Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
sylviatexas1

HAVE: Ft Worth Spring Swap April 25 2009

sylviatexas1
15 years ago

The spring swap will be a little later in the month this year since Ruben & Brenda have a grandchild graduating smack in the middle of the month-

Congrats to Ruben & Brenda!

The swap will start at 10 AM, more or less, & will last until we all drop to the ground & are scraped up & poured into our cars by park-goers who feel sorry for our exhausted selves.

This usually happens around 2 PM.

Lunch is grilled hotdogs & soft drinks & water, served up by Ruben & Brenda in exchange for a plant or other item worked out between them & each diner.

Last autumn, some participants brought extras, homemade potato salad & such, & it was *wonderful*, so feel free to bring a special dish if you wish.

You can trade anything for anything as long as it's mutually agreed between the traders...

but people sometimes don't realize the value of offerings, or they don't have much to trade & they *really* want whatever you've posted;

you don't have to accept an offer that won't make you happy.

If I, for instance, offered you a handful of my famous 4 o'clocks for your Radio Flyer wagon, you could certainly decline & let me know that you are looking for a more substantial trade!

However, if you're new

-to the area, to the swap, or to gardening in general-

or if your entire garden croaked when you were skiing in Switzerland all winter, & you don't have much to trade, come on ahead;

you will *not* go home emptyhanded.

Just don't ask for the rarest & most valuable items, or for every item, that a trader lists.

Let people know exactly what you're offering;

if you're bringing canna rhizomes, let us know if they were dug the morning of the swap or if they were dug last fall & stored in sawdust for the winter.

If you're bringing a rose that you grew from a cutting, say whether it's an established 2-year-old plant or a rooted cutting that you just started this spring.

Dress comfortably & bring a notebook & a pen, a Sharpie & some plastic knives or forks to label plants, maybe some water, maybe a folding chair, card table, blanket or sheet, boxes & tape...

I know I'm forgetting stuff, so feel free to add to this!

Comments (50)

  • phyllisb2008
    15 years ago

    Hey Sylvia,
    I have lots of black pots what will you give me for them?

  • sylviatexas1
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Hi, Phyllis, I'd be happy to bring you a Cocker Spaniel that I saw on freecycle in exchange for those pots!

    (Phyllis & I hit the motherlode of black plastic nursery pots the other day;
    we filled up my car & her truck & went back for seconds!)

    My plants are always the easy-to-grow kinds that thrive in this area no matter what the gardener, or the weather, does!

    I'll have 4 o'clocks, irises, & spear-, pepper-, & probably lemon-mints, & maybe some chocolate mint, cuttings of English ivy (some will have roots, & it's a shade plant), & a couple of Pavonia/Brazilian rock rose.

  • phyllisb2008
    15 years ago

    Hey Sylvia,
    Do we need to post our list of goodies on this site or do we need to use the Ftworthgardenswap.com site?

  • sylviatexas1
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    don't know-has anyone heard from mommyfox/Julie about it?

    (Last time, we started on the other site, & so many people had trouble using it that we came back to this one.)

    I don't think it hurts to list both places, just in case of newcomers or even befuddled oldtimers!

  • element321
    15 years ago

    The site is still up, and there were some posts on there earlier this week. Please post your list there. There is plenty of time to figure the system out. If you have any questions on how to use the system, email me and I can walk you through how to use the system.

  • mommyfox
    15 years ago

    Hi! I've still got the site up, and am about to mess with it a bit. If you guys can tell me what needs to change to make it accessible to everyone I'll do what I can!

  • reeselayne
    15 years ago

    just posted on the other site. Now when I get off work today I am gonna go home and start me some seeds.... lol Should have tons ready by april! Do people trade things like tomatoes and peppers or is it more flowers/shrubs etc

  • mommyfox
    15 years ago

    reeselayne, sure, we trade veggies! Anything that grows, or anything that contributes to growing (pots, chicken poo, you name it) is welcome!

  • reeselayne
    15 years ago

    you want chicken poo????? you can have all you want! we have about 40 chickens!

