Swap Q&A

I'll just go ahead and start this now. Here's some general swap information for everyone.

1. Be sure you bring your own folding chairs and a folding table or blanket to put your plants on.

2. Be sure you label all your plants one way or another. I've found something that sticks to the pot (or as Happy suggested a silver pen that writes on a pot) is better than a label stuck in the pot because they get lost. Happy also had a good suggestion that everyone put their names on their plants so if anyone has a question they know where that plant came from.

You can pot your plants in anything that will hold them. I save little pots from bought plants but you can also use styrofoam or plastic cups, coffee cans, cut off milk cartons, I've even used the disposable plastic food containers. You can poke drainage holes in the bottoms using a screwdriver heated in a flame.

I also found it helped to give everything a good watering the night before the swap.

3. There will be parking in my driveway, which is long, in the field next to the driveway and if we need it, there's an easement road that would park quite a few cars in the front section of my property in front of the house. I will have to block off a large chunk of the field right next to the driveway where no one can drive because my septic tank is there.

There is no parking on the road here.

4. Swapping is easy. Just set up your plants and start browsing around to see what others have. When you see something you like, ask that person to check your table and see what they'd like in exchange for it. Gita had a good idea about putting a sign on your table so people can easily find you and it but we're going to be pretty small so I don't think anyone will have a hard time finding anyone else.

5. If you've arranged swaps ahead of time and you're going to be running late or not be able to make it, please let the other person know. If you don't have time to contact them that day, you can always email me. I'll be providing my email address to everyone in dmails.

6. I live waaaaay out in the country. There's one tiny little country store up the road that carries a few groceries and things. They also have gasoline. If there's anything you need, you might want to stop on the way. There are grocery stores in Front Royal, Strasburg and Mt. Jackson depending on which way you come and lots of gas stations.

Not to be too indelicate, but once you get onto 55 from Strasburg or Front Royal or onto Edinburg Gap Road from Edinburg, there are no bathrooms until you get to my house. May want to stop before you leave one of those towns.

7. If any of the husbands coming along would rather fish than talk plants, there is a stocked trout creek right up the road. You will need both a Va. and a national forest fishing license. I think you can get those at the little store. I'll try to remember to check next time I'm up there. The national forest permit is only $3.

I have scoured the GW forest site trying to get specifics on the fishing areas here. Slim pickings. You might want to contact the National Forest folks or Virginia Game and Inland Fisheries for specifics.

8. If anyone would like to invite anyone to attend the swap, please feel free to do so.




This message was edited May 27, 2007 2:12 PM

Saving in case needed

Sounds like I should pre portion my daffodils in paper bags of up to ten bulbs and label them. I also plan to print some of my pictures for reference since I don't know some variety names.

Gita and I may be overachieving- Wondering how much to bring. Like others, happy to give away, not necessarily looking to bring back as much as we take ! hart, do you have room for left-behinds or will that be an imposition? Or have a handy ditch for unloved extras?

Mapquest says we'll take about 2 1/2 hours. Don't be looking for us at 10:30 ! but we will get there when we can - anybody have an extra couple of roosters to get us up at the crack of dawn?

Larlienda does - have the roosters. LOL

Bring as much as you want, Sally. One of the local high school clubs (gardening or agriculture or something) has a plant sale fund raiser twice every year. I can call them and see if they'd like to have any leftovers that no one wants to take home. I'm sure they'd be happy to have them.

that-garden club- would be nice, happy if we can help them

If they can't use them, I'm sure I can find some worthy cause that can.

That bonsai photo that Miata posted in the swap thread was amazing! This isn't exactly a swap suggestion, so I thought I'd ask here... Hart, Miata, what would you think about doing a bonsai how-to clinic in the afternoon? Would we have time for that after lunch do you think? We could pick up a couple of inexpensive shrubs to work over, and I guess we might need to pick up suitable containers... I'm sure somebody would be happy to adopt them at cost. Or am I trying to squeeze too much fun into one day? LOL

Critter, I would imagine it would be against DG rules to have anyone selling anything at a swap, even at cost. Or you could do like Miatablu suggested and bring your own plant.

However, there are lots of baby red cedar and maybe even some white pines up in the woods here. I'd be glad to go up there with Miatablu and see if there's any that would be usable for her bonsai.

Maybe it would be permissible for us to ask Miatablu to buy someone for us that we would reimburse her for. I wouldn't have a clue what to get. But I am probably not a good candidate for a class, because I'd kill anything that requires particular pruning!

