Hi Marie,
I'm planning on hosting a swap but hadn't posted yet as thought it would be too early to start the plans.
My thoughts are 1st Sat. in June and a rain date of the following Sat. I thought that will give plenty of time for seedlings to grow and be large enough to be a healthy size to swap.
Would like to have the same informal swap that we had at your house, get together, some good conversation, light snacks, coffee, etc. Then let everyone swap or should I say, just take them all away and enjoy them.
I have plenty of yard space, parking and pretty easy to get to, down rt 3A, route 3, 128.
Have spoken many times with Adam and she's WS away and I have over 250 containers out there and about 200 annual containers to get out.
Will e-mail you and I have your seeds out there already, the allyssum, nicotiana alata and landsdorfi and your miss jekyl in both blue and white.
Looking forward to doing the swap and having tons of WS seedlings.
Hope to see those from last years spring swap at this years and new people too. With or without seedlings to swap, you are welcome to come. We always will have way too many seedlings that will need homes.
Fran

I'm ashamed to confess that I only started my tomato seeds today. *hangs head*

I've been poking around the yard and I have daylilies coming up, a few shy but determined crocus leaves, and a (plant swap) yarrow that went BOING and all of a sudden has 4" of shiny new growth. Fran's larkspurs apparently reseeded themselves, so I have lots of tiny seedlings, which makes me ridiculously pleased. My cutting of Marie's rose ('Bonica') seems to have made it through the winter okay. *crossing fingers*

Not much else is up yet, but my honeysuckle has put on about 6" of new growth since winter. (The new leaves keep getting nipped by the cold, but it just chugs along putting out more.) It's 'John Clayton', an unscented but lovely yellow variety, and it's native (L. sempervirens) and well-behaved. I'm kind of curious to try taking cuttings of it come spring-- would anybody be interested having one? I'll also most likely have some Earliglo strawberry plants, because they runnered like mad last summer.

Also, will anybody by any chance have *white* sweet alyssum seedlings?

Hi Greening,
Glad those larkspur reseeded for you. I'll have some white sweet alyssum, I hope. Just got them WS last week and I'll have tons of cosmos too.
Fran

after greedily hauling away an embarrassing array of riches from marie's thoroughly enjoyable fall swap, i'm hoping to rebalance ye olde karma by off-loading winter-sown goodies on you guys this spring.

so yes, please count me in -- whenever, wherever.

looking forward.

--kris

(p.s., runktrun, your creeping hydrangea has big, fat, beautiful buds)

I'm hoping to be able to make it to the sping swap; I really enjoyed the one last fall, especially loved meeting so many nice people! My work/travel schedule is still developing, so I can't yet figure out whether I can come, but if I'm not in the middle of the Pacific, I'll try my hardest to be there.

Once I see what's made it through the winter out in the pot ghetto, I'll start working on my "inventory". There were some shrub cuttings that were too small for the fall swap, and the inevitable divisions of late fall - not to mention the ones still to be done this spring.

The wonderful hydrangea I got from Anne is budding out, too - maybe I'll have flowers from it for her for the Fall swap this year. Kris, speaking of katy (runktrun), I haven't seen her on GW lately -I hope she's coming back!

dtd, if you're looking for runktrun, she's posting these days over on you-know-where.

(and if you don't know where, e-mail me.)

Oh, that's too bad, MoR. Thanks for the info, anyway.

Looking forward to seeing old friends from last spring and meeting new ones from the fall swap and this spring.
I'll post more detailed info in the next week or so, but the basic info is as follows.
Planning on June 3, with June 10th as a rain date. No fun in the rain. 10 am will be the time. I figure that's not to early and not to late. As last year went, we swapped till we where done, ate some snacks and just talked till we were wanted to leave. Hopefully June will not be a repeat of last years wet weather and then the horrible heat. We could do with some rain now though.
Location is Billerica MA, right off the center of town.
Plan on real simple kind of swap, no fancy stuff, and come with our without seedlings, cuttings, plants etc. Those of us that WS will have tons of extra seedlings to start you off for this years gardens and get you ready for next year too.
will post here that I have more info to read on this thread and then put the info with details that we can keep running on the exchange thread of NE Forum.

