Tickets are $5 in advance or $7.50 on the day of the tour. Tickets for the entire tour can be purchased at any of the gardens, or they can be purchased in advance at the Extension Office at 4116 East 15th St. Also, the Tulsa Master Gardeners are putting out a GREAT monthly newsletter. One has to subscribe to it, to get it via email. If you email me, I will forward this month newsletter to you. Here is a snippet out of that newsletter: I want to try my hand at growing herbs for cooking. What do I need to know to start? Herbs love a well drained soil in full sun all day. It is best not to fertilize except with a small amount of well composted leaves. Water only as needed and prune regularly to prevent woody stems from developing. Landscaping Around Electrical Boxes Some Tulsa neighborhoods have had electrical distribution lines buried. For some, that's been good news and bad news. The good news: you've gotten rid of the cumbersome and unsightly overhead lines and you have avoided occasional service disruption from fallen tree limbs. The bad news: what to do with the electrical box sitting out on your curb. As seen below, one Master Gardener did some creative landscaping around the box. Because the door to the box opened on the rear, that is, the side facing the home, she could plant materials on the three sides facing the street. The back side is left open so the electrical folks can service the unit. The plant materials used above include: (1) Helleri Holly, Japanese dwarf, (2) Acoma Crape Myrtle, (3) Morning Light Maiden Grass, (4) Nandina domestica, (5) Sun Begonia, (6) Vinca, Catharanthus Roseus, (7) Celosia, Cockscomb.

Joining the party a bit late - but going through the same issues on our kitchen redesign. Should be easy as I am only dealing with cooking. After a month of reading reviews and playing with ovens and cooktops, I think I decided on the following: Wolf e series oven (was very close to the elux icon as I loved the racks). Final decision - size of the oven, 2 convection fans and on sale! Wolf 36 inch induction cooktop - Ann Arbor building inspectors are following the make up air handling very strictly and need to keep the vent under 400cfm or would have to add a make up air system - which outweighed the benefits. Also considered the miele, thermador, and a late addition - JennAire - but the sleek look of the Wolf won plus it is on sale. GE Advantium Monogram speed oven - This will be over the Wolf oven and I think it will look OK - similar handles and overall appearance. Also considered the Miele and Elux. I have a newer Elux French door fridge and love it - it has the LED lighting.(but no ice/water through the door) It cost a bit more than some others but it has saved me $$ in less wasted food. When I headed out of town for 2 weeks urgently and returned with the milk and lettuce still usable - need I say more? Also, I took my favorite serving dishes and tested the various units -the elux was set up best. I also have a Miele dishwasher. It is several years old and I will re-use it. It is so quiet that I have to put my ear near to verify it is running. The door pops open to assist in drying at the end of the cycle. I also took my favorite dishes to try in the dishwasher - I can put 14 place settings in the dishwasher and run my china and crystal in the dishwasher! Hope I made the right decisions on the new appliances - the posts have been helpful!

I actually loved the research, but then I'm weird that way : ) The work was fine (partial DIY) as I love getting physical... up to a point. Now I'm just totally exhausted and sore. The decisions of what to buy, which to choose? My goodness yes I'm tired of it. Granted, some of it's been fun (easier choices) - all the kitchen 'jewelry' (faucets, pulls) were easy, as were the appliances (I can be pretty decisive about needs) but when it came time to tally up the cost, that was not fun! But big things like colors for cabinets, counter tops, "what type and how much and where" on the lighting... some easy, some hard. But I have to admit, despite all the difficult choices, I agree with oldbat2be when she said: "there's a lot of satisfaction involved in making the right decision and even more in recognizing that you didn't proceed with your original plan which wouldn't have been as good as what you ended up with" It's such a wonderful feeling to look at our choices and say YES, that's wonderful! And had we moved faster with our remodel, we would never have had the chance to change our minds or improve upon certain things. What I'm really tired of? Having to use the same utility sink to wash dishes, to clean up filthy hands, to clean up after our dog (who's in diapers now due to incontinence) and all the scrubbing and disinfecting of that dang sink! I hate carrying things all the way to it, carrying things back... oh to have a kitchen again! With a sink... no, 2 sinks! I'll be in kitchen heaven : )

I agree - do not let the brass influence your decision. I think ORB will work very nicely throughout your home. However, if you want brushed nickel in the kitchen, then go for it. I would strongly suggest you choose your counter slab first though! if you got a slab that called for nickel hardware - you can still do ORB lights in the kitchen, as they will flow with the rest of the house. I love the notion of mixed hardware for cabinets - I used Colonial Bronze knobs, which allows you to choose 2 finishes - one for the outside of the knob (eg. ORB) and one for the face (eg brushed nickel). Just an idea. I know you need to choose your hinges now tho. If you have an inkling of your granite choice and you know ORB will be the finish of choice, then go with ORB. We had all brass throughout our 1950s house too - and we are slowly but surely changing everything out to ORB and we love the result! We do have satin nickel/pewter in the kitchen, nickel in 3 baths (2 polished, 1 satin) and 1 polished chrome in another bath. All main doors and hinges will have ORB hinges and levers when we're all done. Good luck!