It's almost time for the Central Indiana Plant Swap. We will be meeting at Holliday Park in Indianapolis. Over the years we have had lots of great gardening fellowship, brought home a ton of new plants and made a lot of new friends. If you are new to gardening and don't have much to trade, come anyway. We'll be happy to share our extras.

THE DETAILS

Date: Sunday, May 21, 2006
Time: 1:30 P.M.
Location: Holliday Park, 6363 Spring Mill Road, Indianapolis, IN 46260
Directions inside the park: Once you enter the park take an immediate left. Then pull into the first parking lot on the right. We will be under the giant sycamore tree.

Bring yourself, plants & trades, family, friends, tables, chairs, beverages and snacks to share.

TRADING MATERIALS: plants, well rooted cuttings potted up, bulbs, shrubs, happy seedlings, garden ornaments, extra gardening implements, etc.

PLEASE MARK ALL PLANT MATERIALS WITH THE PLANT NAME AND CARE REQUIRED!!! Also, mark any plants as invasive or poisonous, if known.

This year, we're trying a Round Robin swap:
Round One - pick one plant
Next Round - pick one plant
Next Round - pick two plants
Next Round - pick two plants
Next Round - pick three plants
Next Round - pick four plants
And so on, and so on....
This way everyone gets a chance to get some of the plants they really have on eye on. This works well and other swaps have had great success with it in the past. Everyone should be able to take home as many plants as they bring.

Additionally, you can pre-arrange individual trades through other GardenWebber's trade lists. (PSSST! Everyone should update their trade lists!) These trades will happen before (or after) the big Round Robin trade.

Since this is our first year trying the Round Robin format, we are asking everyone to bear with us as we figure out what works best & still have fun! Our moto is KEEP IT SIMPLE, HAVE FUN, MEET FRIENDS.

Some tips for the day:
Bring a box or container labeled with your name to put your new plants in after swapping.
If you have room in the car...bring an extra table to arrange your plants on.
Print out pictures of your plants in bloom, so folks will know what they look like in all their glory!
If it looks like rain, bring those rain coats, umbrellas, etc. We plan to meet even if it rains.

**Post here if you are attending so that we can all see who is coming and can check trade lists. Or email me, so we can get an approximate head count for the swap.

E-mail me if you wish to be put on the plant-swap e-mail list or if you have any questions.

I can't wait to see you all there! Hopefully we will have a great crowd with all the new gardening friends you may bring along!

Fiona

I've gotten emails from about 10 folks who are planning to attend the swap & I'm sure there are more of you out there that I just haven't heard from. Please post here to let us know that you are joining us on Sunday!

Most of my plants have their variety name on them -- some don’t. For plant tags, I use pieces of old venetian blinds. The slats are UV resistant, and I write on them with pencil. -- No smeared ink!

I’ll be there to answer any questions, too.

Indyrose

Anyway, I'm just wondering, what if I don't know the exact names of specific plants? I plan to bring many varieties of hosta, daffodil bulbs, a few trilliums, a jack in the pulpit or two, perhaps some ferns and a couple of other things. We bought this house last year, I'm a beginner as gardeners go and I only know the common names of everything not the names of the specific varieties. Any advice on what to do?

Glad you found the message & I'll add you to the email list for next year!

See you Sunday!

Fiona

For those of us with pick-up trucks, is it "appropriate" just to lower the tailgate to let people look, or do we really need to bring a table?

--I'm a first-timer here.

Indyrose

I expect I may have some hosta, different varieties of mint, maybe one or two Echinops ritro (globe thistle), perhaps some named daylillies, all the silver maple seedlings anyone would want (let me know in advance), some nightshade vines (cute little purple flowers), obedient plant, lemon verbena, and who knows what else I might dig up.

Maybe I just need to chalk this up to try again next year.

Lime