I am sooooo ready! So far, the date is perfect.

I've even got a wish list started in my head, I just won't post it yet as I think that is usually in another thread later?

Count me in :)

J.

Hi Jennifer---since you seem to be the only one around here! And hi to everybody else too!

I just spent two hours digging up my hardy pampas grass, Saccharum ravennae, and IÂm tempted to just throw the whole 20 lb. clump right into the dumpsterÂbutÂif anybody would like a piece of it, IÂll TRY to get it divided up into some pieces with enough roots that theyÂll survive. No promises! To get it out, besides my shovel, I had to use two crow bars, a hand held sledge hammer, various trowels, and two saws! OMG! I knew it would be hardÂbut I never dreamed! So whatÂs left isnÂt in the best of shape, but there might still be some salvageable pieces.

HereÂs a pic of it last fall just as it was starting to bloom (click to enlarge). It would have looked much larger, but all summer I had been cutting the ends off of the blades of grass to try to keep it off of the lawn somewhat. (On the left side in front thereÂs a blackberry lily that kind of blends into it!)

If youÂre wondering why IÂm getting rid of it, itÂs getting way too big for my tiny back yard, and it blocks the view of the stuff I have behind itÂand I've had it for three years now, so I guess itÂs just time to move on to something else!

So IÂll keep the roots wet for now, but by the middle of the week itÂs going on the compost pile or in the dumpsterÂprobably the dumpster since I think itÂll probably take YEARS to decompose on the compost pile.

AndÂanybody else interested in the Fall Swap? If thereÂs no interest, maybe weÂll just skip it this year and plan for next spring again. (Jennifer, you and I can get together and party!)

Skybird

Oh, yay, let's party!! I could give you all the tiny plastic pots I have rather than fill them up with cuttings.

Although, I think it is just too early for some to start thinking about it.

I have a ton of very light lavender siberian irises that are now just sitting in a couple of tubs of dirt. I also have a small Lonicera involucrata 'twin berry', strawberries and I can always dig up more raspberry canes. Oh, and there are always the low-sedums.

I hope there is a good deal of interest in this swap as I am giddy over the plants from last year's! I thought I'd lost one of the bloody cranesbills but I just now noticed that it popped up after all!! Darren asked "how do you know it isn't a tiny weed?" Duh! It has palmate leaves, what else could it be?

I have to say I'm not interested in the pampas grass :)

J!

I'd love to go, but transportation's a problem. And I wouldn't have a lot to swap. I could start some mint cuttings, if anyone's interested. And I have tons of sweet pea seeds and will have plenty more by then.

I haven't posted, not because I'm not interested, but I just can't think that far ahead right now. Just this weekend we celebrated an anniversary, a birthday, and Father's Day. There's a huge local music festival that my church is helping to put on next weekend. Plus my son is in baseball three evenings a week. Where are those lazy days of summer???

My garden is pretty much full, but I have some things that will probably need to be divided this fall, so I'm sure I'll have things to bring if I can make it. I'll check back in when it gets closer to the date, and I know what our family schedule looks like.

I had a great time at the Spring Swap, and would love to come if possible.

Bonnie

I will be there!!! Barring any unforeseen family emergencies and it seems like I have met that quota in the last month.
I'm looking forward to it and I should have lots to share.

I plan on attending the Fall Swap. I hope everyone will remember my Open Garden on July 12th. I'll give details in another thread.
Karen

Figures I find this thread after the pampas grass goes to the dumpster!
Vic

I would love to come. I'm not sure what I'll have yet since I'm a newbie, but will see what I can come up with and will bring some seeds at least. Looking forward to it!

I'm in! Skybird, I planted out over 80 plants this year (thank heavens for Bluestone Perennials!) and have piles of pots for you. If you need them before the swap let me know and we'll work something out.
I think it probably is too soon but just bump this every week or two and we'll rope them all in... :)
Happy long weekend, everyone!

Hi!

It's Sally here. I'm in for the Fall Swap. Good thing Connie came by this a.m. to pick up irises and mentioned that there was going to be a swap and that the info was on gardenweb. I kept looking for an email. Guess I missed the spring one.

