole plugs and poke a hole for your water drain.

And that's basically it.

- Alright, so now for step three, we've used some movie magic to instantly dry and cure this pot.

But under normal circumstances, you'd have to wait whatever time that your concrete mix is specified.

So first of all, we're gonna undo the mold by unscrewing the plastic nuts and bolts here.

And then these molds have a bottom piece that will just kind of just push out just like that and set that aside.

- Pull these two plastic parts off.

And now...

Sometimes, there's a little bit of concrete left in the drain hole, but usually, not too much.

You just kind of punch that out with the screwdriver, and then loosen up the edges.

Hold these down.

These molds are really nice, really, really flexible.

It makes it really easy to get out and kind of flex it around inside.

And there you have it.

You got the pot out.

Now these things, you can either just wipe 'em off with a damp paper towel if they're not too messy.

Or if the concrete sticks a little bit, maybe you didn't get enough mold release in there, you can brush it off under running water.

And just a little regular hand brush and some warm water usually does the trick.

Then once you get your mold cleaned, you can reuse it again several times.

Like mentioned before, we've used these about 10 times already, and and you're good to go.

(transition whooshing) - All right, I'm here to help you with step 4 of decorating these concrete pots.

So we've just taken us out of the mold.

It's ready to be painted.

For this, we've kind of gone with an acrylic.

It holds up in the outdoor climate.

It's pretty easy to use.

We've got some acrylic markers.

You can use any brand, anything like that.

You can also go for an acrylic paint, just brush it on.

For our stencils, so you can go ahead and paint these on straight to the concrete pot.

It's kind of up to your discretion.

If you wanna get creative with it, you can, but we decided to go with our theme and draw some things on paper.

We backed it with some graphite.

And we went ahead, just scribble as much as you can, as hard as you can, and get a good thick layer.

And then you can set that right against your pot and traced really hard, and have your design transferred onto the pot to then be traced or painted by your acrylic markers.

After all that's done, the acrylic paint will dry almost instantaneously 'cause it's a fast-drying paint.

We'll finish it off with a satin finish, Krylon, Rust-Oleum, anything you want to use.

Let this sit for 24 hours before potting anything inside, and you're ready to go.

(transition whooshing) - And now we're on to step 5, planting your planter.

So the first step is adding potting soil to your pot, our beautifully decorated pot I may add.

And so with about half full, we are gonna add our plants in.

And we have some lovely herbs.

We have catmint, a beautiful pineapple sage, and lastly, I'll be planting oregano in here.

And although we used herbs in here, you can use succulents, home plants, anything would do great.

And as horticulture students, we are using these as our centerpieces for our upcoming scholarship ceremony.

Just a beautiful way to thank our donors and alumni for supporting us.

And although the centerpieces, they will look great in your home too.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) - One of the fun things about gardening is experimenting with the plants that you grow.

And a lot of times, we tend to default to tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, and some of those plants, but there are a lot of options that you can grow within those areas.

So, a lot of times today, we're talking about eggplants, but a lot of times when we think of eggplants, we think of something like this, your traditional large, deep purple eggplant.

Now, to me, eggplants don't always have a lot of flavor to 'em.

And so having something this large and having to cut it up and put it into a saute, I kind of like to look for something that's a little bit smaller than something like this to use.

So today, we're talking about some of the different eggplants that we've grown this season.

Now, one of 'em is the traditional eggplant.

And we've mentioned this on the show before, this is the icicle eggplant.

You can see it has more of that traditional white color.

In fact, that's how eggplant got its name is because originally they were white, and they were actually a little bit smaller and looked like eggs hanging on a plant.

Now this particular one is the All America selection.

It's called icicle.

And so it has a little bit more of a long cylindrical look to it versus the egg shape.

Now there is one that we featured a few years ago called the Japanese egg eggplant, and it is more of that round egg shape to it.

Now, next to it here, we have some that look very different than your traditional eggplant.

In fact, this is one called the Melanzana Rossa Di Rotonda eggplant.

And you can see here, it almost looks like an orange tomato.

Of course, eggplant are in the Solanaceae family, so they're actually related to tomatoes and peppers.

But you can see, this has that much smaller egg shape, but it does in fact look more like a tomato.

And some people will say it kind of has a tomato, peppery flavor to it.

Now, I like this because as somebody who wants to be able to use eggplant relatively quickly, one of these, two of these, you can chop those up and add to your saute relatively easy versus a large fruit like this.

The other thing too is the fact that when you do harvest your eggplant, you wanna use them relatively quickly.

In fact, it's best to use them and harvest them before they start turning brown, especially on the white ones.

If you see that they're starting to turn brown, they're getting over ripe at that point.

- Now you do have about five to seven days if they're kept in the refrigerator.

However, with something as small as this Chinese string eggplant, you can see here, again, it's got that more cylindrical look.

And this one, of course, is kind of overgrown, or over-ripened with the browning at the bottom of it.

But we have a few more back in here that are just perfect and ready to harvest.

In fact, right here, I'll harvest one.

You can see that's kind of at its prime right there.

And they're much longer and cylindrical.

And so the nice thing about these is you can just easily chop this up and have a little disc that you can add then into your stir-fry, and not have a lot of waste or have too much eggplant to have to deal with.

So if you're thinking that you're not really into your traditional eggplant or don't really have a use for this, think about the different varieties that might be available, that would be better suited for your culinary needs.

(light guitar music) - Hello, welcome to Bug of the Month.

This month, we're gonna talk about the cicada killer wasp.

They're very common again in Oklahoma.

You'll see them in August, into September.