  • mommyfox
    15 years ago

    CHICKEEEEEEEEENS, I LOVE CHICKENS! What I really want are my OWN chickens, so I can have all the chicken poo I could ever need! I've tried explaining that logic to my husband and he just shakes his head in dazed amazement. He's warming up to the idea of chickens, though. Out of sheer curiosity, what kind do you have? I covet Ameraucanas.

    So before this becomes a chicken discussion - is anyone interested in meeting up in February sometime to swap seeds and discuss the big swap? Specifically, what needs to be done to the website to make it usable for everyone?

  • joie33
    15 years ago

    I would like to get together in February. I have been dividing my Red Cannas recently and I don't think the rhizomes will last til April. Then again, I recently discovered that I have two of them growing UNDER MY HOUSE in the dark. My mom said you can't kill a Canna. I guess she was right!

  • ambersas
    15 years ago

    You Can't kill canna! I dug up some last year about this time. Gave some to my daughter who was redoing her garden in Round Rock. with this and that, they didn't get in the ground til late summer. . . and then started blooming. Before that, they were kept in a box in the garage!!

    We just dug up some more this year. . . . anyone want some yellow canna?

    Dorothy

  • seamommy
    15 years ago

    Sorry, but I have a neighbor who killed all her red cannas last summer. Don't know how she did it, maybe sprayed the nearby fenceline with roundup, but the cannas died from the top down. And they were dead as a hammer before fall. Broke my heart to see them go like that when they made such a pretty fence. So just for the record, you can kill a canna.

    Not sure what I'll have in April. Society garlic for sure, since I sewed about a zillion seeds two weeks ago and every last one of them is coming up. I still have seeds from last summer, but I won't have very many to swap because I'm trying to sprout them first.

    I started 12 trays two weeks ago with 72 of those little peat pellets in each one. I have a lot of stuff coming up right now, flowers, veggies, & vines. I was kind of surprised how much stuff came up within 2 days. And a packet of bush beans yielded only 20% germination and the rest rotted. I've started bush beans in peat before and they all sprouted. I'm wondering if the beans were old or the peat was old.

    Anyway I still have a grunch of seeds, but have been sending a lot to people down along the coast who lost all their stuff in the recent hurricanes. I have a big packet for someone in Galveston and another pkg for someone in Beaumont. I know it's gotta be depressing to lose all your plants.

    Some of you may remember when I was deployed over in Qatar in 2006? There were ***NO*** green, blooming, growing things there. It was the most depressing place on earth (but I haven't been to Iraq) that I have ever seen. There was a weed growing underneath an A/C unit where water dripped on the ground. It was kinda like an anemic dandylion, tiny little leaves, istsy-bitsy flower, but I stopped to look at it every day because it was the only thing there that wasn't sand-colored.

    I will be bringing some more orange daylilies again, with a special bundle for Brenda (and an extra little surprise too) since she didn't get the ones I brought for her last fall. I won't have many extra daylilies though.

    My mom wants me to dig up a bunch of cannas from her yard, they are yellow, so I will try to have some of those.

    I'm also interested in getting together in February for a pre-meeting, and I need some plastic pots. DH took all the ones I had saved last fall and put them in the recycling bins at his office. And now I have 80 tomato seedlings in peat pots and they need bigger pots. Quart size would be good or gallon size would be ideal.

    Cheryl

  • sylviatexas1
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Sign me up for the February meeting-
    I'm 'bout starved for some gardening visitation!

    Pots?
    Cheryl, did you say "pots"?

    I can bring you approximately one ton, give or take.
    & I'll bring my seed box for you to check through.

  • element321
    15 years ago

    Hey guys. I can meet up sometime in Feb. I would prefer it to be on a weekend and at least a week in advance so I get the time off.

  • reeselayne
    15 years ago

    can't make it in feb, but was wondering if anyone would really be interested in the chicken poo... if so, how much would you want?

  • element321
    15 years ago

    I would love to get some. I usually use horse and donkey, but chicken will work. I can take as much as you want to give. Normally I bring several 18 gallon tots, when I collect the manure.

  • seamommy
    15 years ago

    Uh, how big is an 18 gallon tot? And how do you get the little guys to hold chicken poo anyway? Blaaaa-ha-ha-ha!!!

