Dear Garden Friends,

It's time to plan for the Fall Perennial Plant Swap and Pot Luck - so come along - bring your extra plants, your dish to pass, bring a friend with his/her plants and join in the fun! This 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. The location for this swap is the lovely City Park in Wayland MI - just a couple of minutes off US131, between Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo.

THIS SWAP IS FOR PERENNIALS ONLY - NOT FOR ANNUALS or HOUSE PLANTS

DATE: Saturday, 24 September, 2005
TIME: 11:00am - 2:00pm
PLACE: Wayland City Park,
Park St & W Cherry St.
Wayland MI 49348

SWAP MATERIALS: perennial plants, well-rooted cuttings and divisions potted up, shrubs, and bulbs. People bring plants that are well established, of good size (size you would be happy to buy at the store), and in 1 gallon pots or larger. (What I consider a gallon pot is about 5 inches across and 5.5 inches deep.) PLEASE MARK ALL PLANT MATERIALS WITH THE PLANT NAME AND CARE REQUIRED. PUT YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS ON BACK OF TAG.
Bring along photos of the plants if you can.

POT LUCK: Please bring a dish to pass, with serving untensils, and your own beverage; be sure to bring and mark your serving spoons etc. with your name. Paper plates, napkins, cups & plastic silverware will be provided.
* If your last name begins with A-L please bring an appetizer or main dish. *
* If your last name begins with M-Z please bring a dessert or salad. *

GIFT EXCHANGE: If you wish to participate in the Gift Exchange drawing, please bring along ONE, UNWRAPPED, NEW, GARDEN RELATED ITEM VALUED AT $5 - $10. Present your item at Check-In to receive your door prize drawing ticket. Only those who donate an item will be eligibile to participate in the drawings at this Swap. At previous swaps we have had many wonderful items eg: plants, gardening books, bird houses, bird feeders and garden ornaments. Please only bring ONE item each.

THE PLAN FOR THE DAY

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

NOON - have lunch, visit and have Gift Exchange

1:00PM - Swap begins

After swap - more visiting, pack up, goodbyes.

This will be a Round Robin Swap.
Rounds #1-2-3 - everyone select one plant.
Rounds #4-5-6 everyone select 2 plants.
Rounds #7-8-9 - everyone selects 3 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 our other swaps. Everyone should be able to take home as many plants as they bring.

TIPS FOR THE DAY: bring a folding chair (always needed), a table for your plants in case there aren't enough picnic tables there to put them on (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.

PLEASE POST HERE IF YOU ARE COMING AND TO PREREGISTER (http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/gather/ and find SW Michigan Perennials Swap & Potluck) or email to MichiganPerennials@yahoo.com

Bring along your gardening friends so they too can share their extra perennials and acquire some more! START POTTING UP THOSE PLANTS AND CUTTINGS NOW so that they are nicely rooted and gorgeous by September - you want them to be strong and healthy for heading into winter!

Please email to MichiganPerennials@yahoo.com with any questions.
SEE YOU AT THE SWAP
Cheers!
Rita in Kalamazoo

WAYLAND CITY PARK
Park St & W Cherry St. Wayland MI 49348 - to print off the map go to the last item in the album at
http://photobucket.com/albums/y210/MagicKiwi1/?action=view?t=Direction sMap.jpg
- OR DO YOUR OWN MAPQUEST SEARCH

Directions from US131

1. Take the 135th AVE exit - (EXIT 64) - toward
WAYLAND. 0.1 mile
2. Turn onto W SUPERIOR ST/135TH AVE. (going
east toward Wayland)
Continue to follow W SUPERIOR ST. 0.7 miles
3. Turn LEFT onto PARK ST. 0.1 miles
4. END at W. CHERRY STREET

Cheers - Kiwi in Kalamazoo