I know what you mean, Happy. We went to a nice demonstration on bonsai at the state arboretum's garden festival a few years ago. SO went out and bought several little evergreens, pruned the living daylights out of them and they promptly died. Maybe we needed more than one demonstration. LOL

If anyone sees anything at a nursery they think would be a good candidate to bonsai, bring it along. I'll bring my clippers and I can instruct them how and what to look for when pruning it 'cause they'll have to keep it pruned up after that. I'm a Bonsai Lite kinda girl though. I go for low maintanance stuff. Just a tree that already has good structure that doesnt' require wiring. The best candidates for this would be small needle pines, junipers, etc, with a nice thick base and interesting shape. Some places sell starter Bonsai. If anyone is really interested, they can pick one up and bring it along to take back with them after we've pruned it. And maybe we can find something around Hart's place. I've been interested in doing a whole stand of trees, like a mini forest.

It's certainly fine for folks to BYOS (bring your own shrub)... I was just thinking that Miata knew better what constituted a "good structure" for bonsai candidates. I think reimbursing somebody for materials is not at all the same as selling something -- I've purchased plants for other DGers and had them reimburse me, and there's nothing in the rules about that... that's pretty much what a co-op is by definition, for example. Finding some little seedlings in the woods would be great also, but if anyone wants to be sure of going home with a bonsai they should probably Dmail Bobbie to get advice on choosing a suitable specimen or see if she'd be willing to pick one up for them.

Of course, it might also be that there just isn't enough time to search for seedlings in the woods and then spend a couple of hours pruning them into bonsai... maybe we're trying to be too ambitious! LOL, that's easy for me to say since I can probably persuade Bobbie to help me create a bonsai some other time... :-)

Critter,
I think time may be short, but will Bonsai for food!

This morning's weather forecast says there is a 40% chance of rain tomorrow morning, so bring umbrellas!

And don't forget your mosquito repellent. Actually you guys probably won't need it, I'll be there so they won't bother anyone else ;-(

Hart, will you have a hose handy so we can take care of any thirst plants?

Good idea on the hose, Happy. Yes, I'll have a hose handy. I was actually going to take it up into the yard with the sprinkler in case it got really hot. Figured if it's a blistering day, we could run through the sprinkler to cool off. LOL

I should have plenty enough shade area for everybody.

Okay, here's the weather forecast for here for tomorrow. Sounds like it's going to be a very nice day and not too hot. Hopefully the rain will happen earlier before everyone gets here. This is also actually the forecast for Woodstock, other side of the mountain, and often they get rain and we get none.

A morning shower; otherwise, partly sunny High 84°
Low 53°

Hooray! That sounds really lovely. I was laughing at your previous post, because I was strolling through my sprinkler just a few minutes ago in order to cool off. :-)

If it starts to rain we can go into the house but we'll probably have to stand around like a flock of penguins. LOL

Should I bring a canopy if I can get it to fit into the car? I've got a 10x10 one that's still in its box (we set one up on the deck a couple weeks ago and liked it so much that we asked my dad to pick up another one for us; DH brought it back with him yesterday). It'll provide a little shade/shelter if necessary. I think with 4 people to set it up (1 to a pole), it should go up quickly.

Critter, you're gonna run outa room for me in the car :)

Okay, if I run around taking cuttings from various plants tonight, what would be the best way to wrap/package them up for tomorrow?

I'm still learning when it comes to cuttings!

Critter, we should have enough shade. And you'll never in a thousand years manage to get the stakes into the ground to hold it up in my rocky yard.

OK, then I'll leave the canopy home... I don't think rain seems likely, and if it happens, well, we won't melt!

Wrightie, I just posted a suggestion for cuttings on the plant swap thread... moist paper towel around the base, then either a baggie (secured around the stems with a rubber band) or wrap with (my favorite) Glad Press 'n Seal.

Miata, don't worry, we will fit you into the car! Ummm.... how many plant boxes are you bringing? ;-) I'm hoping I can get most of my stuff into the back and leave the rear seat for food, drinks, and your plants.... we'll see what happens when I start stuffing things from flats into boxes... LOL. I think I'll take at least one big blue storage bin because that can be used as a sort of table as well as for plants.

Critter, I'm not bringing all that much (even if my husband thinks differently). I'll just be happy to get some of the xtra plants off my deck, it was on it's way to looking like yours :-) I hope to bring back far less than I'm taking. Gonna be a busy night. Still have to get chicken wings from Sams Club (guess what I'm having for dinner tonight) and make the hummus . I just hope it doesn't storm before I get all the wings grilled and the plants labeled and organized! Busy, Busy!

