Vaodiva - I'll be brining a big cutting of the Stinky Star flower for you!

Marcia - you said on another recent post that you haven't had any luck with bulbine. I've got a yellow one and an orange one for you.

If any of you have been checking Ricky's swap list on the Exchanges page and see something on my list there that you want, let me know. I'll try to get a list posted here too.

Kate

Wooohooo, thanks, Kate. I'm just hoping to have some cuttings started by then! Otherwise, I will have to find something else good to bring. And, of course, I have some good seeds.

Nova, can't wait to see you, your lovely yard, and your famous Bottle Path!

Marcia

I forgot! I still have that Rainbow Knockout you wanted! I will dig it and pot it up for you to pick up when we get back to my house. (You are riding with me, right?)

Marcia

Yes, I am. And I still want want WANT the Rainbow Knockout!!!
Woo Hoo!

Thanks for remembering Kate!
Marcia, I was going to ask you if you'd like to meet here and carpool, but I guess you're already riding with Kate :)
I'm so excited. I'm trying to get things going so I have things to share. I can't wait to meet everyone.

Marcia-I have some bulbine started too so maybe between Kate and myself we can load you up with enough that you can have success with it too!

I have to update my trade list now that I am clearing out the greenhouse. I have some more rose cuttings started and a few other seedlings that will be looking for homes. I will try and do it this weekend. Off hand I know I have Bermuda's Kathleen, Anne Olivier, Climbing Cramoisi Superieur for roses and a Vitex or two up for grabs.

This years "door prize" [since I am out of native orchids!] will be a gift certificate to Seminole Springs Antique Herb and Rose Farm. Thanks, Tracy! The question will be asked the day of the swap! he-he

Susan

Bermuda Kathleen, oh man I need that rose. I so wish I could come. I wonder if I could talk Ralph into it. lol

Seriouly, Susan, is that rose an OGR, and will it grow this far south?

Katkin,
I'll be at Susan's and I'm planning to come to Ricky's. If you want I can pick up the Bermuda Kathleen for you and bring it to the Swap-a-que.
Kate

Kathy, The Bermuda's Kathleen is a Bermuda mystery rose an should do fine for you. It is a single that pumps out blooms constantly and is almost never bothered with blackspot or other rose "yuckies". The blooms come in clusters and are lite, almost white, pink when they first open the turn a deeper pink as they age. Mine is about 2 years old and stays a nice manageable 4 feet by 3 feet. Here are a couple of pictures of it -

{{gwi:317469}}

{{gwi:317468}}

If you would like one I can give it to Marcia to bring to you at Ricky's. Let me know and we will start the "Rose Relay to Katkin!"

Susan

You can give one to Marcia if you like, but sadly, I'm not going to Ricky's...hehe...so I think it would work better to give it to Kate, Nova! SHE actually plans to go there. Me, I'd just keep it like the greedy guts I am! ;o) Actually, I already have a Bermuda's Kathleen. It looks just like a mutabilis, but without the yellowy-orange colors. The rose will be covered with flowers in all shades of pink, like Nova said. Reminds you of a pink Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow. A great plant!

Vanessa, we will be passing right by you on our way to pick up Nicki in Leesburg. I THINK it is just Kate and I in our car, so we could pick you up. I don't remember anyone else planning to ride in back until we get Nicki. (Jump in here and correct me, if I've forgotten someone else who is going. Kate...am I forgetting anyone?)

Marcia

OOPS! Thinking Kate, typing Marcia! Must have been tired last night! Anyway, if you would like one Kathy I will send it your way if I can figure out who to give it to!

Susan

Susan,
Marcia and I are planning on being there AND driving together so you can hand it over to either one of us. I'm hoping to get to Ricky's too so I'll transport it further south.
Kate

Thanks Kate, Kathy is an old friend of mine from when I lived in St Lucie county and we have shared many plants. If she wants the rose I would love to send it to her!

Susan

Sorry, Kate...hate to tell you, but if she gives it to MEEEEE, I ain't lettin' go! Bwaaahahahahaha!

Seriously, I will leave it in Kate's car for her to take to Ricky's, honest. I will. No, I mean it. REALLY.

*snort*

Marcia

Susan,

How far north of East Orlando are you? Are you off the turnpike or 75? I'm thinking maybe I could make a weekend of it in Orlando :P

Marcia- You are a riot!!!!!!

