Logan County Conservation District

05/12/2026

04/28/2026

📆 Mark your calendars! Riverology: A Field-Based Educator Institute is back in Tahlequah on July 20-22!

Learn More: https://bit.ly/4sMTTzz

Formal and informal educators are invited to attend this all-inclusive professional learning experience designed to reinvigorate instruction through real-world, field-based learning.

With a new theme of Groundwater, participants will use rivers and surrounding landscapes as a living laboratory.

Educators will receive standards-aligned curriculum for grades K-8, including a brand-new educator guide from Project WET!

The experience concludes with a guided Illinois River float trip — an ideal way to wrap up summer learning!

This event is limited to 40 participants, so register today!

PS - Register before May 31 to secure lower Early Bird pricing!

Oklahoma Blue Thumb Project WET

04/28/2026

May is one of the busiest planting months, and it’s a great time to get both vegetables and flowers going 🌼
🍅 Tomatoes and peppers can go in once the soil has warmed up
🥒 Cucumbers and beans are quick growers and easy to start now
🍓 Strawberries and melons do well if you have the space
🫐 Blueberries are worth planting if your soil conditions are right
🌻 Sunflowers and zinnias are some of the easiest flowers to grow
🧡 Marigolds and petunias are great for adding color and helping around the garden
One thing I always focus on this time of year is consistent watering, especially for new plants. It really helps them get established faster 🌱

04/28/2026

🌿 Perennials to Plant in May for Year-After-Year Blooms 🌸

Still time to plant! These hardy perennials establish quickly and reward you with beautiful blooms season after season:

🗓️ Best Timing:
• US Zones 3–9
• UK – Plant after the last frost
• Australia (cool–temperate) – Plant now for spring color

🌼 Top Picks:
• Garden Phlox – Loves full sun; attracts butterflies
• False Indigo – Bold, drought-tolerant, and long-lasting
• Yarrow – Tough and a magnet for pollinators
• Shasta Daisy – Classic summer blooms
• Coneflower (Echinacea) – Hardy and bee-friendly
• Bee Balm – Draws in hummingbirds and bees
• Black-eyed Susan – Thrives in heat and poor soil
• Poppy – Easy to scatter, stunning in groups
• Allium – Eye-catching globe flowers pollinators love

🌱 Plant now, and enjoy a garden that comes back stronger every year!

🌿

04/27/2026

04/23/2026

That green-and-black striped caterpillar on your parsley just grew orange horns.

She didn't have them a second ago. You touched the stem, she reared up, and two bright orange forked projections appeared from behind her head. They look like a snake's tongue. They smell terrible.

That's a defensive gland found only in swallowtail caterpillars. It deploys when she's threatened. The orange forks release a sharp smell that drives off ants, wasps, and small predators on contact.

She's a black swallowtail caterpillar. She's eating your parsley, your dill, your fennel, or your carrot tops. She'll feed for about two weeks, form a chrysalis, and emerge as one of the more recognizable butterflies in the eastern half of the country.

The parsley grows back. The butterfly doesn't.

🌿 What to do:

- Leave her — she'll eat some parsley but she won't take down the plant
- If you want both caterpillars and herbs, plant a few extra stems and let her have them
- Don't handle the orange gland — it won't hurt you but it smells unpleasant and can stain
- If you see orange horns, you're looking at a future swallowtail

The horns are her only defense. The parsley is her only food. Both of those things are in your hands 🌿

04/23/2026

Watering is one of those things that gets easier once you stop treating every vegetable the same 💧
🍅 Fruiting plants usually need the most consistency
🥬 Shallow-rooted crops dry out faster than people think
🥔 Some vegetables need extra water at key stages, not all the time
🌦️ I always adjust for heat, rain, and soil type instead of following a chart too strictly
I check the soil first and let that tell me what to do.