sounds good to me - invite them to the next one! :)

Sounds great to me.
Jill

Sounds great to me. Here's a little about the format of their last "swap" and some thoughts about how ours would need to be different;

Steve Bender and Larry Quick were there, and maybe ten to twelve gardeners, most of them pretty new to gardening. The swap advertised to bring "one' favorite plant to share, and steve bender talked about the care of every plant, which was good for new people.

The few more experienced gardeners of course ignored the "rule' of one plant, and to the delight of the new people had a lot of divisions/babies to share, of some really nice plants. I think the people there had a lot of fun and would like our swap too. We could easily triple the size of this little aldridge swap.

I think having larry Quick (who works at aldridge anyway) and maybe Steve Bender, or maybe the guy who runs Petals from the Past could give an informal talk (especially if we ordered some plants to buy!) --but since our group is very familiar with what we can grow around here, we wouldn't want the same format as the Aldridge swap.

Also, they had their swap under the pavilion in the gardens, but we bring so much stuff it would be effort to cart all of our plants through the garden gates over to that area. We would have to ask Aldridge people if our parking lot, "tailgating" style would work for them. In fact, if we had it on a football game day, we might pitch it as a "plant swap/tailgating party extravaganza"--hee hee.

LOL Love the tailgating plant swap idea!
Jill

Todd, thanks for your comments. Maybe we can trade in the parking lot and have a seminar in the pavilion area. With ceiling fans running, the open air pavilion was very pleasant yesterday. Regardless, I think we need to invite Misters Quick and Bender to attend our Fall swap and observe our approach. If we can pique their interest, they may work with us to set up a trade at the Hoover gardens.

I think its a great idea Terry, and i'd be surprised if they wouldn't at least be interested.
It seems that the two main things that keep a botanical garden afloat are
1) memberships and 2) the fees they get from all those weddings!!!

A swap with lots of people could help promote publicity for the gardens, and give us a super nice place to have it, so maybe this could work out.

Todd

Whatever, whenever, where ever, I plan on always attending (at least until I run outta stuff folks want!). This sounds like a great idea!

I know it's a loooong way for most of you folks, but you really should consider attending the Middle Tennessee Plant Swap, held in Henry Horton State Park. We average about 80-100 gardeners, and literally hundreds of plants. I think we're into our sixth year now, and it just keeps getting better and better!

I've never been to a plant swap, but it sounds like fun - if I can figure out how to pot up something to trade. I have hardy red amarylis, some daylilies & iris, hosta. Some were named varieties but I didn't label them. I just buy what I like and plant it for the sheer enjoyment of it. Are unnamed swaps accepted?

gardenerbythelake, What part of town do you live in? If you google how to divide daylilies and hosta's you will get a wealth of info. Go to the daylily and hosta forums and ask someone will post a link for you or someone might post a link here that knows how to do that.
Jill

Jill, I'm in Cullman. I have bought from Wildflower Society sales, Iris & Daylily Society sales or local charity sales and sometimes you get a clump and sometimes a fan. I have divided to increase my plants, but would need advice on how big the division needs to be for a swap.
Dorothy

Hi Dorthy,
Swaps are a lot of fun, and attendance is from the very experienced to brand new gardeners. And we all get along and have a grand time together!! The experienced gardeners are very helpful to answer questions. Yes, NOID (no identification) plants are welcome too. I am like you, I plant for the joy of the flower. Maybe someday I will be more concerned about IDs, but not yet...LOL!!

Hi Dorothy!

Don't let the lack of "names" deter you; whatever you bring will be appreciated. You'll feel welcomed and right at home, and you will be glad you came!

When listing trades or making them, just be sure the recipient knows in advance what to expect as far as the size of the plant you have to trade. If a plant is slow-growing, rare and/or expensive, a smaller division is usually acceptable; with more common plants you might want to offer larger specimens.

I hope you can make it this fall!

Nelson

Hi, Dorothy. Nelson explained it all quite well. I just finished a trade with a lady in TX for some daylilies. Some of her daylilies are worth $50-$100 per fan. I'm sending 6 white wisteria vines. It would hardly be fair for her to send six $50 daylily fans. Since I grow daylilies as a garden flower, not for show, some of her more common types in my choice of colors are an acceptable trade. If you will look at the Alabama Forum exchanges from April and May 2008, you will get an idea of how we pre-arrange trades and our swap-trade format. I sure hope you can join us this Fall. This is a great bunch people.

Thanks for the replies everyone. My internet router went out Thursday morning and I just now got back online. Unless gas is $10 a gallon by then I will definitely plan to come - I feel welcome already. My dh was not a gardener, but I knew I had him when he came home one day and told me about a bank covered in thrift he had seen. He doesn't know that I know I've got him, so please don't tell him :)
Dorothy

Hi! I just joined the group. I've read several posts, but haven't found anywhere that tells me what part of Alabama most of you are from! I'm in Tuscaloosa, but sort of new to the state. I'm in a new house and LOVE gardening! The lady that lived in my house before me had LOTS of raised flower beds in the very tiny yard. Hardly any grass at all. We moved in March and everything was dead or bare. I've spent a lot of time removing some of the beds and planting grass since I have 2 dogs. But it's been fun seeing new plants come up! I have Hollyhocks (never have grown them before), zennias, periwinkles, hydrangeas, and roses. I'm slowly adding my own plant choices. Even some veges!
I would Love to attend the swap. I have plenty of Hollyhock seeds to share.

Hi Karen...welcome to the AL garden forum. :)
I'm in Elmore County just north of Montgomery. There are lots of members from the Birmingham area, some from Prattville, Piedmont, and lots of other places scattered around the state. We would love to have you join us at the swaps. We always have a wonderful time. Once fall is near, we'll decide on a place and time for the swap and there'll be plenty of posts on here about it. Also, lots of us make prearranged trades prior to the swap. Most of us have a trade list, but we usually update it closer to the actual swap time.
Sounds as if you inherited some wonderful plants along with your new home.
Anyway, glad to have you. :)
Jan

Karen, You will love the swaps. I was kind of nervous when I went to my 1st swap I was nervous but quickly became at ease.
Jill

Thanks for the replies. I look forward to exploring the forum. I just discovered the trade-lists. I'll start building one of my own so I'll have something to contribute.