I just dig up over 500 iris tubers and swaped out over 400 of them. Tomorrow is going to be spend replanting the other 100.

I'll email my contacts to see if there is interest from them for the swap. Some have been asking already.

See you September 6.

Okay, since it is already July, I'm going to post what I want and what I can bring. I'm excited!

Want:
Iris, dark purple, light purple, blue, Siberian or otherwise
Geranium sanguineum, any colour
Campanula: carpatica, alpina, cervicaria, OR any of the low-growing ones
Peony--I killed the one from the fall swap...or the dogs did, not sure
Skybird's Sedum "blue carpet"

Have:
hens and chicks
low-growing sedums (spurium I think)
a couple Campanula persicifolia
I can always dig up:
strawberries
raspberries
Siberian iris, light lavender
Lonicera involucrata, it is just a small one, under two feet

I'm looking forward to this!

Jennifer

"Want:
Iris, dark purple, light purple, blue...Dayum! I seperated mine 2 years ago, and gave away a tray..."
Geranium sanguineum, any colour
Campanula: carpatica, alpina, cervicaria, OR any of the low-growing ones
"Peony--I killed the one from the fall swap...or the dogs did, not sure"...Well, I need to seperate my peonys this fall...And it's gonna be huge!

Hi All,

Glad to see some folks are starting to think about the swap.

Some ÂBlue Carpet is yours, Jennifer. A plant if I have time to start one, or a bunch of cuttings if I donÂt. The Geranium sanguineum I got at last yearÂs Fall Swap is still too small, but maybe next year if you still havenÂt gotten one. But I will have some Geranium x cantabrigiense ÂBiokovo available again this year in case youÂre interested. ItÂs one of the ones that spreadsÂa lot!

Is anybody interested in me doing the propagation demo that we didnÂt have time for last year? It would be very basic info on starting things from cuttings, and I was planning to show how to make shasta daisy cuttings, and how to propagate oriental poppies from root cuttingsÂif Jennifer or somebody will bring some poppy roots along again this year. If anybodyÂs interested, let me know so I can start planning ahead and start a few things now to use for "after" examples. If youÂd rather just eat, drink, be merry, and swap plants, that works for me too.

In the meantime, everybody watch out for the mosquitoes! Remember back on June 15th when I posted that I had dug up the pampas grass? Well, during the two hours it took me to do it, I got a couple bites. DidnÂt think anything about themÂhadnÂt seen any mosquitoes in my yard all summer! The next day each bite had developed a 3" red rash around it! Then I was really wondering what had bitten me, but still didnÂt believe it had been mosquitoes. Two weeks later I started feeling bad and thought I was getting a sore throat, then thought it was a head cold, then thought it was a chest coldÂand by then I felt so bad I was sure I had the flu. A week later I went to my doctor and, lo and behold, I have West Nile Virus! IÂm still getting over it, but I really lucked out, Âcause I seem to have gotten a mild caseÂno encephalitis, no meningitis, and, no, IÂm not gonna die! (If youÂre disappointed, I donÂt wanna hear about it! ;-) ) Alright, we all know birds get WNV! Hmmmm! Maybe I need to change my name! Skycloud? Skyrain? Skyblue? Guess IÂll just stick to Skybird! :-)

And.....the good news is...........
........now I can laugh at the mosquitoes! IÂm immune!

So if you get any bites and they develop a rash, go see your doctor! ThereÂs nothing they can do to actually treat the WNV, but at least they can monitor you in case it turns into something BAD!

Less than two months till the swap,
SkyBIRD

P.S. Sally, RMG is how we disseminate all the swap info since we started having them again in Â07, so tell any of your people to check in here every now and then to see whatÂs going on. Probably the only email IÂll be sending directly to potential attendees will be the one with my address and directions to my house about a week before the swap. Since IÂm back working this year, I wonÂt have time to be doing other direct mailings. AndÂwe WILL be expecting you to show up...