Fran

Hey Guys,
After a long grey winter of hiding under a rock and working on creating a journal of all plants in my yard (at that other place)I have returned to read my own epitaph. So to update I missed you all and can't wait for the swap. I bought pounds of seeds this year but did nothing with them..fear not I am certain my compulsion to transplant coupled with the need to divide will provide me with excess for the swap. The wonderful vine from DtD was enjoyed immensely by the deer I am hoping this will just encourage fullness. The show off rhodie from Ron did well last fall but developed browning on the leaf tips this winter I am very worried. Does anyone know if I should feed this little guy with water soluble right away?? Marie happy to hear about your climbing hydrangea if you or anyone else would like more let me know asap. I have high hope for my newly acquired swap Iris's does the rhizome need to be exposed to the surface of the soil? The microscopic variety of Hosta from Ron were sadly devoured by snails as a pre-breakfast snack but I am hoping they will try again this year...wishful thinking maybe but heck (learned to soften my colorful adjectives over at dg) I am a gardener. This winter as mild as it was allowed me to do the hard-scape and some transplanting in my front entry garden that so many of you generously helped me redesign. After a late fall early winter with no camera Nikon finally stepped up and replaced my camera so I will be posting updates and hoping for more input.

Hey all-just found this site and became a member. I'm new to Boston from California,where everything just GREW! Have a house and great lot in Metrowest area and am geared up for some gardening.have so many questions right now i can't even organize them to ask. would love to come to the swap,even though i might not have anything to swap yet. But look forward to getting some good advice about hardy new england plants.

Welcome, jardinis
we are looking forward to meeting you at our swap. I live in Lexington; are you nearby?

Everyone, introduce yourselves. I'm in the middle of re-watching Apollo 11, and icing my back, so I am a wee bit busy to be polite. Back care is # priority, with only a a few weeks left for major improvements.

Nevertheless, I and many others hope to know you better.

Marie (idabean, but I kind of prefer my real name)

I didn't make it to the bigger swap last year, but enjoyed the small one we had in a parking lot on rt. 1 :)
I would love to get to one this year, but I work saturdays and sometimes sundays so I will wait for the date to be decided

"There was a rustle in the gallery, which nobody noticed; a moment later the church door creaked; the minister raised his streaming eyes above his handkerchief, and stood transfixed! First one and then another pair of eyes followed the minister's, and then almost with one impulse the congregation rose and stared while the three dead boys came marching up the aisle, Tom in the lead, Joe next, and Huck, a ruin of drooping rags, sneaking sheepishly in the rear! They had been hid in the unused gallery listening to their own funeral sermon!
Aunt Polly, Mary, and the Harpers threw themselves upon their restored ones, smothered them with kisses and poured out thanksgivings, while poor Huck stood abashed and uncomfortable, not knowing exactly what to do or where to hide from so many unwelcoming eyes. He wavered, and started to slink away, but Tom seized him and said:
'Aunt Polly, it ain't fair. Somebody's got to be glad to see Huck.'
'And so they shall. I'm glad to see him, poor motherless thing!' And the loving attentions Aunt Polly lavished upon him were the one thing capable of making him more uncomfortable than he was before.' "
---by Mark Twain, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Ch. XVII: Pirates at Their Own Funeral

apologies for the epitaph, katy! lovely to see your typing.

The one I remembered, most likely inaccurately, was "reports of my demise have been greatly exaggerated" was that Twain, too?

"We said there warnÂt no home like a raft, after all. Other places do seem so cramped up and smothery, but a raft donÂt. You feel mighty free and easy and comfortable on a raft."
by Mark Twain, The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn
Katy

For Mark Twain fans: there's much debate over that "reports of my demise..." quote. That's certainly the version I like best!

Hope to meet you all at the June swap. I'm getting a very late start on WS this year, but I'm sure that by June I'll have stuff to trade or give away. Two questions:

1. Does anyone want Eupatorium Rugosum (chocolate Joe-Pye weed) or Sedum 'Autumn Joy' plants? Both are taking over my very small garden.

2. Can we swap seeds too?

Julie

Here is a link that might be useful: Twain quotes

Marie-idabean, I remembered it that way, too but googled it to find that the original is actually simpler:

The report of my death was an exaggeration.
Mark Twain, New York Journal, June 2, 1897
(that was from http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/159.html)

Katy-runktrun, great to heat that the report was an exaggeration.

