Anyone want veronica spicata 'sightseeing'? I can bring 2 great butterfly plants, inula helenium & helianthus microcephela (check google for pics). Also have iris laevigata and geranium yoshinoi 'confetti'

Hedy

Yikes! Where did the month go? Well, here's my list of available plants. . .
better late than never:

3 - Persicaria amplexicaulis "Firetail"

3 - Hydrangea macrophylla "Nikko Blue"

3 - Monarda didyma "Jacob Cline"

2 - Allium tuberosum (garlic chives)

1 - Symphoricarpos albus (Snowberry)

1 - Eleutherococcus "Variegatus" (Variegated Fiveleaf Aralia)

1 - Chasmanthium latifolum (Northern Sea Oats)

1 - Fragaria vesca "Alexander" (Wild Strawberry)

5 - Stylophorum diphyllum (Celandine Poppy)

Plus, some fresh brie and sesame crackers !

Carl

Marty and Carl, I wouldn't mind trying some of your Fraises des Bois and Fragaria vesca "Alexander". Thanks!

Hedy, I would love some of your Veronica, and Carl, if I could claim the Nikko Blue that would be wonderful. I will be leaving mine behind next year and don't have one at the new house yet.

Carl, I would love to have the Stylophorum diphyllum. It's a woodland plant, right? We are starting a woodland garden this year.

Linda

Hi Carl - I have the perfect places for the Persicaria amplexicaulis and Symphoricarpos albus and the monarda. Oh, boy!

Jane

Oh, no! Marty has jinxed us! Here is a direct quote from her post above,
on April Fool's Day, no less!

". . .sure hope we don't get a raw day like this on April 29th!"

Well, the current forecast in Monroe on Sunday is 51â and a few
showers - you watch, when Marty rolls into Monroe park, there will be a
clap of thunder, followed by a torrential downpour! :>)
Pack up your ponchos and sweaters, everyone. . .

If you're still speaking to me, Marty, I'll take any extra Christmas ferns
you'd like to pass along.

Paigect: since your foxgloves are yellow, I'm going to guess that they are
Digitalis ambigua, so I'd love to have some.

Bebe: I'd be interested in some of the Pulmonaria 'Mrs. Moon', if there's
any left to give away.

Folks, I actually HAVE noted all your requests, which are now labeled
accordingly and will arrive on Sunday. See ya soon. . .

Carl

Hedy, I think I got some of the iris in an earlier year but would love another bit (the iris bed is newly expanded thanks to Storm Irene :( I'd happily take another bit of the inula, too, if there's one to spare. I know I got one last year which I planted out at the land trust in the monarch garden, but darned if I can find it this spring. So IF you have lots IF and/or no one else requests it and IF you're digging it ANYWAY!, I'll take some.

Carl -- if no one ends up requesting the Aralia, I'd like to give it a try (but others get first dibs as I am getting a carload of stuff from you guys already!). It looked as if it might be shade and "dryness" tolerant?

We will hope the forecast improves, though personally, I should think you would all be THANKING me for all the rain I ordered for you... Can't help it if some of it was back-ordered. ;)

Carl, if you have any more persicaria, I'd love some and Paige if there's another foxglove to spare I'll take one of those too. I'll bring more inula, iris, etc. My potted plants look very sad. I hope they pick up for the swap.

Should we meet under the awning of the park building since it may rain?

Hedy

Ha! -- Just checked the forecast and the "showers" that were showing for Sunday (30 percent chance) have given way to "Partly Cloudy" and a 10 percent chance (also 2 degrees warmer, so if we can keep trending that direction... might actually be a gorgeous day! (Admittedly, it's early days... but promising nonetheless!)

IF this holds, I will expect appropriate accolades if not downright hero worship. Oh ye of little faith! :)

/ Marty

I just brought into the garage all my transplanted and potted up plants for the swap. We might get a frost tonight and I don't want to take any chances!

Sunday forecast as of 9:15 Wed. pm:
High of 58 in Monroe. 10 percent chance of rain.

Sounds like someone's pulling some strings SOMEWHERE...

I'm just sayin':)

OK peeps, here is what I have in my "to dig Sunday morning" column. Please let me know if I missed anyone, I have plenty to fill anyone's requests so it would have been unintentional.

