I would want it to be a month earlier than it has been (at least the last two years). ;-)

You must have a greenhouse Jon. I start seeds inside, but they usually aren't really big enough to swap till about mid May. I can see mid May being a little late for early-spring divisions though.

Brandon,

Rhododendrons, azaleas (deciduous and evergreen), Koreanspice viburnum, hellebores would be on my list along with some surprises.

Are you currently sticking cuttings, by chance? What about some on your list?

I was considering starting some cuttings and planning on what seeds I might try this year. I don't have any rhododendrons, but I do have a decent small collection of viburnums (including carlesii). I hear they don't lend themselves to hardwood cuttings though.

I have a bunch of hellebore babies too. I may try to transplant a few of those for this coming spring swap.

Dear Brandon,
I would appreciate a cutting of male actinidia that is known to bloom. I have hard-working females with tons of flowers and a male that has been sitting there for years refusing to bloom (some male!) . I am practically sure they are argutas although it has been long ago and I can't find any records, probably not colomikta. Since actinidia roots nicely, in case anybody has any to share with me could simply cut a shoot for me, you know what I mean. Thank you very much.

I almost always want things that attract butterflies and hummingbirds :-).
When is the swap this year 2013? Web site still shows the 2012 date.

Pam, we haven't set a date yet. As happened last year, New Harvest is already reserved. This time I checked on Jan 3 (I don't think there's anyway to reserve anything before the 1st) and all Saturdays in May were already taken. People must be reserving this place as part of their New Years celebration (unless they were taking reservations earlier this year).

We need to decide whether to have the swap on a Saturday at some other location (probably Tyson) or to have it on a Sunday, after church time, at New Harvest. What do you think?

I think a Saturday at another location is better than Sunday.

I second the Saturday at another location vote.

Saturdays work better for me and I'm fine with either location.

OK, we'll definitely do Saturday. I will try to narrow down the exact date and location within the next few days and let everyone know.

I'm definitely interested in hellebores. Anyone have passionflower? I have not been successful in getting them from seed. In fact, I'm not good at growing from seed at all, but keep trying. Maybe I'll manage some this year for the exchange. Are Autumn Joy sedum desirable at all by exchange participants? How about Liatris babies?

Hey Chris, what type of passionflower are you interested in? There are two species of native passiflora in Tennessee. P incarnata is very pretty, but can be VERY aggressive. I would only recommend planting it in a very large cottage-type garden, or, in a container. I was growing some in one of my beds until last year, but finally had to take it out before it took over my world. It sometimes doesn't look like such a thug when growing in a field or uncultivated area (I still have some in a fence row). P lutea has very small flowers and probably isn't anything to write home about. I haven't personally grown it, so can't tell you too much about it. Many of the non-hardy species are real showstoppers but require either lots of winter protection or being taken inside for the winter.

It's hard to know what will go over big at a swap. I sometimes bring valuable and rare stuff and get little interest. Sometimes I bring things that I doubt anyone will want and it's snapped up in a hurry. My guess is that Autumn Joy would have a limited appeal, but, as I said, I'm almost always surprised at the swaps. I bet the liatrises would do well if you had a picture to show what they looked like in bloom.

Alas, Brandon, P incarnata is what interests me, although I'd probably be happy to grow any. Do you ever get an idea you just have to try? I want to swag incarnata across my Mom's 6' tall retaining wall.

Thanks for the feedback. The liatris reseeded and came up last year. I'm not sure when it will get to the bloom stage. Store bought bulbs(?) have taken a couple of years to bloom for me, so I'm not sure how long seeds will take.

I'm still looking for a spice bush - lindera benzoin; or some other native shrub. I'd also be interested in some herbs :-)

BTW Brandon, what might you be looking for????

Chris, I may try to grow you some maypops and hellebores. I have plenty of maypop seeds and hellebore seedlings, now it's just a matter of time and space (which are the things I seem to have less of by the day).

Frances, I can't remember, do you have clethras? I brought some last fall, but I don't know who got them or already had some.

What am I looking for? I'd love to find an arboretum volunteer/partner/worker/designer/or some multi-talented combination of these. I've been thinking more and more about how to find the right person, but have yet to come up with a plan. I sure don't need any more plants, although I'm sure I won't be able to resist all of them come spring.

Hey Brandon - I do have a 'Hummingbird' clethra that has never done well for me, and last fall Mark gave me a pink one. Sorry I can't help you with what you are looking for :-(

Now I remember you telling me about that. Maybe you should try moving it (somewhere with some evening shade) if possible.

Rocky Top Coneflowers. And some of those plain old purple irises that are the state flower of TN. (I know, I am not very imaginative, but those are harder to find than you'd think!)

I am still not 100% sure I am coming but I certainly can dig up some maypops - I have plenty and I normally just keep the ones that don't get in anything else's way.

Hey Brandon,

Do you have any of the dwarf bee balm?

I think I have two types at the farm. One wasn't doing as well near the end of last year's growing season, but it may just be that they plant was going on vacation early. Remind me again a little later, when the stuff is due to start popping up, and I'll take a look.

Over the last few days I've been able to dig up / divide a few plants for the swap. So far I've potted up:
6 Helleborus (hellebore)
2 pots of Tricyrtis hirta (toad lily)
2 pots of Iris domestica (blackberry lily)
2 pots of Bletilla striata (hardy orchid)
2 Spiraea japonica 'Walbuma' (Magic Carpet)
3 Scabiosa columbaria (seedlings of 'Butterfly Blue' and 'Pink Mist')
2 or 3 Montmorency cherry
2 decent sized viburnums (labeled, but can't remember types right now)
1 big pot of lilies (labeled, but can't remember cultivar name right now)

I've also been working on getting the swap forum on the website working, but haven't been able to find the bug yet. That's something else I need...a good PHP/MySQL programmer.

I've almost got the access problem fixed. Automatic email notifications still isn't working, but at least the site is back up to where it was before (I think). Yeah!!!!

This post was edited by brandon7 on Mon, Feb 25, 13 at 21:45

Brandon,

Do you have any variegated hydrangeas? Mop head or lace cap, doesn't matter. Maybe some cuttings.

Sqeakmommy--are you in East Tennessee? Not sure what you mean by "Rocky Top Coneflowers" but I have some Tennessee coneflower (Echinacea tennesseensis) seed that is beginning to germinate that I hope to be able to bring to the swap.

Let's see, my calendar says that this still February, we are not "jumping the gun" are we!?...

I have five different hydrangeas, but non variegated. I have a place out at the farm in mind for a hydrangea collection, but haven't developed the area yet. The ones I have now are up against a brick wall on the south side of my house (not good).

As for jumping the gun...maybe a little, but I like my stuff to have time to get established as much as possible. This is the earliest I've ever dug plants for the swap, but figured I could get a head start. I'm always soooo busy around swap time.