Hi Julie,
Looking forward to seeing you at the swap. Yes, bring all the seeds you want to bring for swap or give away. I brought them to the swap last spring and said goodbye to lots of extra seeds.
And a big yes to the sedum autumn joy. I will be glad to take plenty of them off your hands and know at least 1 or 2 others coming to the swap that would love some. How many might depend on how large they are, but at least 10 will definetly stay in my yard when you come.

Annuals, perennials, seeds, and nothing to swap, all are welcome.

Will post details later this week when I'm back on my feet.
Have to have some minor back procedure in the am and will be out of it till at least Tuesday.

Fran

Count me in, and I bet $23 that I'll be the youngest there!

PS - As a first year amatuer, can someone explain (maybe through Private Message so as not to hijack the thread) as to why swap in June? I don't know if my seedlings can survive in their tiny containers until June! I've made up my mind, mine go in the ground May 5, if the 10 day forcast shows nothing under 40!!! No way there's a frost past May 15 I think.

I am hoping this will just encourage fullness

*LOL* That's refreshingly optimistic, Katy! *G*

jardinista and Julie, welcome! Hope to see you at the swap. You too, hipchick. Bring seeds, bring plants, or bring nothing and help take things away. You will not believe how much there will be to take away. I filled up my station wagon last spring.

khabibul35, also welcome! I guess it depends on when you started your seedlings-- I just started my tomatoes, for instance. For seedlings that get too big, I just go to the grocery store and buy a pack of paper drink cups in a size that will fit the plant, poke holes in the bottoms, and transplant into those. Cheap and convenient because you can write on the cup instead of messing with plastic labels.

Fran, thinking good thoughts for you-- I hope your procedure is completely uneventful and recovery is quick.

If it's okay for more of us to jump on the bandwagon, I'd love to swap. I have groundcover bamboos (easy to keep under control if you sink a big plastic tub with drainage holes in the bottom, in the ground) and other unusual goodies.

Confidential to khabibul35 - Your first name wouldn't be "Ish" would it? :)

Hi Idabean and all others. Welcome newcomers. I've been invited to your swap last year, but couldn't make it for some reason. Would love to make it this year, Billerica is only 20 minutes from me in Ayer. (I think there is only one stoplight between my house and Billerica, lol) Marie and I were going to swap astromeria a few years ago, but never did, so I'll just pick up where I left off. I'll bring my usual staple of Heliopsis Summer Sun and maybe some sprouts of red cardinal vine. I'm also growing many starts of asclepias from seed, any takers on those? Nice to see so many gardeners getting psyched about growing and being outside again... after so long. Do you know that Massachusetts has not had any moisture at all in the Month of March? Terrible.

So good to see us getting out of our winter hidey-holes. debra boston, I don't remember a thing about astromeria, but I'm sure there's plenty more this year.
Marie

I'm back and going to post info on the spring plant swap on the exchange forum now. Come on over and take a look, add your thoughts, input etc. Just hope to keep it as simple as it was last spring.

Fran

Hi Marie (idabean) I'm in Natick. sounds like the spring swap is in billerica. How do we get directions? jardie

Hi Jardie,
Welcome to our group and swap. I've posted on the exchange page the basic info for the swap including date time, locations etc. I will e-mail all who plan to come with directions about a week before the swap.

Let's move the posts over to the exchange page to continue about the swap

Fran

I'm just beginning the gaHden clean up. Will definitely keep my beady little eyes peeled for more swap information, though.

Not sure what I will have to swap, but I can probably "dig something up".

:)

Greetings every one! I sowed 2 beds of lettuce yesterday, watered it lightly and four hours later we had showers. Its as dry as I have ever seen it at this time of year. I fertilized those that needed it and maybe those that didn't.

Is anyone going to have any heirloom tomatoes to swap? I have a plum tomato that grows fruit with almost no seeds, I have grown fruits up to 16 oz. In fact one plant produced as many pounds of fruit as did 6 Roma. They are potato leaf, indeterminate. I usually grow flats of heirloom romaine lettuce, 3/4" plugs. I can sow a few more flats of lettuce. 3 flats are about 200 seedlings . Every one could take a baggy full.

Its still to early to put a list together but I suspect my plants will be mostly, Asian maples, Cornus kousa chiansis, Sorbus, Prunus and a few shrubs. And maybe a few hosta.

