I'd be interested.

I'd love to do a garden swap in our area!! I can help out in anyway. Just let me know.

Thanks, dkotchey! I'll keep tabs on this post for a couple more weeks to see how many are interested, then I'll pick a date - most likely the second or third weekend of June. I think a picnic/pot luck lunch would be fun to do with the plant swap, too.

Laurel

I'd be interested. That is,if I'm not in a golf tourney that day. I'll watch for details.

I'd like to join in, too. If all I've started lives, I'll have plenty to share

Well, since I've got four possible guests, the plant swap is on! I'm going to set a date now, and hope that nothing happens to make a date change necessary. So, here goes:

Saturday, June 10
11 AM to (sometime in the afternoon)
Potluck Lunch - please bring a salad or dessert to share, but I'll provide lots of good "main dish" food and beverages too.

If people arrive around 11, we'll have time to set up our plants to swap, and to enjoy poking around the garden before lunch.

I am TOTALLY new to hosting a plant swap, and I've only attended one before, so I'm going to look at some other plant swaps on GW and decide on a "format." I'm not uptight, I just want this to be a fun experience for everyone who attends. I'm going to add my email to my members page so you can contact me off the forum if you need to.

This should be fun! Here's praying for nice weather. . . .

Laurel

That date and time sounds good to me! I'm starting to get sprouts so hopefully by then I'll have some good things to trade!

Great, dkotchey! I don't think we'll have a HUGE number of people, but that's okay - we'll just enjoy the friendship and swap what we all bring and have fun. I hope the weather cooperates - but I have a car port, so we can set up the plants there if necessary. (This date gives me a deadline of sorts to finish the new garden path by the car port, and the new raised bed in the back yard, too! Busy, busy, but a good kind of busy.) It looks like I'll have LOTS of good winter sown sprouts, too.

To anyone coming to the swap:

Just out of curiosity, what are your special gardening interests? I garden organically. I grow mostly perennials now, and my favorites are daylilies, peonies, and TB historic irises. I also love lilacs, but I've maxed out my yard on them so I can't plant any more (sigh). I have "squirrel burying nuts" syndrome with spring bulbs. I do have some good small fruits for fun, too (black rasperries, black currants, and blueberries). I suppose my "style" is somewhere between English mixed border and natural (to attract birds). I've also started a shade/woodland garden beside my car port, under some mature hemlock trees, so I'll be looking for more shade-loving plants at the swap (especially hosta, which seems to tolerate the dry shade quite well).

Laurel

I do more annuals than anything. I love the brilliant color. I have some delphiniums in pink and blue started and some blue daisies. I also have asters, sweet william,petunias, balsam and geraniums. There's other but I've drawn a blank. Oh wait, celosia, gazania, nicotiana and a few cosmos and gypsophillia. I think thats it.

I'm starting many perennials this year, intending to collect their seeds in a year or so. Right now I have sprouts of variegated pokeweed, false indigo, sweet Indian plantain, tall larkspur, tall coreopsis, and lots of other things. One of the things I have to do today is check for new seed germination in all the paper towels I have under lights. I'll feel better to give away the extras rather than just tossing them because there are too many. I garden organically also.

I've mainly been into growing perennials. I have (what I would call) small gardens all around house (borders and islands). I've been working on a pathway garden with a gated arbor entrance. I started last year and hope to get much more done with it this year. This is my sunniest location (west facing). I also have quite a bit of shade so it's challenging to find the right combo of plants. I have quite a few hostas. I'm starting to get more varieties and would love to get my hands on more. Last year I winter sowed hostas. A couple came up variegated so I can't wait to see what they look like this year. My greatest love is probably container planting.

This is my 3rd year winter sowing. I've gone crazy with it this year. I have winter sowed over 70 types annuals and perennials. I've also sowed impatiens and begonias indoors. This year was my first year to collect seeds and sow them. So far from my collected seeds I have had success getting Violas, Echinaceas, Salvia, False Indigo, columbine, Heteropappus Blue Knoll, Pink Malva, Marigolds, and Petunias to sprout via Winter sowing.

My other experiment this year was propagating zonal geraniums and coleus from cuttings. I have little plants scattered all over the house. I really I'm nuts! LOL

But it's such a GOOD kind of nuts, dkotchey!

I enjoyed a little puttering time in the yard yesterday, and planted out my daylily seedlings into my new raised seedling bed. Some were started indoors, and a few were winter sown. I'm still hoping for more WS daylilies to sprout, since they're from my own crosses. Nothing fancy, but all mine. I won't see blooms until next year, but I don't mind a bit of delayed gratification.