They're a very large wasp, yellow and black.

They are solitary wasps.

They do not live in a colony together like yellow jackets or honeybees would.

They're solitary wasps.

And like the name says, they kill cicadas to feed to their young.

So they're out there cruising around.

You'll see 'em just one or two feet off of the ground in sandy areas or light pasture.

They need that sandy soil to be able to dig.

They are not the Asian giant hornet.

They look very similar.

The Asian giant hornet is much larger, a whole inch larger than the cicada killers are.

And the Asian giant hornet has a full yellow face.

The cicada killer wasp, since it lives alone, is very, very harmless.

It's not interested at all in people or animals, because it's not defending a hive the same way that many wasps and bees are.

So it may come over and look at you a little bit, and then she'll turn around and she'll go back to digging little holes in the sand, and putting babies and cicadas in each one of them.

(light upbeat music) (light upbeat music fades) - You may have heard back in June, Tulsa suffered from some devastating straight line winds that came through here, and you can see some of the devastation that happened.

But unless you've been by Tulsa or you're from Tulsa, you may not be aware of it.

So today we are here at the Tulsa Garden Center, and joining me is Andy Fusco, who is the director of horticulture.

And unfortunately you guys are also seeing some of the losses right here at the arboretum.

Tell us a little bit.

I mean, that was a solid tree, right?

- Yeah, It was one of our oldest specimens here in the arboretum, one of the original plantings in 1964.

And as you can see, it was no match for 100-mile-per-hour winds.

Just completely uprooted.

- Yeah, and so, I mean, it's a solid tree.

You've done all your pruning, except for unfortunately, you know, we know telephone poles.

There are just things that definitely give out under 100-mile-an-hour winds.

But what's kind of odd is there's no rhyme or reason, right?

You've got perfectly good standing trees next to us here.

- Yeah, just my general plant knowledge, it seems like some of the oaks took it worse than some of the other trees.

I would have to wait for some more data to really see that.

It's interesting as a plants person, but just as a citizen of Tulsa, it's really devastating to see these big old trees, that it takes a lot of energy and time for this to be here.

- Yeah.

- To see it just knocked over is unfortunate.

- And this is a little bit different than the ice storm that we had a few years ago.

'cause we're not talking branches.

We're talking massive heavy lumber here.

- Right, a lot of us here remember that ice storm well, and the amount of cleanup that it took, and like you said, that was just branches and limbs, and maybe some whole trees, but I don't even know how you would start to move something like this without some professional help, for sure.

- Yeah, and so you are working with some professionals to kind of maybe even salvage.

- [Casey] Some of this or mill some of it, is that correct?

- Yeah.

So, of course the city of Tulsa has been a huge effort in cleaning up the park in general, but as well as our managing partners of this space in the park up with trees.

Cleaning this up in a way that hopefully we can get some new life out of this wood so that it doesn't all just end up in the chipper.

And then this root ball especially, it's not often that you get to teach with a almost eight foot in diameter root ball at your back.

So, we're trying to figure out all the different ways that we can use this tragedy as kind of a silver lining in an educational moment.

- Yeah, absolutely.

We never get to look at the underside of the tree.

And so that's a unique perspective here.

So, tell us a little bit about what kind of it meant for the Tulsa Garden Center here while you were recovering from all of this.

- Yeah.

So the entire park was closed for about five weeks.

So of course we couldn't have guests in, doing what we'd love to do, which is like share our love of the park with guests.

We were able to bring in volunteers a little early and get cleaned up.

And one funny thing is, you know, you mentioned the ice storm and afterwards, that time of year in the winter it was all cleanup all the time.

Well we had to, you know, split our labor in terms of, 'cause we still had things growing and we wanted things after cleanup.

- [Casey] You're middle of the season, right?

- Yeah.

So it felt kind of funny taking a break from tree cleanup to go water flowers.

But it's what you gotta do as a public gardener.

- [Casey] Absolutely.

And I know that cleanup is still ongoing, right?

Because this doesn't just get picked up by the local pickup service, obviously.

So, you know, I think your gardens are now open, is that correct?

- Yeah, the park is back open and actually this is just one little hiccup in an ongoing restoration of this space in the arboretum.

We were already working on trying to get some new trees back in here.

So we may have to add a few to the list but it's just another, you know, it just goes to show that, you know, trees are important and ongoing maintenance of spaces like this are important.

- Right.

And obviously we always want everybody to be careful because now we're starting to see where some of those branches are turning dead, basically.

They have died 'cause they've been broken.

But you can actually see because the leaves have died now as well.

- Yeah.

If you're out in the park and you see caution tape or anything that looks unsafe, please stay clear of it.

The city has done a fabulous job cordoning off areas that they have not gotten to yet.

It takes a long time to make sure that trees are safe.

So, the park is open but there are some areas that are closed off and it's for the guest safety.

- All right.

Well, we still have Oklahoma winds that might be blowing those dead branches up there, so thank you for that.

And unfortunately tragedy happens, gardens change, right?

And new opportunity to plant something new.

- Yep.

- Thank you so much.

- Thanks, Casey.

(bright music) - [Announcer] There are a lot of great horticulture activities this time of year.

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

(bright music) Join us next week right here on "Oklahoma Gardening" as we harvest some Native tree fruits.

You won't wanna miss it.

(bright music) - The Agriculture Specialty Quad grant, they're now able to.

(Casey laughing) - [Crew] What the.

- They might be better used in your garden, your kitchen.

- [Crew] No.

(bright music) - [Announcer] 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 okay 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 still water 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.

(bright music)