Hi Brandon! We can't wait for this swap!! More to the point, SPRING. This is our first year winter sowing. Finding vermiculite is a chore, I'm going to have to go to Cleveland to purchase it, but I've been told using it is one of the best ways to germinate seeds. What are you growing this year?

Happy New Year!
Promise :)

Hey Promise, vermiculite is usually available at Lowe's. It might be harder to find this time of year, but you could check. It's definitely available online, at places like Amazon.

We'll have to see about what I am growing to have for the swap. I've already winter sown quite a few different things and am going to be adding lots more. I'm trying some different methods this year, so who know what kind of results I'll get.

Yes, Lowes in Cleveland has the vermiculite I am looking for. Not a hundred percent sure what I'm going to be putting in the vermiculite. I do have some figs and paw paw's I'd like to get going, along with a bunch of herbs. I've winter sown some blue elderberry and I hope that grows well. Are you growing any fruit trees or bushes?

I have a small orchard with quite a variety of fruit, but I'm not sure I'll be growing any new fruit plants this year. I had planned on growing a bunch of cuttings this year, but last winter really set a lot of stuff back, and, I've started getting myself into all kind of other gardening projects. It seems like I always have ten times more stuff to plant and propagate than I have time to do.

Promise, I don't feel as bad for going off-topic on this thread ;)
Holidays were good. Received some bird silhouettes from Rusty Birds.com and bricks for a little path I'm making in the garden as well as some other things. I sacrificed precious garden money for my loved ones over the holidays, but it was worth it, of course.
I'd like to make a a raised veggie garden this year, but I don't know what materials to make it out of. I'm not sure what chemicals treated wood has in it, or if it has the potential to leach into the soil or not. I've seen people use cinder blocks, but I doubt they're any safer... That's assuming there's any significant risk to begin with.

I'd like to grow more fruits this year. Serviceberry is on the list for me and the birds! Also still on the look for False Nettle for the butterflies. I plan on growing plenty of Plantain and Snapdragons for the Buckeyes (my favorite butterfly that I've never spotted eggs for).

TreeRoots - We can't remember your name! We would have emailed you sooner but your email isn't activated on GW. Anna and I enjoyed conversing and sharing seeds at the Knoxville Plant Swap.

In our rustic garden, used our old boxspring and filled it with compost dirt. It grew everything wonderfully!!! I'm about to get it going again now since it's time to plant spinach. I've not put much thought about the materials used for the outside of a raised bed.

Lowes gives away pallets. That's what I would use. I've made a strawberry bed out of a pallet and plan to use more of them. I've been using materials that were already on our property too. Down the hill in the backyard, we have brought long branches out of the woods to block are amended soil from running off. Talk about rustic!!!

Are you familiar with Griffin's Greenhouse Supplies in Knoxville? A gardening friend told me about them and I melted looking at their website. I'm going to need to get some flats and cells soon. We started trying to germinate pepper seeds. If all goes well, I'll have plenty of pepper plants to share at the spring swap, but I'm not getting my hopes up, because I've had bad luck with peppers. This year we're applying what we learned last year, so hopefully this is our year Peppers. Lots of varieties of peppers!

Plantain grows all over the place here. I can't imagine someone going out of their way to grow it. I assume you are talking about the weed? It has medicinal uses and is edible.

I'll see if I can find you some False Nettle.

Promise :)

Is the greenhouse out there sorta next to East Town Mall? There's a place over there that's kind of like a plant co-op, but it's a drive for me.

Yep, the weed. I grow it for the Buckeyes, but they've never laid eggs in my garden. Huh, I didn't know it was edible!

I can't grow anything indoors. I usually winter sow late in winter and am very successful with annuals/veggies. Perennials and shrub/tree seeds never sprout for me, regardless of when I plant them.

Nettles are hosts to Red Admirals and Question Marks. Beautiful butterflies.