I'd like to get some different hostas for my shady woodland garden. I have a few coming from Bluestone ('Piedmont Gold,' 'Krossa Regal,' and 'Gold Standard'), but I have room for more than that (and a huge amount of what I think is 'Fragrant Honeybells' to thin out and share if anyone is interested).

Laurel

I know I'm coming in late here, but please count me in!

Anyone want lambsear or oriental artemsis? I have it comeing out my ears in an adopted garden. I hate to rip out healthy plants, but these have got to be tamed!

Tracywag,

You're MORE than welcome to join us! I don't think we'll be a LARGE group, but that's just fine. Bring what you like, SOMEONE might be interested. I've got lambsears galore, so I won't be customer for those, but it's a great plant. Mine flower and attract bees like crazy, which I don't mind.

I've been poking along with my garden chores for the spring, adding a raised bed and mulching everything in sight (since I didn't mulch much of anything last year). I'm not going to have a "display garden" -- "tidy with a couple unfinished projects" would suit me fine. My Bluestone order will be here later this week, I'M SO EXCITED!! I finished that raised bed JUST in time. . . .

Laurel

Hey there --

Count me in too! Just moved here last fall... Previous owner does have some things I may be able to swap -- more hostas than I can shake a stick at, irises... But even if I don't have much to share would love to just join some fellow gardeners for plant-talk and picnic -- I haven't managed to meet many people around here just yet...

Emily

Welcome, Emily! I'm excited that so many people are interested in getting together for this! I haven't had a party in ages - now I have to get together some "door prizes" and start potting up my exchanges.

I'll look forward to seeing all of you on June 10th, rain or shine. At this rate I'll have to have everyone wear name tags with their user names so I can place faces with posts! And I'm SO bad with names. But we'll still have fun, even if I spend half my time asking you to tell me your names AGAIN.

Laurel

Hi Emily! It's great to see we have a good number of people here for the swap. I always needs hostas - I'd be more than glad to take those of your hands as well as some irises.

Most of my trades will probably be seedlings from my winter sowing and indoor sowing. I'm over run with Baptisia, Purple Coneflowers (tons of these), Rudbeckia (plants and seedlings), Foxglove, chinese laterns, calendula, begonia bayou, and more.

See you all in June. Thanks for doing this Laurel!

My pleasure, dkotchey! I'm really excited about it, and I've also invited a few friends of mine who are fairly new to gardening (or just lacking confidence in their skills), hoping to encourage them to try new things in their own gardens.

I'm hoping for good weather (or at least no thundering gullywashes). I've started potting up things to share, like wintersown sunflowers, columbine, amaranth (2 kinds, a gold and a red/bronze), and rudbeckias. I'm SURE I'll have more potted up before the "big day." My husband has promised to occupy our two kids (ages 4 and 7) while I play hostess/garden guide.

I am just LOVING this rain, and my garden is growing like crazy now. It looks nice and lush - my signal to go out and buy some Sluggo and nuke the hostas with it. . . .

Laurel

I'm going to have to get into my stash of potted up sunflowers - the blankety-blank woodchuck got into the garden while we were gone this weekend and ate the tops off all my sunflowers. GRRRRRRR!! Rotten rodent - I hope when we get a dog that it deters that destructive pest from entering the yard. Unfortunately, my husband doesn't want to get a puppy until next year, so I'll have to play garden watchdog myself with that miserable creature. . . .

Laurel

Laurel - I never tried winter sowing sunflowers! I'll have to try next year. Sorry to hear the rotten little guy got to your sunflowers!! So far I"ve been lucky with the wild animals not nibbling here yet. They usually get my hostas early spring. The rain is awesome. Our grass looks great for the first time in a long time. My husband is the grass guy. He's very pleased. I haven't potted anything up yet. I'm hoping to get to that next week. Some of my winter sown annuals are growing out of their containers so I need to get them planted out and potted up for the swap.

fyi.. I have a 6 and 8 year old - hubby will be keeping them busy also on the "big day". Do they like to garden with you? Mine use to - this year they don't have as much interest :( I hope they will again. Just the age I think. But they both love bleeding hearts! And my daughter has a butterfly bush from preschool that she takes care of.

dkotchey (debbie)

Hi Debbie!

I hope I can remember your name - I have no excuse not to, because I have a sister named Debbie.