    Sorry, just couldn't resist.

    Sylvia, tell me where I can meet you to pick up some of those pots, I will need them soon. Please call me, I'll send you an e-mail with my numbers. Cheryl

  • mommyfox
    15 years ago

    As best I can tell, an 18-gallon tot is about the size of a 2-year-old. Given the chance, those little stinkers will hold all KINDS of things! Followed shortly by handing it to me. And then "AAAAA GROSS IT'S ALL MUSHY!"

    *ahem* Anyway - reeselayne, I would get some smallish kitchen trash bags and bring them bagged up that way, so easy trading. I'm for real, I actually would be interested in chicken poo for my compost pile. In an ideal world I will have chickens of my own this year, but as you might have noticed, this is frequently not an ideal world!

  • seamommy
    15 years ago

    So, Mommyfox, where do you want to meet? It's February and I'm ready...Do you know when yet...how about now? I'm open and I have use or lose leave on the books, so I can meet whenever you want to. How bout now? Cheryl

  • phyllisb2008
    15 years ago

    I'll take some chicken poooooo!

  • mommyfox
    15 years ago

    Oh snaps, it seems that by suggesting it first I made myself the organizer! I should've seen that coming! I'm going to make a new thread for this ...

  • sylviatexas1
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    tots & pots & poo...
    Y'all just ain't right!

    Here are some of my wants & haves, just to get my brain started. I'll put them on the other site, too.

    Wants:

    abelia
    bleeding heart
    borage
    buddleia any color
    clematis
    coneflower
    fennel
    ferns
    live oak
    loquat
    magnolia
    mahonia
    red yucca
    sedums
    succulents

    Haves:

    Some of these can be dug up, & some have been started from seeds or cuttings, so their availability depends on their taking root & growing.
    blue mistflower
    garlic chives
    garlis I think
    hyacinth bean vine
    lamb's ears
    mexican mint marigold
    oleander
    oregano
    phlox (groundcover variety)
    purple ruffled basil
    shrimp plant
    silver & gold mum
    soapwort
    trailing verbena, fuschia flowers

  • barefoot_in_texas
    15 years ago

    I'm so ready I'm about to bust a gut. Can't wait to see everyone.

  • mommyfox
    15 years ago

    Hey Sylvia! I have a pale blue clematis; trade for lamb's ear, phlox or verbena? What color is your verbena?

  • sylviatexas1
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Trailing verbena is a new one, a gorgeous *fuschia*, that I got from a neighbor!

    I'll bring you all 3 for that luscious-sounding clematis!

  • theresay1960
    15 years ago

    exactly where in Fort Worth is the plant swap to be held?

  • phyllisb2008
    15 years ago

    Trinity Park.

  • sylviatexas1
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    theresay, Trinity Park is just barely north of I-30 on University, on the east side of the street.

    It's almost exactly across the street from the Rose Garden of the FW Botanic Gardens.

    so whatcha got???
    & whatcha want???

  • barefoot_in_texas
    15 years ago

    Um folks, we may have a little problem with the date/ venue. I called FW Parks this morning to reserve the pavilion and was told that the park will be closed to the public starting April 13 (the day after Easter) for May Fest set up and won't be available until approximately May 16 due to actual May Fest and then break down. Comments or suggestions? Sylvia?

  • sylviatexas1
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Well, I'm a dingbat.

    I *know* they always close off the park to prep for Mayfest;
    I just forgot to check.

    How would April 11 work?

    it's early enough that it probably wouldn't be overly hot, but late enough that the plants will have time to grow healthy.

  • mommyfox
    15 years ago

    April 11 is fine for me; that's my birthday! Brenda, how's that graduation looking?

  • alley
    15 years ago

    If that won't work for Brenda, how about a different place? There is some green space on the other side of the highway on the way to the zoo. Don't know how usable it is as there is a mini train track. I don't really know that area very well. personally, I think the 11th is good for me. Last year, my stuff wasn't very big then, but maybe it'll be different this year.