My name is Stephanie :)

Stephanie, have you attended past ETPS's (my memory is not very good, BTW)? You mentioned not having success with perennials, shrubs, and trees...you can get all kinds at the swap! I grow more trees and shrubs than anything, and many swappers stick mostly to perennials. My guess is that I'll be bringing lots and lots of different types of plants this year. Every year I try to control my desire to grow every plant known to exist, but every year I seem to get further away from that goal.

Stephanie, we are from the Athens area so I'm not sure where East Town Mall is located. Is it off Kingston Pike? My friend and I went to a movie once at a mall I think might be East Town but I wouldn't be able to find it, to save my life.

I was surprised when we did make it to the Knoxville Plant Swap, the park is completely on the opposite side of Knoxville to us. That's ok tho. We met you and that other nice, generous lady. I came home with more poppy, carrots, broccoli and corn seeds than I could possibly use, so I've been sharing those like crazy.

I haven't been able to make decisions on what to grow where. I have seeds for some of the finest pumpkins and squash that I can't wait to get growing. I've got some awesome watermelons too, Ali baba and Orangeglo!

This year we'd like to take our produce to the Dixie Lee Farmers Market. We'll see how that all works out. With temps in the 20's all a girl can do is dream.

Stay warm y'all!

Stephanie, Griffin Greenhouse Supplies is not a greenhouse. They are a wholesale supplier, mostly for farms and nurseries, that sell growing supplies like pots, irrigation systems, greenhouses, etc. They will sell to the general public, but they sell much of what they sell in fairly large quantities. You wouldn't go there for a dozen 1-gallon pots.

I'm not sure what business you are talking about near Knoxville Center Mall (that was East Town Mall a few decades ago, Promise, and it's out near New Harvest Park). The only place that comes to mind is Knoxville Seed. They are somewhat like a co-op, in that they sell lots of farm and horticultural products (seeds, pots, soil, etc). They do sell in small quantities, but they are very hit-and-miss when it comes to getting what you want. One day, they'll have hundreds of 1-gallon pots and no larger ones. The next week, they'll only have 5-gallon pots with no expectation of getting 1-gallon pots until next year. (Can you tell that they drive me nuts!)

Brandon, yep I was at the last swap. I got your sedum from you (I think that was you, anyways...at the front table). Three trees I've been searching for are Sweetgum, Sassafras, and Wafer Ash. I can't find them anywhere for under $70, which is my price budget as a college kid.

I've also been looking for a dwarf variety of monarda, bronze fennel, and passionflower for a while.

I plan on bringing my share of veggies this upcoming swap.

I have a few smaller sassafrases, in places that they can't stay, but I haven't had much luck transplanting those. If I can remember it in about two months, I will give it a try, again. I know that it can be done because Krikit gave me two, that she had transplanted, to plant in places that I actually needed some. One of those got deer browsed, but the other is doing just great! Apparently, it's all about timing and minimizing root damage. If my sassafras attempt doesn't work, I've seen them and sweetgums available at local nurseries; they're just not as common as other stuff.

Shooting Star Nursery and Woodlanders both have small wafer-ashes for $15. Broken Arrow Nursery has the cultivar 'Aurea' in a 2-gallon size for $35. You could also grow these from seed. Plants of the Southwest, for instance, has 25 wafer-ash seeds for $3.25 plus their minimum shipping charge of $7. You'd have to order and plant pretty soon. If you winter sowed them, that would probably be the easiest way. If you grow them, and grow me a couple, I will give you all of your money back for two of them (-:

Oh, now I see that Prairie Moon Nursery also has wafer-ash seeds. They are less expensive and probably have a larger variety of seeds, in case you wanted to order other things. There's are $2.50 plus $5 for shipping.

All of the small sassafras I've seen have been suckers off of a mother plant, and have never survived after being dug for me, sadly.
15 dollars, I can do for a plant, but I just don't have the patience for growing shrubs and trees from seed. With college and work, I don't have the time to settle down and baby something for it to finally become mature enough to host caterpillars in 5 years. I did try to grow the Wafer Ash and Wild Black Cherry from seed last year, to no avail. I would be more than happy to try to try to germinate some for you, however.

