A Colorful Discovery in Oklahoma City, OK

Check out this fabulous color display! A lot of the gardens I visit have many themed areas and scattered color choices. This is not a negative comment, its just a comparative observation after seeing this garden. Here, there is definitely a color combination represented in what is called the “color garden”. And boy is it!

Maroon, yellow or chartreuse, purple and silver gray green play off the varied shades of leafy greens. It is bold and beautiful. There is a large of mix of plants, but the bones of the garden are Canna Lilies, Yarrow, Nepeta, Coleus, Yellow leaf Spirea and Salvias. Red leaf Cercis (Redbud) and Purple Leaf Plums stand out against the greens of the large mature trees in the garden and Arboretum. I don’t think I have ever visited a garden with such a predominant color theme. Or a garden where Coleus thrives out in all day sun! In the West, Coleus needs shade most of the day, so seeing it used out in color beds was surprising.

This is a delightful stroll garden with lawn path areas and a very cool inter-twining concrete path. The color garden replaced the, once famous, Rose Garden due to care and disease issues of the Roses. The area is cared for by park staff and volunteers from the master gardener program. They do a superb job! The garden is pristine and has exceptional examples for home owners to use in their own gardens.

Those coral red, low plants in the forefront, are coleus.

You can get a good walk in here, with the path areas in the color garden plus the Arboretum and Daylily Specialty Garden. There are adjacent parks for even more exercise.

You can see that I was there on a rainy day in May. I lucked out to arrive just as the rain let up and it became a nice time to walk the gardens. Other walkers joined me in enjoying the gardens, they must have been waiting for the rain to stop too!

The heart of the garden is a long lake with fountain unit. And there is a large Fountain (drained when I was there unfortunately) with a complicated sculpture, in the center of the garden. It represents a Mother clinging to her daughter, as the daughter sets out into the wide world. I read this in the garden info.- I would have never guessed.

The Garden was designed by Henry Walter and developed beginning in 1932. It covers 30 acres and has some new Arbors and entertaining areas near the lake. The park has educational programs, hosts events and serves as a calm haven for city residents.

You may not know who Will Rogers is. At one time he was a household name and was known for his humorous wit, poking fun at politicians, politics and life in general, in his newspaper columns. He was also a cowboy, rodeo performer, actor and the honorary mayor of Hollywood in 1926. It is not surprising that you may not have heard of him since his life started in 1879 and ended in 1935. Way before my time too. But, he was a favorite son of Oklahoma, having grown up in Oologah, OK in the Indian Territory- his family was of the Cherokee Nation. He traveled the world and wrote of his trips expounding the miracle of aviation. Paradoxically, he died in a plane crash with his friend Wiley Post up in the Alaska Territory. There are many buildings, streets, community areas and this garden named in his honor around Oklahoma and beyond. Google him for an interesting and humorous read. Now back to the garden.

It looks like they rebuilt this arbor recently and it has enclosed area at its center, its great for events and ceremonies, or just to rest. The garden has a lot of nice brickwork and some deep red sandstone rock in the water and stream area. Brick walls are used to form terraces descending to the lake, which is a nice design feature.

I had a little Squirrel friend accompany me on my walk. He/She would look up at me inquiringly whenever I stopped for more than a few minutes. Right at my feet. Healthy looking little guy, but I know better than to feed the wildlife. A little un-nerving having him sneak up on me, but overall a polite beast.

A few more photos of the flower beds

The Italian Cypresses add vertical interest in the background and are structural looking in the garden. Oklahoma has a number of beautiful deciduous broadleaf trees that are native including Deciduous Oaks, Redbuds (Cercis), Pecan and Box Elder, among others. The Arboretum has examples of the Native Trees plus specimens from around the world.

As I walked the garden I saw quite a few of these fairy houses built from logs. They are all different and I wondered if they were from a class at the gardens or from a local hobbyist- hopefully the logs are from tree fall on the site. Anyway, the added a touch of humor to my walk.

Last photo of a bashful lady hiding in a quiet corner of the garden

One of the great things about walking around in public and botanical gardens, is there is always a bench or sitting area handy for when my feet get tired. Sometimes with a statue!

The Will Roger’s Garden was a joy to visit and held many a surprise to be discovered. I hope you enjoyed this short tour. I write much more lengthy and detailed posts for the Travelogue- if you would like to delve into those adventures visit the travelogue page on the website to sign up. Click the link below to magically jump to that page!

Thanks for reading this post! If you have questions about any of the plants or features, please send me a comment or email. I am happy to converse.