Cityscaping

Story by Kelsey Wagnor/Editor-in-Chief Photos by Andrew Hicks

GROWING A CITY WIDE LANDSCAPE

It starts with a seed, or in this case 50,000 seeds.

Tucked away out of sight, located just behind the former Parks and Recreation main offices are three tiny greenhouses.

From the outside, they appear nondescript. Measuring roughly 20 foot by 50 foot, with large metal fans, they are made of a variety of opaque materials and serve two primary functions: let in sunlight and keep out the cold. “We live and die by the weather,” says Terri Conner, as she recalls the last big freeze. Drastic measures were taken in the mid-February freeze to save the delicate plants. Heaters helped stave off the bitter cold and preserve the precious stockpile of plants.

In addition to Terri, these three greenhouses also have three other full-time employees, Brandy, Sara and Tammy, which make up the entire Horticulture Division. Terri serves as the Horticulture Supervisor of the small division. Their division may be small, but they have a tremendous number of plants they care for.

“The City of Ponca City is so lucky to have Brandy, Sara and Tammy,” says Terri. “They plant the whole city of Ponca City. They grow, dig, fertilize, trim, make cuttings, weed, spray… they do so much.”

“We start with seeds. The seeds get sown in little rows with heating pads underneath to keep them warm. As they sprout and grow, we move them up to six packs.” Terri points to Brandy behind her to illustrate the process.

Brandy sits at a table, six-pack plastic trays filled with dirt in front of her. She is taking germinated seeds, separating them and placing each individual plant into dirt pods, one at a time. Tedious work.

“These are Zinnias,” says Brandy with a smile, “they are annual flowers.” Unlike perennials, which re-bloom each spring, annual

flowers grow, bloom and die each year, and do not re-bloom. Annual plants shed seeds and must be regrown from the seeds. Ponca City takes its landscaping seriously. From the downtown cityscape filled with raised brick flower beds every block, to the sprawling gardens of the Marland Mansion, flowers, shrubs, trees and bushes of all kinds are cared for by city employees. The flowers are meant to be enjoyed by the citizens and improve quality of life, but they also serve a very important role in tourism, by beautifying the city. According to a report by the U.S. Forest Service, “A well-landscaped community increases home values, reduces crime rates and improves air quality, as well as quality of life.”

“Why do people love our city? Why do they love our downtown and our library and Enrique’s? Because they are beautiful in the summer. The horticulture division puts their blood, sweat and tears into taking care of our flowers,” says Eric Newell, Director of Parks and Recreation with the City of Ponca City, who oversees the horticulture division.

“Flowers are an inviting thing to any city. They make you stop, and pause and look. Flowers are good for a person’s well-being. Flowers just make you happy,” says Terri.

Terri says landscaping city properties for a city as big as ours, is not an easy undertaking.

“We’re appreciative of the city to [get to] do this. We love doing it. It is very hard work. You just have to have it in your genes to do this,” says Terri. The Horticulture Division begins planting April 15 and continues planting well into June. With over 50,000 plants to place, it takes several months to complete. Terri says a few years ago, after years of doing it with hand shovels, they now have an ingenious tool they’ve used for a few years to help make planting easier. “This has saved us so much time and backache because we don’t have to bend over as much, and we can go faster. We can go in there and drill 100 holes where we were previously doing it with a hand shovel,” says Terri. Terri describes the tool as a “collective” invention, born purely out of need. A three-inch Continued on page 16

Cityscaping Continued from page 15

diameter auger on the end of a three foot metal rod, attached to a powerful drill.

“We’ll get the augers and the guys in the park department weld them together for us. I just can’t tell you how great that invention has been,” Terri says.

The second and third greenhouses contain annuals, but also perennials that are dug up each year and saved to be replanted the following year. Saving and replanting perennials and sprouting and growing annuals in-house lowers the cost of maintaining landscaping by hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Plants of all shapes and sizes line every aisle of the greenhouses. Tall, small, wide, angular and even tropical plants are grown or kept, all eventually used somewhere on city property to beautify the city.

“Guatemalan rhubarb!” says Terri, pointing to one of the tall tropical plants, “but not the kind you eat. They get large and have red blooms on them. These could be anywhere.”

You may find Guatemalan rhubarb at Cann Gardens, on Grand Ave., at the Police Department or even at the Ponca City Airport, planted alongside the colorful chili pepper plants, also planted by the city.

“We kind of think about that in our planning,” Terri says. Each garden is designed to match the setting, “office, restaurant … we try our best.”