Ijams Nature Center is having their annual seed swap at the end of this month. I'll be there!

My apologies - didn't mean to promote a bad company. They just had such good prices, and my order arrived promptly and in good shape.

This post was edited by krikit on Mon, Jan 19, 15 at 14:36

Frances, how did you find out about Bluff View Nursery? Reading their reviews is almost funny if it weren't for all the unhappy customers. That nursery seems to have more than a little problem. If they were really as honest as they say they are and were really trying, I don't see how they could be doing so poorly. When a company has a canned answer with assurances that they don't really scam people, it's a sign that they are just an awful company, IMO.

Apple trees and easy to grow almost don't go together. Even the disease resistant cultivars will need a good spray regime to prevent numerous pests, and the trees will need to be pruned and carefully cared for. A few all-around disease resistant varieties include 'Arkansas Black', 'Freedom', and 'Liberty'. I'm not sure they are the one's I'd necessarily pick for the average person (I do have them, myself), but they are some of the best so far as disease-resistance goes. You'll also need to choose a good rootstock. Mine are on EMLA111, but you might want to consider one of the dwarf rootstocks for easiest care. I can give you a number of sources for apple trees, but picking out what you want first might be easier. Then we can find a sources that carries what you want. Below is my master list of mail-order fruiting plant suppliers.

Here is a link that might be useful: Sources for Fruit Trees and Plants

I've all but given up on fruit trees... The diseases and pests are too much of a p.i.t.a. for me, seeing as I'm the organic type. Just about the only fruit I can grow is Blueberries, if they're in pots and left alone, aside from watering. I do have a huge plum tree in my backyard that produced so many fruits last year that I literally ended up tossing plums by the bucket-loads into the chicken pen.

There are TONS of different types of fruit trees and fruit shrubs that can easily be grown organically! I just don't think apples are at the top of that list.

TreeRoots have you ever tried Ground Cherries? I really enjoyed those last year and I have lots of seed if you'd like some.

Funny you mention that... I just Google'd the plant, and I believe it's the same "weed" that was in my flower garden, last year! I kept trying to get rid of it by pulling (it's not easy to eradicate). Gifts from the birds?

Most likely. They are prolific! They taste like pineapple and are a little bit seedy. You have to make sure they are a golden/yellow before you eat them or you could get sick. We all loved them. They were fun to gather and eat. Easy enough to grow too! :) Completely organic.

Awesome! I'm trying Yellow Pear Tomatoes and Purple Tomatillos this year. I can bring you some starters, then, if you're interested.
Was that you, Promise, that I got the Scarlet Runner Beans from? I accidentally left them in my truck when it got cold... Will they still germinate?

I have a question. I live in Bristol and we have been buried in snow for 2 weeks now. After moving into my new house last oct. I had very few plants in the ground when we got our first snow of the year on Halloween. I planted Mums, crocus, tulips, daffodils and glory of the snow. Not sure that any of it will survive. I do plan to come to the garden swap though. Can I bring my dogs? Or would it be best to leave them at home?

Chris, we generally discourage bringing pets for multiple reasons. It's not that you CAN'T bring them, we just suggest that you don't. Dogs are technically allowed in the park as long as they are kept on a leach, watched carefully, and well cleaned up after.

During previous swaps, dogs have sometimes been disruptive and/or frightening to some attendees and children. Also, the park doesn't really have great facilities unless you have someone to watch the pets out away from the actual event. Pooping or peeing in the picnic area would be a problem.

Oh that is not a problem, I will just leave my husband at home with them. I have a Giant breed dog, that as friendly as he is would be intimidating for some. I tend to take him out with me a lot because he has separation anxiety, but now this gives me a good reason to go on my own.

I am working on starting a church garden in Bluff City. Cautiously planning to be at the swap.

