Hi Carol Ann,

You had the right idea, but maybe should have posted on the Pacific Northwest Garden Exchange forum....but no real biggie.

It seem that in our area there are 2 basic types of plant swaps.

First, there's the tail gate style, where plants are traded out of your vehicle in a parking lot...usually a couple of hours of quick trading and everyone's gone. The spring and fall Green Elephant Plant Swaps are done that way.

Second, there's the plant swaps hosted at someone's home with a chance to enjoy their garden and a slower, more social pace. These usually feature a potluck lunch and there's some really good food shared.

"Protocol", if it exists, is fairly loose. In either case, you often will have prearranged trades set up in the PNW Garden Exchange forum...people post asking if anyone has what they're looking for and/or offering up what they wish to trade...it's common for a person to have HAVE and WANT lists for seeds, plants, etc. Those lists can be reviewed and members contacted with offers of "I have what you're looking for...would you trade an item from your HAVE list for this item?" Everyone is usually very generous and accommodating, but sometimes a person will decline a trade of a "common" item for an expensive or hard to get item. Basically, it's whatever the 2 individuals agree upon.

Most of us pot up plants ahead of time for pretrades and also for plants we know in advance we want to take to the swaps. It's better for most plants to be handled this way and it's a courtesy to the other person. Sometimes you'll have a last-minute inspiration to dig up a clump of something at the very last minute and drag it along "as is" to divide and share with anyone interested...I did that a few days ago at the Bonney Lake swap. Again...no hardfast rule on this.

And one thing I'm sometimes guilty of...it's a great idea to label the plants with their names. It's also cool to make a small note if something has a special need...shade only...lots of water...winter protection...etc.

If you have plants you want to trade, but aren't willing to just give away, you can usually put them to one side (maybe post a sign "For Trade Only"). The general pattern seems to be to take care of prearranged trades first...then swap around with others members...everyone looks at what each other has to offer. At the end, it's common for someone to start a "Freebies" area...take anything you want to get rid of and put it there. If you see something you want, pick it up! This is a great time for people just starting out to get some free plants, even if they have nothing to trade. At the tailgate type swaps, newbies without plants are often encouraged to bring treats (cookies, etc.), empty flower pots, plant labels, etc. to offer if they want to swap for plants before the "freebies" begins.

It's difficult to spell out every option that happens at a swap...often you'll find a lot of people have excess plants they just want to share without requiring a trade...you'll find them saying things like "here, wouldn't you like to try some of these?!" This is all part of the generosity found at the swaps.

Finally, I recommend you read several of the threads posted at the PNW Gardening Exchange forum (especially those title about the Green Elephant swaps for some general details).

Go...enjoy!!

Patrick

Sorry for the misplaced post, but thanks for the details, Patrick!

Yes, thank you. I was curious too.

I think the Seattle Times offered some good advice about plant swaps.

Regards, Jim

Here is a link that might be useful: Plant Swap Article