LOL... I think we'll be having pasta for dinner here... maybe some hot dogs alongside, although we had our share of them (and PB&J and chicken nuggets) this week while my nephew was visiting!

So... you're saying maybe you only need half the space in the back seat? ;-)

Okay, if anyone is still on here - and not frantically preparing for tomorrow - I have cuttings questions.

First of all, am I safe to assume that the following plants of mine can all be easily propagated from cuttings?

Evergreen Clematis armandii
Sweet Autumn Clematis terniflora
Hardy Kiwi Issai Actinidia arguta
Thornless Blackberry 'Triple Crown'

I have taken cuttings from each of the above and stuck the cut ends into a bucket of water for the time being. But, I am clueless as to whether I did it correctly. I left them fairly long (at least one foot each) and have not trimmed any leaves off any of them. Any guidance you can throw at me would be fabulous.

Oh, I guess I should ask if anyone is even interested in these plants?! =0

I think I've finished my frantic preparations !!!! boy am I sweaty. now I am printing a few pictures from my files of things not in bloom or of unknown variety name.
I can't help technically but I would take kiwi off your hands

Okay, Sallyg. I apologize in advance if I haven't 'done it' correctly, but I figure that they ought to be long enough that someone who knows what they're doing could salvage it.

well I'm using that same theory on a bunch of lamiastrum for hart-- this stuff came home balled in my napkin ten years ago and now its taking over.!

I'm going to have stuff in 2 categories. The plants I nicely dug up and potted a few days ago. And then whatever I throw together in the morning, which will probably include a clump or two of undivided hostas covered in dirt!

Oh, good reminder -- I'll add my new Japanese garden knife to my list of "supplies" to bring!

Brent,

I have a question for you regarding the 3 pots of "Balloon Flower" you gave me. I know they are small, and I presume that they will not do any thing much this year (except grow). Do you think they will bloom next year or will they have a bit more growing to do?
I have planted them in front of my Clematis in a full-sun bed. I hope they will thrive and do well. I loved the ones I had years ago, then I moved them and they all disappeared with in 2 years.

I have yet to find a spot for the "Money Plants". I don't want them in an obvious place, as they are not too pretty to look at once the bloom time is gone. Will the ones you gave me still bloom this year? Next year? It is funny, but Sally's whole back of her yard has tons of Money Plant! Tons! I told her to rub off the membranes and sell the stems of beautiful, iridescent ovals as they are quite in demand with people that do dried flower arrangements. Do you have a source?

Your Salvias are doing great. They never "blinked" at being transplanted. I hope they bunch out and become a specimen type of a plant.

Thanks again, Gita

Balloon flower is one of those plants that I had never heard of before I moved into my current house. There are a couple really nice plants growing here and the flowers are quite attractive. I harvested the seeds from those plants, but I have never grown it from seed before, so I don't know how quickly they will get to flowering size. I know that I had a plant or two that bloomed white and I am not positive which plant the seeds came from.

Money Plant is brand new to me. I got the seeds in a swap this year. I am pretty sure they bloom in early spring, so they should bloom next year. I posted a question over on the perennials forum looking for more info: http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/721123/ I am not sure if this plant really takes full sun because the seedlings wilted a bit during our recent hot weather (though that might just be because they are pretty big and suck out the water in the 4" pots quickly).

- Brent

Brent, I've got a couple of Money Plant seedlings (new to me also) in deep 4 inch pots, and I just checked them... they are looking pretty rootbound, so you might want to check your pots and see how crowded they look in there... I think I'm going to up-pot 1 purple and 1 'Alba' plant into trade gallons and put the others out into the "wild blue yonder" where I've been planting today (put in phlox and asiatic lilies, getting set to plant out a dozen columbines in gallon pots). I've seen them in several gardens, but only in yards that have some shade, so I'm not sure how they'll do in my relentless full sun. Thanks for the link to your thread!

I added to your thread Brent, so as to keep the info together on money plant.

Jill: "Relentless full sun" -- you really have to rub it in!

Brent: Thank you for the money plants. I grew one many years ago, and the flowers were lovely. BUT it reseeds voraciously, so be careful to deadhead, or at least remove the "money" before the packages burst! It took me several years to get rid of it. But I did love the flowers (hence I'm delighted to have your plants to tend to).

I'm going to plant mine out near the cherry trees in the back corner of the yard... it can reseed all it wants back there... I'm thinking of planting a trio of them smack in the middle of a new little grouping of asiatic lilies and phlox and shasta daisies....