Wow, Skybird! My life has been incredibly uneventful this past year compared to yours - first the unexpected campout on your vacation, then the concussion, and now West Nile Virus!!! Glad to hear your getting better! Even with bugspray on, I still get at least one or two mosquito bites everytime I'm out. They really LOVE me, so I'm surprised (and relieved) that I haven't contracted West Nile Virus yet.

I still don't know for sure if I can come or not. I have to convince DH give up his day off to watch the 3 kids. Plus, we have two Sept. birthdays at our house, so I'll have to see if I can afford the gas for the trip.

If I can make it, I should have divisions of Achillea 'Walter Funke', and probably 'Terra Cotta'. The following are things I should have freshly harvested seeds from, and if I can't make it, I can always mail them:

Coreopsis grandiflora 'Sunburst'
Dianthus knappii
Gaillardia 'Goblin' and 'Burgandy'
Penstemon barbatus 'Coccineus', Penstemon pinifolius 'Compactum' and non-compact version

There may be some other things, but that is all I can think of right now.

As far as things I'm looking for, it's mostly reds and yellows, which I doubt most folks have, but here goes:

Allium 'Moly' (yellow)
Alstromeria 'Sweet Laura'
Garlic
Golden Sage
Maltese Cross or other red or orange Lychnis - seeds or plants
Silene regia 'Prairie Fire'
Ipomopsis aggregata 'Scarlet Gilia'
Rudbeckia 'Prairie Sun'

Oh, and Skybird, I would be interested in the propagation demonstration, since I am completely clueless in that area.

Bonnie

Skybird, I am so sorry to hear bout the WNV! I'm glad you're okay. I don't tend to get colds or flu a lot, except last winter I got the flu that slipped under the radar of the last flu shot. Mosquitoes love me, though, and I usually develop big welts from them.

I've found some dead birds in my yard recently. I dumped them in my "back 40," but in retrospect I probably should have called animal control to come pick them up and test them. Hindsight and all that.

I'm still a newbie and don't have much in my garden, unless someone wants sweet pea seeds. I'd have plenty of them, both white and pink. They're not only pretty, they attract buzzers like crazy.

I also have plenty of mint, spearmint, I think. And I could probably spare some garlic rounds or cloves. All of these would be fairly easy to transport on the bus.

Wants:

Peonies
Daisy-like flowers
lilacs
herb plants
raspberry/blueberry plants

I'm also interested in the propagation demonstration. I'd especially like to learn how to propagate lilacs. My neighbor's lilac is coming up under my fence, and I'd like to find a way to safely propagate them and transplant them other places in my yard.

Took time to specifically check to see if there would be a fall swap! Thanks skybird for volunteering to host again! I plan to be there!

I have had good luck in getting scented geraniums to root so hopefully will have some rose scented, plus others if they do well. These aren't hardy but they are delightfully scented in a sunny window!

Both the raspberry plants that I picked up at the spring swap looked fine for awhile but have shriveled up (yes, they were tended carefully with water...). If anyone is open to digging a small section again, I would be grateful!

Mary

I am clearing a large space where someone planted "wildflower" seeds several years ago. These have given new meaning to tne name wild. Before I totally Round Up these, does anyone want:

TALL yellow yarrow. 36 to 48" high.
Shasta Daisy Again, very tall.

I also have quite a few of Blue Mist Spirea sprouts that can be dug.

Hi Shady,

Does that mean youÂre coming to the swap? If you posted somewhere else, I must have missed it. IÂll put your name on the list. When you post again, post on the Fall Swap & Potluck thread linked below. ThatÂs the new thread for all information from now until the day of the swap. IÂll copy and transfer your post over to that thread to be sure nobody misses is.
==========================================================

ATTENTION EVERYONE!

DONÂT POST HERE ----- DONÂT POST HERE ----- DONÂT POST HERE

GO TO THE CURRENT SWAP THREAD, LINKED BELOW
FOR ALL POSTS FROM NOW UNTIL THE SWAP

See you all soon,
Skybird

Here is a link that might be useful: Fall Swap & Potluck -- 2008