2011 Spring Plant Swap in Lucketts, VA - May 21

Great!! Thank u both!!

Sounds like we're set on coolers... I might pack some plants in one just in case, but will probably bring a tub for mushroom soil instead. :-)

I'm putting things in the car and bagging a few more things that I thought of after dark last night (forgot to dig the lamium! and can get cuttings of my hardy geranium 'Biokovo', easy to stick and root). I'm changing my food contribution from bread & something to spread on it to crackers and something to spread on them, since I didn't get to the grocery LOL.

I can't wait to see everybody and meet some new folks, too!

One more cooler won't hurt should anyone see this in time ^_^

I just cleaned mine out... will bring it!

Hope some of you took pictures. Sorry I didn;t get to go but definitely next year. I did get to go to the Master Gardener plant sale this morning before we went to the Gold Prospecting club. Then on the way home, we stopped at a plant sale, and I saw some plants looking like wild foxgloves (purple hanging slipper flower with white around the lip, growing on a bank so I had Bob stop, I ran out, climbed up, pulled one out & took it home but found a deer tick on my so had to take that out & disinfect my arm. Oh man do I get into situations. Safe trip home, everybody. Yes, it was wild foxglove (Ceratotheca triloba). Hope it survives when I plant it tomorrow and is worth the crap I went through to get it.

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/897/

This message was edited May 21, 2011 5:17 PM

Buttoneer---

Just got home.....
I missed my exit off of I-95--don't know how???? Distracted???

This caused me to drive 10 extra miles further to the next exit---
then the 10 miles back to mine...I can't believe I did it!

I took pictures--I think I was the only one.....
Will try to upload them tomorrow--but i DO have to work 9-6....Tired......

Terri's place is amazing! Beyond words----She and her husband built thei big, house themselves....
That is also beyond words.......

Good night for now.....Gita

What a wonderful day. Can't thank you enough for hosting Terri. What a beautiful home and property. I got some very wonderful plants and had the best time talking and visiting. JR just loved the lake, so very nice of your neighbors to keep and eye on him for me. JR wants to come back tomorrow. LOL

Hope everybody got safely home tonight!

Here's a thread for swap photos, recipes, etc. http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1183334/

Thank you everyone so much for coming. I thoroughly enjoyed the day and the company. It was good weather, good food, good plants, and great friends. I know I felt really, really, really happy yesterday - again, thank you so much for making a special day.

What a wonderful day! Thank you, Terri, for hosting and sharing your lovely setting with us. So much fun to see all who attended.

Thank you, Terri and Mike! What a perfect day, perfect host(s) and perfect place to have a swap! (We even saw Theismann mowing his yard when we were leaving!) I'm soooooo glad we 'gently convinced you' to hold the swap at your place - may you have many more! Message to your hubby from mine when I told him Mike's a Jet's fan - "what a fine human being he must be"!!! ^_^

I want to add--to all the above--what a generous, wonderful man Steve, and his GF,
was to bring a full scoop of Mushroom Soil in his P/U truck and then hand-shovel most of it into
Kitchen garbage bags (that they ALSO brought) for anyone that wanted any....

Those of us who took a few bags of this "garden gold" drove home with the
aroma of ripe manure wafting all over the inside of our cars....AAAHHHH......

Steve! You are MY kind of a human being!!! Bless you for your generosity, your caring,
and your hard work.....

ONLY on Dave's Garden this would be done!!!!!

Please follow on to the "Pictures Post" Jill started. Link above.
I will post ALL the pictures I took.....Beginning to end....
My apologies for some washed out shots. I have a very cheap camera--and it
does not pick up colors as it should.....Gonna buy a new one---soon! Yeah????

Gita

I had a wonderful time at the swap. It was great seeing everybody. Many thanks for all the plants. My special thanks to Terri who was a great hostess and made very body feel welcome.

Sally--et al---

Pictures and comments of the Swap are on this Post......

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1183334/

Gita

Gita, thanks are appropriate on any thread! But I'm glad you re-posted the link so we can continue chatting, sharing photos, posting recipes, and asking "who brought that beautiful little japanese maple I came home with?" (I know the answer to that... Terri's friend & neighbor, Cheryl Peyton!)

