Mid-Atlantic Fall Plant Swap

Critter--thanks so much, that would be great! I've been wanting maypops for quite a while now. :-)

A few pics

Our little tent city kept everything from getting dampened. especially the spirits of gathering and sharing.

Yes, I second, triple, quadruple the thanks to Ric and Holly for hosting. It was a great day all the way around. The gardens and house looked great, the stepping stone project was fun, I ate way too much food, received a few new plants, and as always - so wonderful to see the MAF gang.

Holly and Ric: Many thanks -- your gardens look stupendous and your kitchen even more so! And you are over-the-top hosts -- it seemed as if your entire family was there helping, each of them as unbelievably sweet as you two are!

I picked this Sedum up off the "extras" table late in the day. Would the donor please speak up? I'd love to know how large a sedum it is so I can figure out where best to put it.

I will add my two cents here. Jeff and I had an awesome time. Thank you for making him feel comfortable enough to want to come. Youse guys (MAF) are just the bestest.

I totally love the color of the new room and know many happy hours will be spent in it.

Holly and Ric, your family ROCKS!!!

Looking forward to the next time.

Thanks so much everyone, your presence really made the party and WOW such wonderful food.
I don't remember who first put out the idea of a pick up area for prearranged swaps but it wasn't my idea I just figured out how to make it work for us. Thanks to who ever gathered up the trays and put them in the driveway for us. My family really enjoyed themselves so much. It was the first time that Jen & Julie attended and they both said what wonderful friends we have. Josh and Courtney were balls of fire helping get things set up in the morning and they came back this morning to gather up their pop-ups and tables and set everything to right. Ric and I hardly had any work to do today. Ric has been resting and is feeling a bit better.

SSG, I have your blue chair and will bring it to the next get together maybe at Critter's in a few weeks.
Coleup I let my butterflies loose this morning.

I just wanted to ask-- there were 5 plants left in my spot with noID and no indication who they were from. Am uploading a photo of the cute little guys. Can anyone tell me what they are and who I can thank for them? :-)

Thank you Ric and Holly so much for hosting! I loved seeing all of your tropicals looking so lush. I don't know how you're able to keep all of your containers watered enough!

I had fun walking around and seeing the different flower gardens. My favorite was the green-leaf fountain and also the large swath of hardy begonias that are in full bloom right now. Gorgeous!

Your daughters were so helpful and so much fun! I didn't realize just how much work had gone into your kitchen/dining room rehab. You both must be exhausted! I really love the bamboo, btw.

And thanks to the person thought of this new distribution method! What an easy way to unload and load your car!

happy and SS---

I am pretty sure your mystery sedums and plants came from Speedie.

She had tray-full of these little pots and said they were collected in her
Greenhouse at work and potted up to bring to the swap.
None of them were asked for--and she just put the tray on the "For Grabs" table.

That is all I can tell you--you need to ask her what they are....

Gita

Now--my turn to thank our wonderful hosts....You are the BEST!

I especially want to thank you for all the hard work you did with the
stepping stones project. That was NOT easy to put together---
Holly--your patience was admirable. But--that is what makes YOU--YOU!

I know the Epoxy glue is not cheap. How many tubes did we go through???
I love my stone--and now have to decide if I want to really step on it.
Will ponder that.....

Re the pick up area--the rain kind of put a glitch in it--it was hard to find the names
of people's spots. May I suggest next time make the names really BIG and visible...
I liked the idea though.

Having speedie here was so wonderful!
We have, literally, fallen in severe "like" with each other. And--we have only met once--
at sally's Swap 2 years ago. The rest of the "Getting to like you" was all through the
power ow DG Threads and Posts.

Speedie--I hope you got home all right. Should not have been any glitches.

BUT--you forgot the treats for Steve in my fridge. Bummer.....
I know I rushed you a bit to get going--as I had to "get going" fixing lunch and my hair
and same make-up and packing up my lunch tote. Made it OK. --1o minutes to spare.

You both are welcome any time--Steve can sleep on my old 9' sofa downstairs.

OK! Had a hard day of watering...getting a bit tired....

Thank you again!! Yes! The food was great!

Gita

PS. I took some pictures--but will upload them later. Soon....

Catmint, your Iris and Maypop are potted nicely, They can grow here till whenever. Or you can take Critters maypop. I will always have more Maypops to give. I have more already potted besides the ones potted for you.

The giant leaf fountain blew me away, The leaves look FANTASTIC!!

Besides the perfectly lovely day yesterday at swap, and the pleasant company we had along for the ride, I had a romp today finding places for a few new items and rearranging a few from spring whose sites I secondguessed this summer. It's pretty much perfect now LOL

Cat, those look like the plants that Speedie had for me :o). Please feel free to keep them. I would like to have a cutting of the purple Sedum next year :o).

thanks, Donner. That was very sweet of Speedie to bring those in.

thanks, Sally!

I like those pics Ric. That one of Muddy is funny with the goofy look she's giving the camera. LOL

I could swear a big praying mantis gave me the same look just yesterday!