Marty:
pink yarrow
lady's mantle
red monarda
thyme
ceramic pot(s)

Linda:
pink yarrow
helianthus 'lemon queen'
hardy geranium, magenta flowers

Carl:
yellow foxglove

Hedy:
yellow foxglove
ferns

Bebe:
Thyme
Geranium 'Rozanne'

I still have all of the stuff on my list available, so let me know by Saturday night if you have any further requests. No time to dig until Sunday morning, which might be for the best anyway as the plants will be fresh. :-)

I drove by Wolf Park yesterday while going to the feed store next door and thought of you guys. I'm so happy I didn't miss the swap. After I posted my last post I started having some problems with my pregnancy and recently I miscarried. I think a trip out of the house will do me some good. I can't wait to meet you all!
Laura

Here's my updated list:

For Carl:
Doronicum 'Leonardo'
Lamiastrum "Herman's Pride'
Christmas ferns

For PaigeCT:
White spirea
Misc. unnamed daylilies
Stella d'Oro daylilies
Stephanandra incisa 'Crispa'
Coreopsis 'Zagreb'

For Linda:
Stella d'Oro daylilies
Unnamed daylilies

For Bebe:
Veronicastrum 'Culver's Root'
Stella d'Oro daylilies

For Richie:
Fraises des bois

For Hedy:
Ferns (Hayscented? Christmas? Sensitive Ferns?)

For Jane:
rose campion

Please let me know if I've overlooked anyone's request or if there are additional requests ... still time to dig! Stella d'Oros and Christmas ferns are coming "whole" (you guys get to hack them into divisions)...

/ Marty

Marty, I think I asked for this also, Doronicum. Thanks for the strawberries, I bought a strawberry jar this year!

Oh, GreenHavenGarden - So very sorry to hear your news! But wonderful that you will be coming! Gardening (and fellow gardeners) are incredibly therapeutic for the spirit. You will go home with a carload of plants and a "heartload" of new friends!!

Also, hope you figured out that Carl was kidding about bringing him 20 clematis, right?! (He only needs 19... ;)

We'll see you Sunday (under bright, cheery skies!)

Richie -- you're right. Got your Doronicum 'Leonardo' too. Am running out of even improvised plant markers, so some of you may get masking tape...

You've all seen potted Easter lilies galore, especially since we've just finished
that season - but have any of you every taken those lilies OUT of their pots
and grown them on in the garden? Incredibly easy, no care required (although
they'd appreciate a little bulb food after bloom), and you get those amazing
white, fragrant blooms, at their natural flowering time: mid-June.

For years, my church has always checked with me soon after Easter, to see
if I want any of the lilies (they usually just chuck them out!). . .so, this year,
I can offer some to YOU folks, if anyone's interested. However, the "plant wagon" is filling up fast - you can blame Marty's pet project, the public
Butterfly Garden! - so if anyone would like some, you need to let me know
in advance. They come three-bulbs-to-a-pot, still healthy green, and
obviously won't bloom again this season, but next year in June.

Just so you know how resilient they are: several extra pots got "buried" in the
pot ghetto last Spring, and were totally ignored and forgotten - but, lo and
behold, they re-asserted themselves by sending up strong new stalks in these
past warm weeks, despite the fact they weren't watered or fertilized. . .and this pot ghetto is in full shade!

Carl

Carl, you just reminded me I have a few of those potted Easter lilies in the garage... wonder if they survived. Too darn cold out to go check. They'll just have to survive another day, if they've lasted this long.

GreenHavenGarden I am so very sorry to hear about your loss. Hopefully a day out amongst fellow gardeners will help cheer you up for a bit at least. Are you talking about Benedict's? I was also there yesterday! Are you local to Monroe?

Dee

Those brownies sound great! But since I can't be there, may I have the recipe? Sunday will be 90' and humid. I will be thinking of you all. My yard is large and no shade to speak of. Just the opposite of Bridgeport. Knockout roses and panzies are the rage around here. Have fun "Ya'll" AND TAKE PICTURES!!!

Carl, I'll take a pot of Easter lilies. Does anyone want 'blue-eyed grass' (sisyrinchium angustifolium 'lucerne') or golden groundsel (senecio aureus)?