They were beautiful. I would have loved to bring one home, just didn't have a spot to put one.

I'm not sure I have a spot either, as such... but I am thinking I might try to bonsai it. I've got a little ficus "grove" that's been doing well for the past 18 months or so, so I'm ready to try my hand at something else. :-)

Hi All - Finally recovered enough to get on line and check out comments from the swap. Terri, you didn't have to tell us that you were happy because the smile across your face every time I saw you made that very clear. What a special hostess you were and it seems that everyone attending had another great day to add to plant swap memories.

I ate some of the tastiest food I've had for a long time. Am in hopes for a recipe exchange because I definitely want to know about the chicken kabobs, Sally's cole slaw and the scrumptious peanut butter bars.

Terri, if you and Mike ever need a way to earn some side money, renting your place out as a Bed and Breakfast would most likely go over grandly. When you retire from the high pressure job you currently have, that may be a thought for you to consider. I would definitely pay to use the grounds. Even though I didn't see the inside, I know that it is lovely because the outside was truly breath taking. Again, thank you for sharing it with us for the day.

Okay, off to check out the pictures.

Ruby

I potted up a cute little red 'japanese' maple myself and since nobody requested I kept it home..and am thinking I should pot it up as a specimen.

I also keft redbuds home, and checked while riding the woods trail to be sure Aspenhill has some.

Ruby I'll get that cole slaw recipe going soon.
DH LOVED the banana bread!! Seriously! THree times he pointed it out to me and I said But there's too much choclate to get thru first.

Sally and all......speaking of the Red Japanese Maples.... who had the several there at the swap? I saw them and hadn't requested one and didn't check to see who was offering them but now have some questions I need answered and thought the donor could possibly help.

So.......anyone with experience propogating these babies, I would love to have some ideas. Thanks in advance.

On another note.....to all who shared their wonderul plants with us...another thank you all so much. Most plants are still residing on my screened porch and will be planted in the fall when John likes to do it. I did want to report that most everything seems to be very happy and we are enjoying several things that are currently in bloom now.

Ruby

I planted the Clematis Va that Critter gave me. looks great.

Ruby- I often get baby Jap maples in my yard. I just pot them and let them grow, and assume that they are somewhat shallow and fine rooted. If your Jap Maple is making seeds, you'll probably get babies, unless they get mowed.

Yes sometimes it IS best to pamper the new plants in pots thru the summer. I have regretted throwing things right in the ground after a swap and not being able to keep them alive.

Ditto, thanks! I now have a lily blooming from Terri.

Ruby--

I think the maples were brought by Terri's neighbor/friend.
Not sure....???

Ask Terri what her e-mail is....

My neighbor Cheryl brought Japanese maples. She has a tree that gets lots of baby seedllings growing underneath it. She just digs them up , puts them in a pot, keeps them watered, and lets them grow until she thinks they are big enough to put somewhere else in the yard or give away. If she just transplants the babies, they seem to get mowed. I think she keeps them potted up for a year or two.

Hey Terri, any idea on the name of the lilies you gave me? Blooming now and so charming! Got my Cheerfulness planted in a good spot too.

Good news from all. Actually Terri, John and Cheryl spoke about us possibly coming up your direction to visit her place at some point, so we can talk to her about them then. Thanks all. We have a Japanese Maple that someone very kindly gave us at Harts Swap many years ago. We love it and I would like to have a few more.

Our tree hasn't produced any seeds that we are aware of. May still be a bit young for that???

Anyways......thanks for the answers everyone.

Ruby

Sally, the lillies came from Brent & Becky's Bulbs - lillium 'Tiger Babies', but I couldn't find a link in their current catalog, but found one in another vendor's catalog and in DG's plant files.

http://www.thelilygarden.com/pages_lilies/asiatic_peach_1.html
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/108441/

Ruby, you guys better let me know if you come up this way! :-)

My little Japanese Maple got a few sun-spots on its leaves, but it's looking really cute... I think I'm going to use it as a potted specimen, also, maybe even try doing it as a bonsai if I can get up the nerve to shorten its tap root next year.