    Sylvia, I'm growing some 4 O'clocks and soapwort from seed. I'm guessing they do ok here. I might be interested in a trade (I have no idea what I have yet, so I can't post a have's list yet).

    Alison

  • barefoot_in_texas
    15 years ago

    I'll check availability for the 11th. That works for us. The pre-graduation thingy is the 18th and the park is not available that day anyway. So I'll let y'all know about the 11th.

  • barefoot_in_texas
    15 years ago

    OK, we can't get the Gazebo on the 11th, but we can get Pavilion #2 which is just a tad North of the Gazebo. As I recall it is rectangular in shape with lots of picnic tables underneath. Not sure about parking. But in the past there seems to have always been people using it for like family reunions, etc. Let me know.

  • seamommy
    15 years ago

    I'm all for that. Do we have to reserve it or just get there early and post a squatter to hold it? If so, I'll volunteer to get there early and repel invasions from all quarters. Cheryl

  • barefoot_in_texas
    15 years ago

    I'll need to reserve it to make sure that we have the site - otherwise someone else may reserve it and we'll be stuck. I need to do that in the next couple of days, so I need confirmation that the date is firm. Sylvia?

  • sylviatexas1
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    cool with me!

    The 11th is probably better, since plants will be younger/smaller & transplant will be easier on them...
    & they'll have a longer growing season in their new homes.

    I've got a couple of hyacinth bean vines emerging! Yay!

  • weenerdogg
    15 years ago

    Have:

    So far I can only commit to

    mints (apple for sure maybe others)
    rosemary

    I am wanting

    Blackberry canes (thornless)
    Passion vine cuttings preferably rooted, not having real good luck with these
    Aspidistra would love variegated

    Will be updating this soon as I have and want more ;)

  • alley
    15 years ago

    weenerdog, I have some passion vines wintersown and a couple look like sprouts. How about some rosemary? I'm heading over to the fort worth swap page. It is easier.

    Alison

  • sylviatexas1
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    I just got a few more fushia trailing verbena from my neighbor, hope they take root;
    they were blooming in January!

  • Deb Chickenmom
    15 years ago

    Is April 11th the definite date? I can't make the 25th and was so disappointed....the fall gathering was wonderful and I'd love to get to do the spring swap.

  • sylviatexas1
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    yep!

    Brenda has arranged for the structure that is *not* the gazebo but that is north of the gazebo, for luncheon.

    so, miss chickenmom...whatcha got started so far???

    I went out this morning & transplanted (from the mulch walkway!) 3 more spearmint plants-

    hope a lot of traders like mint in their tea!

  • blessedfrog
    15 years ago

    I will definately be there.

    I have planted at least two hundred seeds and hopefully they will thrive

    :)

  • clairtx
    15 years ago

    I would like to attend the plant swap on April 11, but don't know where it is. I have mexican petunia and purple and white iris rizomes. You can email me at clairtx2001@yahoo.com

  • sylviatexas1
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Welcome, clairtx!

    The swap starts around 10 AM at Trinity Park in FW.

    From I-30 just at the western edge of downtown, go north on University & take the very first right into the park.

    Follow the trail around as it winds through the park, & we'll be in a pavillion just north of the big pavillion.

    Don't go to the big pavillion;
    it's reserved for someone's family reunion!

    (You can tell they're not us by the lack of plants in their group!)

  • element321
    15 years ago

    Clairtx
    please go to Fort Worth Garden Swap (ftworthgardenswap.com) and sign up there so can post your haves and wants, request trades with other users that have their listed posted there.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Fort Worth Garden Swap

  • sylviatexas1
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    clairtx, you can also post your haves & wants on the thread on this forum;
    it's usually near the top of the page.

  • water0125
    14 years ago

    Hi Ya'll--
    I came out toward the end of the swap to check it all out. Thanks so much to everyone who was so generous. I can't wait to make it to the next swap with some things to trade!
    --Natalie.

  • mikeb1206
    14 years ago

    Natalie
    Are you the one with the shady back yard in Ridgemar area? If so shoot me a email, I have some more things you can grow.

Sponsored
Grow Landscapes
Average rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars8 Reviews
Planning Your Outdoor Space in Loundon County?