Hedy

Would anyone like an african violet? We have one to give away.

Hi Richie,

If no one else speaks up for it (and I will yield if someone does!), I'll take the African Violet. Can I ask if you subscribe to the theory that a hard whack of the pot on a counter will jar an otherwise recalcitrant African violet into blooming again?? I've heard that really works ... ?

I have moved what looks like an entire TRUCK load of plants into the garage in advance of our predicted "hard" freeze tonight. On the plus side: the forecast is up to nearly 60 degrees with a ZERO chance of rain for Sunday!! (I rest my case.) YEAH!!

See everyone Sunday at 11 am! I am bringing (in addition to a truckload of plants and at least one gardening friend), chocolate stout brownies and nametags/markers. Please get a tag when you arrive and be sure, you newbies, to put both your real name and your screenname on your nametag. So often there is no correlation whatsoever between the two! ;)

Never heard that theory Marty, I just keep mine near a south facing window and they keep blooming and blooming.

Car is loaded (except for Paigect's white spirea, which I will dig early tomorrow morning, since spirea seem to object to being out of the ground for long). Brownies are in the oven (made this time with Young's Double Chocolate Stout, mmm ...). Life is good.

See you all tomorrow in the picnic grove... forecast gets better each time I check (except, of course, for the HARD FREEZE warning for tonight... :( Tomorrow should be 61 degrees, sunny, with LOW humidity. Going to be gorgeous ...see everyone there!

/ Marty

I had a nice but short time at the swap. I can't believe how many people showed up. Lots of new faces and that was fun! Paige, here is a link on the spirea that I gave you.

http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/consumer/factsheets/shrubs/spiraea_xcinerea-grefsheim.html

Marty and Carl, thanks for the strawberries and someone else bought strawberries(Casey?) but I don't know who and thank you also!!!! Marty, can you part with the recipe for the brownies, they were excellent!!!!!

A lovely meet, greet & eat plant swap today! Enjoyed seeing all of you again and wish to extend my sincere gratitude for such generous gardeners so willing to share your bounty.

Linda

It was so wonderful to see everyone today! Such yummy goodies too! A big thank you to Marty for arranging the weather! Every statement deserves and exclamation point!
Deb

And a great time was had by all! Or, at least, I can speak for myself. Great to see everyone again! Thanks to the organizing crew.

Richie, that is beautiful. One small problem. When we got home, there were several plants not labeled (I didn't label what I brought, so I'm not pointing figures here!). I think the spirea and the dwarf korean lilac were two of them, and I couldn't tell which was which! They actually look remarkably alike, unless I have them both confused with something else I took home. So I just stuck them in the ground and figured we'll see what they turn into. Think I might get a flower on one of them next year?

And I thought the purpose of a Plant Swap was to clean out my pot
ghetto. . .so what are all these strange plants in the back of my car when I got back to New Jersey?!!

As always, a great day trip for an exile. . .and I'll keep you all posted on
Open Days Garden Tours in your neck of the woods, particularly those I'm
attending.

Carl

What a GREAT swap!! Thanks to everyone for the great plants, great camaraderie, old friends and new ones, and of course... great food! What a lovely day!

Thanks to Jane's photos, here are a few memories (and a shout-out to Abi and Gary -- we MISSED you!!)

'Til the fall swap! (or earlier, if anyone is passing through Woodbury ... come visit!)

Hi Paige, yes I am guilty! I didn't label my plants, I did a few when I got there thanks to Debbie's popsicle sticks. The lilac has small rounded leaves that are darker green and the spirea has long limey green leaves. If the lilac grows well this year you may get flowers next year.

Marty, Ray and I would love to come over and see your gardens after we have some treats at Ovens of France and walk around the Woodbury fleamarket...LOL. Also, your friend Jane mentioned she is splitting up some of her grasses and we would like to see what she has. She told us to contact you about that.

Richie - that is Mary Ellen who has grasses aplenty. She is the OTHER incredibly attractive silver haired lady. (hehe)

Boy, my garden cart is filled with lovely shrubs and plants that were just plain GIFTS! How lucky are we, guys? Many, many thanks to those who dug and potted up their sharings. I look around my gardens and see George, Carl, Marty, Debra and now Richie (maiden grass). Thanks so much everyone.