Lots of great food and even better company... I'm so glad I finally got to see several people in person! As I explained to Sally's DD when I greeted her with a big hug, it sure doesn't feel like I'm first "meeting" you; with stories, photos, etc. it feels like you've been part of this DG "family" all along! She took the hug in good humor. She's a lot like her mom -- and that's a huge compliment!

OK! Here are the pictures--I have a LOT!
I will not ID each one--you were all there--so....just enjoy.

Some missing from pictures above stepping stones.
Gita's---Tammy's (she LOVES Dragon fkies0--and Sally with hers.

People shots...

Happy (devon)---Sequoiadendron (Jeff)---Mark Miller--Sally's DH.
Uno-mee-maw---Aspenhill--Terri.

The Leaf-Pond shots and other water features

Front of house entrance beautiful planters and window boxes.
Juniper by back entrance...Gazebo plants

Those leaf casts are so cool. Definitely one of a kind and they make the pond look so nice!

Yes Gita, I felt sooooo bad after I got home and realized I'd left DH's goodies in your fridge! You will need to HURRY UP and post that recipe so I can make them for him!! < =P

OK, I confess, it was I who "donated" the purple sedum and the "spider plants" (chlorophytum comosum). Donner, you got yours too, yes?? Please say you did!?!? =( You can expect those sedum to get anywhere from 1-2 feet tall and wide, and they will have really cool purple blooms on them mid summer through early'ish/mid fall. They like lots of sunshine, decent drainage, and (like most succulents) prefer not to be watered too much, please. :)

Jeff, man ain't that the truth about those leaf casts!?!? Those things really "MAKE" the pond!!!

Speedie: Thank you so much for the sedum! Do you have any idea what cultivar they are?

Ah, Speedie, you are a plant fairy dropping sedum gifts for us when we are not looking! :-) I love purple sedum and am looking forward to seeing them grow! I noticed they have tiny pink blossoms on them right now, so I put one of the pots in the butterfly habitat, so when the butterflies emerge, they will have pink blossoms to land on. One Monarch looks like it's getting close to emerging now!! The pink coreopsis from Jeff also had a bloom on it, so it's in there, too, ready to welcome the newly emerged butterflies. :-)

Speedie, I didn't get mine, but don't worry about it. Thank you for bringing the plants over. I am sure they have found good homes. I got several Sedum cuttings from Holly. Hopefully they will root.



This message was edited Sep 16, 2014 8:59 AM

Donner: I just took a cutting from my sedum (from speedie) and stuck it in my forsythe pot (http://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/projects/forsythe-pot-propagation.htm ). Given how easy sedum (often) is to root, I should have a plant for you in no time. Mine only has one fairly short stem so I could only root one piece, but if it grows before winter sets in I'll root more!

Speedie: I'm hoping that Speedie, you can chime in with the cultivar, if you know -- you said it will grow to 1'-2' tall -- so a little shorter than Autum Joy? Maybe "Purple Emperor" which is 15" tall? S. × ‘Ruby Glow’ which grows 12 - 18" tall? Matrona, which is 18 - 24"? I'm still mulling over placement. I might leave it in a pot to sturdy up over the winter - what do you think?

Muddy: You could be forgiven for drooling at how pretty Holly and Ric's yard is!

This message was edited Sep 15, 2014 7:36 PM

Happy, you hit the nail on the head, they are "Purple Emperor" indeed! And yes indeed, they would do wonderfully in a pot over winter to "sturdy up". Donner, I will grab some more cuttings from work (I think there's still some left that haven't sold yet) and root them for you, then send them to you... do you think they'd be ok in the mail "bare root"? Now I feel soooo awful that you didn't get yours, I'm sooooooooooooooooo sorry!!!!! < ='(

Muddy, I was thinking you just looked "Awe-Struck" in that photo -- who can blame ya, huh?? Maybe you were imagining how great it would be to live there, and you were picturing where you could pitch your tent? heeheeheee

Lol....if you were drooling, it would just be funnier to see in the pics! LOL Oh well, I'm just glad I wasn't picking my nose or something as I didn't know those pics were being taken.

Speedie: Don't worry about taking more cuttings for Donner -- I can take care of her needs from the plant you gave me without you have to go to the trouble and expense of mailing.

Speedie and Happy, please don't worry about rooting more sedum for me. Thank you very much for your kindness. I took cuttings of Holly's sedums including one that has dark foliage.

I'm going to clip a couple of cuttings off various sedums now and just stick them in the ground next to the plant... if they "take," it'll be that much easier to share the plants in spring.

Donner, If the cutting came from beside the Box Pond then it is Purple Emperor.

Donner -- it is already rooting!

sedum= most shareable plant ever

I agree! I love sedums. Unfortuantely, our birds decimate Autumn Joy -- we still have a lot of plants, and I love it (or used to), but the birds now peck them to death.

When the sedums were damaged, I thought my hubby's pet groundhog did it. Then I caught a bird in the act :o).

Why do birds eat sedums? For moisture? Would it help if we left more water dishes around?

maybe water dishes is a good idea. It's never happened here.
I read about water dishes to help with other wildlife too.