If anyone needs me for any thing mail me, I also have several iou's to fulfill from last fall. I didn't forget....

Ron

Debra - yes to the aclepias. I had no luck growing those from seed last year; trying again this year but not optimistic.

Fran - re: the Sedum 'Autumn Joy' - don't get too excited - I'll probably have 2 or 3 at best. When I say I've got a "small garden," I really do mean small!

Julie

Hi Chelone, Ron49 and Julie79,
Detailed info is already posted on the exchange page of new england forum.

Chelone, I'm sure you can dig something, more of those beautiful iris maybe? Not sure mine have made it through the winter. Seems it was a favorite of some little critter, that kept digging them up no matter where I planted them. Sure others would love some or more, like me,
if you have any.

Ron, I can't put a list together yet either, but am finding germination in my WS flats now, twice a day so will be tons of seedlings from me to just take away at the swap.

Julie, no problem about the number of Sedum, any and all you find will be welcome. I read on GW that they root very quickly and grow well, so small ones will be fine and can propogate from those.

Check the post on the other page for the info and add any suggestions there. Am sure I've missed plenty of ideas we should include.

Looking forward to seeing old swap friends from last spring and meeting new this year.

Fran

Hope this is helpful, the link to the INFO ON BOSTON AREA SPRING SWAP.

Here is a link that might be useful: INFO ON BOSTON AREA SPRING SWAP

Hi,
Can we keep this at the top, under a new subject header, with the link to the exchange or swap forum where new responses are being posted? It is so far from the top that people who might be interested or looking for information might not find it on p.2 under NEGardening.
I haven't figured out how to find the thread on the exchange forum without using Fran's link, and now I have to scroll down two pages to the original tthread, and then down to Fran's post with the Link.
Am I making sense? Here's hoping I've bounced this back up to the top at the NEgardening forum, and someone else can figure out how to name a new thread with current information and a link....and then keep it near the top.

Marie

Hello gardening friends,
I am trying to start a new thread so people who check the NE forum see the information about the swap immediately. The original thread has dropped way back.
Fran, can you post the link, again, on this thread?
All, We need to keep this post up near the top of the thread. If it drops down too far, we need to bump it up.
I hope a few people understand what I'm getting at!
Marie/idabean

HI,
I am very new to this. I think I sent someone an e-mail directly but I wanted to post a message. I just moved to Billerica almost a year ago so I would love a chance at meeting new people and a swap to boot, actually my garden is a bit sparce. I am trying to figure out what to plant where. I have a very big back yard and really don't know where to start. But, I look forward to meeting some local gardeners and hopefully getting some new ideas.

Here's the link again to the post on the exchange page.

to go to the thread without needing this link is easy.
When you first go to the New England Forum and you see a list of the threads, right above them it says "on topic discussions" and right next to it, it says exchange. Just click the link that says exchanges and you are on the exchange page with the thread for info.

Looking forward to seeing everyone.
Have tons of containers full of WS sprouts now and more germinating every day. Should have a huge selection of annuals and perennials for all of you to take home.

Everyone start keeping your fingers crossed that the weather is good for June 3.

Talk with everyone on the exchange thread.

Fran

Here is a link that might be useful: INFO FOR BOSTON AREA SPRING SWAP

Hm...new to this. Was able to post my first post to GW earlier but this one didn't seem to take so will try again.

I would love to come to the swap ~ my first! I haven't gardened much in the last few years since I'm a renter, had moved and was disinclined to do so at the new triple decker since the neighbor's 2 massive dogs created a urine dead zone in the small front yard. I was able to still enjoy tending to a small 2x8 patch below my bedroom windows on the most rudimentary level. This year I decided to build a raised 4x4 bed since it seems the yard isn't a priority for the landlord and I plan to have some veggies there so had started some seeds including brandywine, purple tomatillo, chiltepin peppers, jalapenos, and seeds of a vine mom passed my way but they're all too leggy to pass on to anyone so they will have a chance to survive in the perennial bed just because I don't want to compost them after how hard they tried.

On a good note, I do have some "Autumn Joy" sedum and as soon as the rain ceases and the soil dries I will definitely divide and deliver! I could only bring 3 but if I come home without them and instead with a new to me flower or veggie that would be great.

Thanks Fran for volunteering to hold a swap and even more so to being so welcoming to complete strangers who want to share! Best of luck with the back!