My kids are 4 and 7 1/2. They'll be around for the swap, but my husband has official "keep track of them" duty. My youngest likes to garden with me; my oldest admires the flowers, but has no interest in growing them.

My irises are lovely this year, just loaded with bloom. I need to get some film and take some pictures. Do you like TB or IB irises? I need to divide a couple clumps, and I'll pot some up for the swap.

Laurel

Just FYI for anyone attending: we have indoor cats, and two parakeets, so if you have pet allergies I want you to be aware and prepared.

Oooo - I'm just getting into irises. I'd love to get my hands on either kind. I don't have any IB's so that would be great. I've had to move mine around to different locations. I think they were planted too deep and not getting enough sun. Last year they looked pretty good. This year they are looking even better. I don't know what kind I have. I just know they are TB irises (I have some purple and a peach colored one).

Gee, I'd love to meet a few of the gardeners around here, but the only thing I have to swap this year would be some dumb questions, dandelions galore or hay stolen from the field in back! Doubt that's of interest to anyone!
The old huge lilacs (a towering dense row of many plants) in the back have a bit of blight on one end and are late blooming (if at all...they were purple, but the buds look white to me) and although they do need lots of thinning and have plenty of babies, I can't say I know enough about them to say I could bring anything living for exchange.
I don't know if some of the trees show blight means they are all bad. I've done some trimming of the bad spots, added some new soil with a bit of sweetening and food (pine trees overhead dropping needles and tons of cones plus sulphur/iron water tells me they might need a bit of sweetening) but read someplace I shouldn't add the lime until after they bloom...too late now. I'm about to crawl under and see if I can remove some of the suckers and weeds that are growing for a bit better ventilation. Also plan on removing as many pine cones as I can as I imagine they are adding quite a bit of acid to the soil.
Some idiot former tenant dumped a bag of rock salt on top of some of the grass clippings he stowed under the lilac bushes and there's one old bare trunk and branches that's dead and needs removing right at the salt site. A shame...it was a wonderful sprawling shape.
But that's the only thing that I might be able to exchange if anyone is interested. I just wouldn't want to give out unhealthy plants!! Everything else is new and many not yet planted!!
Any tips on how I can proceed to save some sucker bushes would be great as I'm a rooftop gardener these past 25 years with no experience in my first yard!

Tuckertdog,

Please, come anyway! We'll share, really we will!

Suckering lilacs: I think (and I'm not an expert) that if you dig them up with a bit of root, they'll transplant just fine. A friend of mine who's coming to the swap wants to plant a hedge of lilacs on her new property, so if you have the energy to dig them, there's at least one person interested in lilacs who will be there and would take quite a few.

Laurel

TO EVERYONE WHO IS PLANNING ON COMING TO THE PLANT SWAP:

Please email me for directions etc. - the address laurelin3@verizon.net is still just fine. Here's a rough run-down of what I've got planned so far:

The plant swap will run late morning to however long we feel like socializing in the afternoon. If you arrive around 11AM, everyone can set out their goodies, we'll have lunch around noon, and exchange plants after that.

Please label your plants to trade (just a sensible idea). I don't have a "plan" for the swap, like going in rounds to choose - I guess I envision something less structured, and more like a country fair, just folks dithering over goodies and making fair offers for fair trades. I want to keep this low-key and fun, and hopefully make it a yearly get-together if we all enjoy each other's company enough. I'll have some "door prize"-type things for everyone, and one larger gift basket door prize, just for fun.

We will have a pot-luck lunch: please bring something to share. I'm expecting perhaps 12-14 guests, but if you have a gardening friend or spouse/child/etc. who wants to join us, they are more than welcome. I will provide BBQ chicken, fruit salad, potato salad, chips, assorted drinks, and at least one dessert (I like to bake). I've got adventurous tastebuds, so if you want to bring something unusual or spicy, I'm game.

I have 2 indoor cats and 2 parakeets, just FYI for guests with allergies.

It's coming up soon! Please email me for directions or with questions. (Prayer for pleasant weather would be appreciated, too. This would be a lot more fun if we aren't all crammed in the car port!)

Laurel

tracywag -- I'd love some lambsear, so definitely bring some! Oooh, and dkotchey, I would love some purple coneflowers. I've actually been dividing like crazy, so I think I should have some goodies to share -- siberian irises, purple heuchera, sedum, achillea... Not to mention hostas upon hostas.

Question - I have lots of lily of the valley that I'm going to be ripping out since it is semi-invasive, but I know some people like it... If anyone wants some I'll bring it, otherwise its getting trashed...

