“Oklahoma Gardening” going strong into its 44th season

Friday, February 9, 2018

Although there are a few more weeks of winter, the crew at “Oklahoma Gardening” has been hard at work preparing for the show’s 44th season. Slated to kick off Feb. 17, this season promises to deliver great gardening advice and take viewers along as they visit other parts of this great state.

Casey Hentges is back as host of the show and said she is excited to share the latest gardening tips, tricks and information with viewers.

“I’ve always been curious about nature and science especially in relation to gardening, so that’s going to be our theme this year,” Hentges said. “Gardening truly is about science and we’re going to break down the science involved in a way that’s easy for viewers to understand. We’ll cover things such as how trees live in winter without leaves, why pruning a leggy plant makes it bushier and why certain plants are better adapted for dry, sunny locations. Learning about the characteristics of plants that survive in those conditions will help gardeners when they’re looking at plants they may not be familiar with.”

Hentges said this season will help viewers understand the why of gardening, because that often helps explain when, how or what is involved. For example, there are hundreds of plants that are suitable for a dry, sunny location, but no gardener can know all of them.

This season’s regional tour will take viewers to Northwest Oklahoma where the focus will be on seeing some of Oklahoma’s extreme growing conditions. Prairie and native plant gardens are very popular and viewers will get a closer look at the natural beauty found in the landscape of that part of the state.

“We’ll continue to do fun garden projects, share great plants for Oklahoma and feature cooking segments using produce from the garden,” Hentges said. “In addition, we’ll offer gardeners timely tips about things that need to be done in the garden, as well as introduce our viewers to some amazing gardeners and their gardens. There are a lot of interesting things planned for this this season and we can’t wait to share them.”

Check out the show’s website at www.oklahomagardening.okstate.edu for direct links, as well as video clips of the program, links to gardening resources, a link to recipes featured on the show and much more.

“Oklahoma Gardening” airs every Saturday morning at 11 a.m. and Sunday afternoons at 3 p.m. on local OETA channels. If viewers are unable to watch on television, they can subscribe to the “Oklahoma Gardening” YouTube channel and see full shows or search for specific segments at their convenience.

“Oklahoma Gardening” also can be found on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

The Botanic Garden at OSU is the home of the “Oklahoma Gardening” studio garden and is located west of Stillwater on the north side of Highway 51. The show is produced by Oklahoma State University Cooperative Extension, OSU’s Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture and Agricultural Communications Services.