Dear Garden Friends,

It is time to mark your calendars for the Fall Perennial Plant Swap and Pot Luck - so plan to come along - bring your extra plants, your dish to pass, bring a friend with his/her plants and join in the fun!ÊÊThis is a wonderful chance to share your passion for gardening, meet other gardeners from the area, have a delicious meal and acquire some new perennials. Please come with a happy and sharing heart.ÊÊBring photos of your gardens, flowers, etc.ÊÊif you like!ÊÊ

DATE: Saturday, 11 Sept, 2004
TIME: 11:00am - 2:00pm
PLACE: Ada Michigan (Grand Rapids area)

Trading materials: perennial plants, shrubs, well rooted cuttings potted up, thriving seedlings, bulbs, garden ornaments/crafts, gardening books, bundled garden magazines. PLEASE MARK ALL PLANT MATERIALS WITH THE PLANT NAME AND CARE REQUIRED.

This is for PERENNIALS ONLY - NOT for ANNUALS or HOUSE PLANTS (if you want to trade those privately please make those arrangements ahead of time in emails and take care of it before or after the perennial swapping.)

POT LUCK: Please bring a dish to pass, with serving untensils, and your own beverage,ÊÊbe sure to mark your serving spoons etc. with your name.ÊÊPaper plates, napkins, cups & plastic silverware will be provided.

DOOR PRIZES: If you would like to donate something for a door prize, please feel free to bring it along - the more the merrier: we have had many wonderful items donated before - for example: plants, gardening books, vases, bird houses, bird feeders, garden ornaments etc.

THE PLAN FOR THE DAY:
11-NOON - people arrive, sign in with name and number of plants, get name tag, put plants in viewing/swap area, put out dish to pass, visit with other gardeners, start viewing plants.

NOON - have lunch

1:00PM - Swap begins

Door prizes drawn thruout swap time.

After swap - more visiting, pack up, goodbyes.

This will be a Round Robin Swap.
Round #1 - everyone select one plant.
Round #2 - everyone select one plant.
Round #3 - everyone select 2 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 people have been very pleased in the past at other swaps. Everyone should be able to take home as many plants as they bring.

TIPS FOR THE DAY:ÊÊbring a folding chair (always needed) a table for your plants (or you can put them on the ground), a box or container to put your new plants in after swapping (label with your name) & bring and mark your serving utensils for your dish to pass. Name tag to put on your vehicle.

PLEASE EMAIL with RSVP so we can get a head count.
This should be a FUN, informal day to share our love of gardening!ÊÊÊ
Do tell your gardening friends so they too can share their extra perennials and acquire some more!ÊÊÊStart potting up those plants and cuttings so they are nicely rooted and gorgeous!ÊÊPlease email with any questions and more information.
ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ
HOPE YOU WILL JOIN US AT THE SWAP

Cheers!
GardenKiwi

Information for the swap was posted 19th July on the Get-Togethers forum as it seemed the logical place. I did not get one reply to the posting nor did I get any email asking for more information. How sad. If you would like information on the next swap, already in the planning for SPRING up in GRAND RAPIDS, just drop me an email and I will put you on the list and get back to you when the date is finalized. You are guaranteed to enjoy yourself. You can begin potting things up now and leave them out under a tree or something so that they are all set to go in the spring - that is what I did this time last year.

Hope to see you there!

Cheers - Kiwi

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