Looking forward to it!
Emily

Oooh, hostas! I could use a few of those. What kinds are you dividing? The only kind I have enough of to share (loads and loads) is what I think is 'Fragrant Honeybells.'
I'll be thinning some irises ('Honey Glazed,' and an heirloom no-ID dwarf bearded purple iris). I've got winter-sown sunflowers, columbine, amaranth, rudbeckia, and self-sown fern-leaf bleeding hearts so far. I have to go see what else needs dividing. Oh, and I've got lots of 'Kwanso' daylilies (tall, orange, double blooms, vigorous and INVASIVE, but good for a tough spot you want covered fast in sun/part shade), if anyone is interested.

Laurel

Hey Laurel --

Unfortunately the hostas aren't anything exotic... Patriots (the green and whites) and then just regular green ones... Do you want some? And is it too late to divide them once they are already all leafed out?

I'd love some irises... I am getting so excited for the swap!

Emily

Emily,

I would LOVE a handful of 'Patriot' if you have a few to spare. They'll divide just fine, even in full leaf, if you can get a few growing points (clusters of leaves) split off at a time. Someone divided a bunch for me to plant at our church a couple summers ago, and they spent a week with their roots kept moist in a cardboard box before planting. They didn't mind at all - you really have to work to kill them.

Laurel

Hi to all local gardeners!

Laurel, is it too late to sign up to attend your plant swap?

I would LOVE to meet other local gardeners, though I don't have a lot to offer in the way of swaps. I do have a type of hosta that gets HUGE, solid medium green leaves. This thing is at least 2 feet tall! Don't know the name of it because it was here when I moved in.

I'd love some of that lambs ear I saw someone on this posting mentioned they have!

This sounds like so much fun - please say it's not too late for me to join you!

Karen (in Vestal)

Karen,

PLEASE join us! We'd be happy to welcome another garden fanatic - er - enthusiast. Email me off the forum for directions - you'll get the Reader's Digest version, since you're so close.

Laurel

Emily,

I'd love some bleeding hearts!

Tracy

dkotchey (Debby),

I was just rereading past posts on this thread, and you said you have zonal geraniums and coleus. Do you grow any of the scented geraniums? I've toyed with the idea of getting a couple to keep indoors. Select Seeds sells plants of some of the fragrant ones, and I'd love to get a rose-scented or lemon-scented one someday. I've got one coleus ('Sedona') indoors, if you'd like me to root a cutting for you when the plant gets bigger (it's new and not real big right now). I like coleus, although its a battle to keep the slugs off of them outdoors. I like them in containers. I wouldn't call myself a real successful container gardener, though - if they're not on the front porch where I see them several times a day, I forget to water them!

Laurel

Before I forget (again) or get distracted by my family (again), here are

(((((A COUPLE REMINDERS FOR THE GARDEN SWAP GUESTS:)))))

Please label your plants, and check to make sure they're healthy (i.e. no hitchhiking aphids etc.).

Don't forget your dish to pass! I'll provide plates, cups, etc. etc. etc.

Bring a folding chair - I've only got four outdoors chairs to share, and not enough picnic table space for all of us at once.

You're welcome to bring a card table or other way to display your plants (and hide your new treasures!) if you wish - I don't have a lot of table space to go around.

Just FYI: our lot is SLOPED, and our yard and house have lots of STAIRS.

Another reminder: we have indoor cats and birds - just in case any pet allergy sufferers or people with asthma will be here, I want you to be forewarned.

I'll post again if I think of anything else, but I HOPE I've covered my bases. So far I've had five people RSVP that they'll be here, and more are welcome. I'm looking forward to a fun day!

Laurel

I don't have any scented geraniums. I wish I did. If they are like the zonal geraniums they will be very easy to propagate via cuttings. I got at least 16 plants from cuttings from 2 geraniums over the winter. I've planted them all but a couple that I plan to bring this weekend. They aren't real big yet but they are doing good and have good roots.

I just love coleus!!! It's a new love for me. Coleus were the first seeds I tried a few years ago. For some reason I thought the seedlings were ugly and threw them away before planting them out. ACK! Now I can't get enough. So I'd love a cutting from your coleus! I have a few cuttings of a coleus that I don't know the name of. It's a sun coleus and grows pretty big. I'll bring a couple of those too this weekend. I'll try to pack up some coleus seedlings I have too.

BTW - I sent you an email for directions. I had problems with my email so I lost a few weeks of emails. So could you resend the directions to me?