I will be a first-time participant in the swap and look forward to it. I moved to Knoxville 2 years ago and bought a house built around 1926-28. The only plant matter I expect to be able to bring to the swap are some terminal cuttings from a very well-established Aucuba. There are varied recommendations for propagating them and I will leave it up to the recipients to choose which way to deal with them. I will likely be asking many more questions than giving out any garden wisdom.

Pot luck lunch -- what a great idea!

I haven't seen a closing time for the swap. When do people usually pack up and leave?

People usually leave after lunch. Unfortunately, some people leave before lunch, but I hope that doesn't happen much this time. To me, the lunch (getting to sit down and chat with friends and fellow gardeners) is one of the highlights of the swap.

Should we bring something for the potluck?

KatyaKatya I would love to have them. I think I am fairly close to Bluff City, unless you wanted to do this at the swap. I am about 95% sure I am going. I am in Bristol, and as I recall Bluff City is about 20 min from me.

Yes, it's probably best to bring something like "finger-food". If you bring something that requires bowls or utensils, you'd have to supply that. I try to remember to bring some plastic utensils, paper plates, and napkins. We usually have plenty of that kind of stuff, but I always try to bring some too, just in case. In the past, we've had some pretty fancy (and very tasty) dishes, requiring utensils and bowls, but I can also remember people bringing stuff like that and not having any way for people to eat it.

BTW, check out the website, linked in the initial post, up above. It will give you lots of answers to questions, and, hopefully soon, people will start posting on the swap forum section to arrange pre-trades. Not everyone does this, but it's a good way to know whether people will want what you are considering bringing, and it's a good way to find that really awesome plant before someone else snatches it up.

@Chris Cousineau, I live in Johnson City and as of now everything is still out in the garden - I didn't dig anything up. I will certainly bring all of them to the swap. It would be nice to be able to meet locally, in Tri-Cities, too. Right now I am not sure how it would work out. Any ideas?

Oh so you are not far at all. I rarely go as far as JC but I do get to Kingsport a couple of times a month. If the Church where this stuff is is in Bluff City I could come there. I have never been but I do know generally where it is. I looked it up and it seems like a nice place.

My plants are at my garden in Johnson City. (I don't have anything growing at church yet, we have barely installed raised beds and we are just working on a general plan.)

Does anybody know where I can find upland rabbitbane (Conradina verticillata)? The man who built what is now my house was a botany professor at UT in the 1920s and 30s. He hiked the Smokies a lot, cataloged 1,500 plants there and discovered a few, including upland rabbitbane, which is also called Cumberland false rosemary. It is a low plant with small blue or purple blossoms and needle leaves that smell like rosemary. I would love to propagate it in the yard here, in his honor. I have inquired at UT but have not yet received a response.

I hate to get further away from the swap conversation, but I will give you some sources, dcwrites. If you are coming to the swap, you might consider adding it to your wants list on the swap website, because there is a chance someone would have it and be willing to give you some. However, if you are just looking to purchase it....

Sunlight Gardens (in Andersonville, TN) has both plain Conradina verticillata and Conradina verticillata 'Cumberland Snow'. Sunlight Gardens has an excellent Garden Watchdog rating, so you are probably safe mail-ordering from them if you can't go in person.

Woodlanders (in Aiken, SC) has plain Conradina verticillata and a fairly good (but not great) Garden Watchdog Rating.

Nearly Native Nursery (in Fayetteville, GA) also has plain Conradina verticillata and an absolutely perfect!!! Garden Watchdog rating.

Thanks for this, Brandon. I will definitely be at the swap, and will start a wants list on the website.

Interestingly, Sunlight Gardens and Woodlanders are now showing to be out of the plain species. Maybe you'll get lucky and someone going to the swap might have some. Mark, for instance, always has lots of really rare stuff.

KatyaKatya, Are you still coming to the swap? I'd love to have some of your stinging nettles and bronze fennel.