Explore the Outdoors

June is a busy month at Oklahoma Centennial Botanical Garden.

The Oklahoma Centennial Botanical Garden, which is taking root on 170 acres northwest of downtown Tulsa, will be open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays, April through October. Admission is free. Visitors can pick up a map at the visitor ­center to explore the site, which includes the seven-acre Centennial Lake, a three-quarter mile lake trail that includes the Garden’s first plantings of 300 ornamental and shade trees and a one-and-a-half mile nature trail that winds through prairie and Cross Timbers forest. Directions and a map to the Garden can be found at www.ocbg.org or by calling (918) 289-0330.

Oklahoma Centennial Botanical Garden June 2012 Events
Saturday, June 2
9 a.m. – 4 p.m.
National Trails Day

Celebrate National Trails Day at the Botanical Garden with a nature scavenger hunt for the family. Kids can also color a ­picture to be entered in the National Trails Day coloring contest. Free.

Saturday, June 9
11 a.m.
“Plants with Stories”

University of Tulsa PhD student Landon Bunderson will be ­giving a talk on “Plants with Stories,” sharing some of the more interesting ways that plants have been discovered and used by people and cultures. Landon’s M.S. thesis involved the ­evaluation of native grasses for use as turfgrass. He is currently working with Dr. Estelle Levetin on characterizing the aerobiology and pollination ecology of four juniper species. The project is a NASA-funded collaboration that will result in a dynamic forecast system benefiting allergy and asthma sufferers.  Free.

Saturday, June 16
11 a.m. & 1 p.m.
Plant Walk: Identification of Plants of the Prairies and Cross Timbers

Patty Smith, biology instructor at Tulsa Community College, will identify native plants on a walk through the prairie and ­forest along the Garden’s Cross Timbers trail. Comfortable shoes and a hat are suggested. Meet at the visitor center. Free.

Saturday, June 23
9 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Family Activity Day: Pollinators

The Garden will celebrate the 6th annual National Pollinators Week, an international ­celebration of the valuable ecosystem services provided by bees, birds, butterflies, bats and beetles, with activities and crafts for families. Often overlooked or misunderstood, pollinators are in fact responsible for one out of every three bites of food that we eat.

Saturday, June 30
11 a.m. – Talk
12 & 2 p.m. – Plant Walk
Herbs for Health

Jeremy John Myers, herbalist, will give an educational talk on herbal uses of plants at 11 a.m. and lead walks at 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. to identify some of the native plants used by Native Americans and early settlers.

For more information, contact

Oklahoma Centennial Botanical Garden

(918) 289-0330

www.ocbg.org