The stock of succulent plants has been expanded as well, primarily because they have a much lower need for water. All flowers on city property are watered by hand by the horticulture employees.

Terri describes the group of “gals” in horticulture as ‘Plant Addicts.' As they each travel on weekends or holidays on their own personal time, if they discover new types of plants they think would do well in Ponca City, they bring them home. The horticulture gals are a tightknit group who truly love what they do.

“They’re a good group of people that share, multitask and care about each other, and just work so well together,” says Terri.

FLOWERS ARE AN INVITING THING TO ANY CITY. THEY MAKE YOU STOP, AND PAUSE AND LOOK. FLOWERS ARE GOOD FOR A PERSON’S WELL-BEING. FLOWERS JUST MAKE YOU HAPPY.

Thank You!

Ponca City Monthly Magazine is available at no cost to you because of the support of advertisers. Thank you to the businesses and individuals listed below for your generous support in our first amazing year!

420 Dispensary A-1 Heating & Air ABT Solutions Aftershave Barbering Co. Alliance Home Health Alliance Ponca City Amazon Hub AMC Urgent Care Anderson Flooring Ann Bandy, State Farm Insurance Asthetic State of Mind Bob Askew Auto Intintions Barney’s Barber Shop Bintz Pharmacy Bivin & Associates Boettcher, Devinney, Ingle & Wicker Suzanne Boettcher Brace Books & Moore Brandts Ace Hardware Cherokee Strip Credit Union Jodi Cline, Edward Jones Community National Bank Frances Coonrod, Century 21 -

Group One Danny’s BBQ Head Quarters DDS Dentures & Implant Solutions Deli-icious Diner Russ Didlake, Keller Williams Dorada Foods Evans & Associates Ferguson, Mulligan & Poet First National Bank Flat Branch Home Loans Frocks & Fashions Frontier Siding & Windows Ft. Knox Marty Sutton-Garner Mark Gibson, Metro Realtors Grand Cigar Liz Greene, Keller Williams H&R Block HRI Roofing and Post Frame HealthBack Home Health Healthworld Heather Cannon Honda Henneberry Orthodontics Hoddy Glass Holmes, Yates & Johnson Honey Bee Boutique Hospice of North Central Oklahoma Hydrate You Mobile IV J.W. Cobbs Family Restaurant Kanza Human Development Division Kem’s Gym Klinger’s Collision Center Dr. Phillip Knight John Kramer, CPA Lakeside Grill Lander’s Windows Liles and Company Loftis & Wetzel Insurance Frank & Albina McEnroe Marland Mansion Marland’s Place Martin, Jean & Jackson McGee Jeweler Mary Beth Moore, Coldwell Banker -

Heritage Realtors Harry Myers, Centery 21 - Group One Napoli’s Italian Restaurant Nicholson Auction & Real Estate Northern Oklahoma College OMPA Opportunity Center Osage Casino Paladin Apartments Parker Pest Control Personnel Staffing, Inc. Phillips 66 Pioneer Technology Center Becky Poet, Coldwell Banker -

Heritage Realtors Ponca City Chamber of Commerce Ponca City Dental Group Ponca City Energy Ponca City Federated Music Club Ponca City Home Sweet Home Ponca City Housing Authority -

Broadway Plaza Apartments Ponca City Humane Society Ponca City RecPlex Ponca Playhouse Provisions Coffeehouse & Eatery Quality Pools & Spas Quality Water Ponca City Main Street Ray’s Sewer & Drain Cleaning RCB Bank Donna Reid, Coldwell Banker -

Heritage Realtors Renfro Family Foundation Rusty Barrell Sakura Savoir-Faire Salon Schwabbe & Associates Sheffield Travel Agency Dr. Peter Sinton Sparklight Standing Bear Stewart Title & Abstract Stuteville Chevrolet Stuteville Ford Sugar Lips Salon & Boutique Supported Community Lifestyles TPI Staffing Nancy Taylor Terron Liles The Gift Shoppe The Hippee Collective The Perk The Ponca City Real Estate Co. The Renaissance The University Center Toni’s Westside Healthmart Trout Funeral Home TS Fork Tyndall Family Dentistry United Way Veterans Parade Regina Vidrickson, XP Realty VFW Walker’s Hardwoods Ward’s Air Conditioning Yvonne Pendley Wehrle, Remax Kenny Wheel, Farmer’s Insurance Wild Wood Weddings Win-Co Finance Winterrowd Talley Architects