Critter.......we will let you know when we make a trip that direction. Finding out that you live so close to Terri has now changed our minds about trying harder to get to some of the swaps that you host. I thought it would require an overnight stay, but now know that it is an easy day trip.

Heck, I really enjoyed meeting David and Pat too, who are also in the neighborhood, so we might just have a big ole party in your area before you know it. I definitely vote for Terry doing another one before too very long.

To David and Pat....I am really enjoying many of the beauties that you so graciously shared with me at the swap. Most are now in bloom and all seem healthy except for the May Apple seems to have a lot ofblemishes. Not sure if that will ultimately damage it or not.

Anyway......such fond memories of this latest swap. All of you are really such great people and we feel blessed to know you all.

Ruby

Ruby,

Glad to hear that you'll be open to coming back this way again! If you need more May apples, we can fix you up with more, and more of the Elizabeth Campanulas too.

That was quite some afternoon at Terri's.

Pat

Thanks Terri

terri--

I have Tiger Lily babies every year from the bulbils they produce.

I am wondering how many years they have to grow before blooming?
I have the tall, orange ones....

I just scatter the bulbils on top of a W-Box, cover with a bit of soil
and pile some leaves on top. Then--put it up against my house's foundation on
the South side and they grow over the winter.....

This is what mine looked like in April. I had many of these at your swap....

Gita

I will let you know about the May Apple and the Campanula later on Pat. Thank you so much for the offer. Sounds good though.

Gita, I brought home a cup of your Tiger Lilies. I planted them with a pot that I already have growing which haven't yet bloomed for me. This is at least year number two for them. The older ones are over a foot tall and have the little black balls but as of yet haven't produced a bloom.

I can report that the Sea Oats you shared with me at some point are doing great and looking good. They are planted in a corner of one of my back beds and are about 18" tall and very lovely this year.

Yep, a wonderful memory to recall is the great afternoon spent at Terri's. I find myself telling a lot of my friends about the gorgeous home I visited in May. Great food, fun and fellowship. A car load of plants coming home was a great way to end the day too. You folks are the very greatest of the great. Don't ever forget it.

Ruby

Ruby--

Be careful of the Sea Oats-----Their oats will blow in every direction--and they
all will sprout.....everywhere!
Even the seedlings are wiry and hard to pull up. Very "invasive"....

I have started cutting off all the seed heads before they dry to prevent this.
Of course--mine are right nextt o a bed--so they all sprout up in this bed...

The bed right next o this is my "YUK bed".....YUK!!! YUK!!! YUK!!!!
I hate this plant by now......

Gita

While in town yesterday I was the passenger in the car and was taking in the sights along the ride. I saw Sea Oats planted near a rail road underpass on the hill where someone at some point has taken it upon themselves to plant a few different plants. I noticed that it was full of dried Sea Oats. I am now wondering if someone actually planted them there or if they blew in from someone's residence. So far mine are staying to contained to one area.

Interesting.

Ruby

Mine are still looking really nice and haven't spread much, yet.

Here is the West leg of my Yuk bed. The Sea Oats are in a
raised bed all the way to the right--next to that black pot.

A few hardy souls live in this bed--but, amazingly, they do.
Because of it's hodge-podge "jungle" look, the Oats are coming
up everywhere. If I work in this bed--I am always pulling them out.

You can see part of the trunk of the huge Silver Maple and how close
it is to this bed--making it 100% YUK.
This bed is the SW corner of my property. We all just have split-rail fences.

This is the Southern part of my YUK bed.

All the way to the left is my concrete Bird bath flanked by 3 Hellebores,
a Peony, and a Butterfly Bush all the way next to the bird bath.

Continuing along the same lines a lot more to the left--is where
I built my new raised bed.

This is an impossible bed to garden in. Digging just one hole
produces a pile of feeder roots from the Maple.

Some things that "thrive" in this bed id my Rosemary bush, Jill's Heliopsis,
Shasta Daisies, a lot of my Day Lilies, and Stellas.

OOps--I just realized I, once again, digressed......
but the talk about the Sea Oats got me going.....

G.