The swap is just one month away! Do you have your Haves and your Wants Lists posted? If not, now's the best time!

We sure hope to see many of you at the swap! If you are a new gardener, without much to bring, don't worry; there's always plenty of great plants needing a home and lots of friendly gardeners willing to help get you addicted to, (I mean started with) growing stuff!

It's just 17 days away (if I counted right)!

It's next Saturday. We hope to see many of you there!

Brandon,

I plan on attending my first one, however, I do not have anything ready to trade yet (Spring 2013 should have some plants). Is it against "plant swap etiquette" to receive and not give the first time?

No, that's fine. Many of us actually use these events to find homes for excess plants that we don't want to compost. Some of the swappers may expect something in return for their plants, but at least some don't. I'm always happy just to find a good home for a deserving plant that I can no longer have room for.

It's really hard to put this into words, but, as long as you aren't "greedy" (this is rare at the swaps, but has been known to happen before), many of us will be more than happy to share with you. Also, just meeting fellow local GardenWebbers can be a blast!

I am really looking forward to the swap on Saturday. In the meantime, I attended a well-presented "Propogating from Cuttings" workshop this evening. While it won't impact my offering for this swap (my things will come mostly from divisions), hopefully it means I will have a few more things to share at the spring swap!

I may have some starts of some hardy begonia (Begonia grandis) if some may have interest.

Brandon--this way I will not have to come empty handed to the swap!

Red bird, can I take that as an offer to put on a presentation for us? (-;

Tree Man, I think there'd be interest in those, and especially if you know the cultivar ID or if they are somewhat unusual types. Even if not though, I'm pretty sure you'd have some takers. I've wanted to have a collection of begonias ever since I saw a really impressive collection at a botanical garden.

It's tomorrow (Saturday)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We had a wonderful time today. Considering the amount of people, I think trades went very well. My goal, as usual, was to find homes for a truck-load of plants, and I just about accomplished that goal. I think most of us were pretty satisfied with the results.

The morning started off with rain, and I think that may have scared some of our potential attendees away. By swap time, the rain was completely gone, but the cold started moving in. Within a few hours it started getting just plain uncomfortably cold! Some people had brought appropriate clothing; I arrived in shorts and a t-shirt...brrrrr.

All together we had at least 15 attendees (below average, for sure). Some left early, some arrived late. Seven attendees were first-timers. I know of a few regulars that were unable to attend due to health or family issues, but I still think we were missing too many. Maybe the weather was just too bad for some.

Lunch was grab-and-go, mostly because everyone was getting too cold to sit down and eat. The conversations were interesting and fun, and I think everyone had a great time.

I had a great time at the swap, despite the dreary weather. I enjoyed being with the other East TN gardeners very much. As before, I feel so fortunate to have received wonderful plants and to learn new things - something new at every swap. We appreciated getting several new things for the school garden, too. Thanks to all who attended.