Kindly,
Jane....Ovens of France? whoa...a trip is in sight!

Thanks Richie! By chance, was the spirea a tiny little thing, and the lilac much taller? And is there a chance you gave Mark two lilacs? You two went out to the cars to exchange plants while I was handing out to others, so I didn't see what you gave him. But if that was the case, it would make a lot of sense given what we were sorting through while planting, because the one I thought was the lilac was much bigger, and there were two of them.

We got everything into the ground yesterday and well watered. Our slope garden is off to a wonderful start! Thanks everyone!

Yes, Paige, I gave him 2 lilacs and the tiny little spirea.One lilac was bigger than the other. And thanks Jane, Ray must have gotten your names mixed up. That's funny how you have given our names to the plants. I never thought of it that way but I like it!!!!

Recipe beg: Who made those cookies with the white chocolate and craisins? OMG! I think they might be the best cookies I have ever eaten! Please please please tell me how to make them. The only one who will not thank you is my waistline!
Debra

Deb, That was me!!!!! First time I made them too. It must be the homemade vanilla that I put in there..LOL. I have heard some people put in brandy instead of vanilla also.Here is the recipe. I used ghiradelli white baking chips but when I found out they contained no cocoa butter the next time I am going to use guittard white chocolate baking chips. Good luck, Richie

http://www.landolakes.com/recipe/1338/cranberry-white-chocolate-chip-cookies/print

Uh, Deb, you were supposed to take those cookies home for your boys....

;)
Dee

Wow! what a great turnout! Everyone looks great and happy, sounds like I need some other recipes too. Rich, I still dream about your lemon molasses ginger cookies. Why don't you all put a NE Gardening cookbook? I missed you too! BTW, I have geckos in the yard. cute./Abi

Abi, I was thinking about you and those cookies. I love those cookies too!!! I'll have to make them for the fall swap! We missed you at the swap. It was a huge turnout and lots of new faces.

Richie - Thanks! Printed and pinned. How do you make homemade vanilla? With vodka and a vanilla bean?

Dee - Do you begrudge me ONE? OK - maybe 2. Once I realized how good they were, I had to give them to the boys to save my diet! They went in the twins lunch today and they came home telling me how good they were! They usually don't like "things" in their cookies except maybe chocolate chips, so that says something.

Deb, I buy vanilla beans off ebay and usually split them down the center and cut them in one inch pieces and add them to a 750ml bottle of vodka(at least 6 beans per bottle and I have even done 8). Shake every few days and keep it in a dark cabinet or closet for about 5 months. I have a few bottle "brewing" now.

Richie - Thanks again! I guessing you make your own for the quality rather than the cost?

you got it Deb!

This looks like a Connecticut perennial swap. If it is, and is in Western Connecticut, I'd like to be included in the future. I live in Danbury, am a UCONN Master Gardener.

Thanks for the reply. If you'd tell me how to use this site, I'd appreciate it. Looks like only this thread is about gardening?

Welcome, Tanya! I second what cloud_9 said: we may try for a Fall swap but it's been tough the last few years. Spring is always easier because everyone is so eager to get out and start digging! But we may try for one! They've been in different locations over the years, but always in the western half of the state (vs. the south or northeast parts or the central Hartford area, for instance). Monroe many years, Woodbury on occasion, we go wherever it works for people. This thread is in the New England Gardening forum of what used to be GardenWeb (now part of Houzz) so if you check this forum from time to time, you'll see if someone posts a thread to gauge interest in a fall swap. But there are many other threads about other aspects of gardening here -- it's an interesting forum! There are also forums for specific things like hydrangeas, daylilies, landscape design, etc., if you have specific interests. You can find them all here: http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums

This is GardenWeb which was recently taken over by houzz. It used to be the most active gardening community on the web and there are a ton of gardening forums from general interest to specific plants. Some forums are more active than others. The one this thread is part of is for the New England area. If you go up near the top of the page you will see in green type GardenWeb Forums and Gardening Forums and New England Gardening. These are links that will bring you up through the hierarchy. If you click on the New England Gardening link you will see that I opened a new thread proposing the possibility of a fall swap. We'll see how that flies. : )

Debra