Wanna run Faster- I am on the southwest edge of The Ocala National Forest [about 30 minutes from Ocala]. If you e mail me I will send you my addy and you can google directions and times. If you are coming from east Oralndo it may be easier to take 95 to Ormond Beach [hwy 40] then across the forest to my house. If you take 75 you have to cut through Ocala and Silver Springs to get here.

Katkin- I e mailed you but it was returned. Let me know if you want Kathleen and I will send it your way with Kate.

Susan

Marcia, I was gonna offer MY car, until I saw you were riding with Kate. I don't want to impose, especially if you're carrying plants and 3 people already. But thanks anyway :D I'm gonna see if one of my non-forum friends would like to join me, then I can induct her into the GW crew.

V, Kate and I will be riding together, don't know which car yet, and we will be picking up Nicki if she can go, but that still leaves another seat open. We would be happy to have you, if you change your mind! Heck, if we end up with a LOT of plants to take, we might have to enlist Nicki's car, too, who knows. But I won't have too many, so maybe we'll be good with one car.

Anyway, you are welcome, if your friend can't go!

Marcia

I have been waiting to chime in to make sure the calendar was staying open for that day and so far it has. My kids have a way busier social calendar than I do but I think anything that might come up that day at this late date can be handled by their dad. So please tentatively count me in. Susan, I will email when we get a bit closer for directions.

Melissa

I hope your calender stays open for that day Melissa! I have added your name to the guest list and would love to have you. I will be looking or your e mail!

Susan

Hi,
I really , REALLY wanted to come....but I have missed so much work due to being sick.

Thought at first it was a cold... but after a very expensive antibiotic ( Levaquin) did not work,

they put me on Methyiprednisolone 6,5,4,3,2,1..... a day.

I mention this because I believe it is actually an allergy ...and is bronchial.

Pine pollen sickness ! LOL. And I think it is more common than people think .

I am so disappointed , I would love to see you guys again :(

Have fun !

D`Ann

Awww, D'Ann! I'm so sorry you are feeling bad, and even sorrier that you won't be at Nova's! I was looking forward to seeing you again.

Take good care of yourself!

Marcia

D'Ann-my acupuncturist has been helping me with my alergies...I've had very little problems this year.

Looking forward to the swap although I've been negectful in rooting things. I'll find something to bring.

I have spent the day organizing plants and labeling them for the swap. Here's a picture to temp you!

Susan

Nova
I have tried to e-mail you for directions to the plant swap. I'm not far I live in Belleview. E-mail address is cries@cfl.rr.com.
Thanks funnylady

Funnylady, Sent you an e mail!
Susan

Attention any "rosie gardener's" attending!

I would really love to have cuttings of the rose Duchess du Brabant. I had this lovely rose in my "old" garden but none of the cuttings I brought with me took and now I am having a hard time finding it locally. I can offer cuttings of the roses I have here in exchange or I do have some I have started. Check out my trade list on the conversations page to see what I have.

Thanks!
Susan

D'Ann - I'm so sorry you won't be there!

Kate

Tracy at Seminole Springs told me she was having trouble finding it, too. All I have is the white cousin, Madame Joseph Schwartz, or I'd gladly share with you, Susan. Sorry!!

Marcia

Tracy told me the same thing too. I had seen it there before but hadn't picked it up yet as there was always something more interesting that I wanted. Now that I have the perfect spot for it I can't find it!

Susan

Good morning! I strongly suspect that vaodiva is my wonderful and awe-inspiring neighbor!!! Now I'm all confused, because I thought I lived in Zone 9b, but vaodiva thinks she lives in 9a, three houses away? LOL! We'll get this straight, fear not, and I'll probably be changing my zone!

Anyway, I surely do hope to attend the swap, meet some of you amazing gardeners, and continue the learning process. I don't have much to swap with, but what little I have, I'll bring.

WWW, there is a lot of debate over 9a and 9b, and some maps still refer to the entire area as just Zone 9. Then you have microclimates in each yard to add to the mix. I don't worry overmuch about it, myself. If the plants will work in 9a or 9b, I give them a chance at my house. That's just my personal take on it, of course, but it keeps me from fretting over just exactly where I live.

Congrats on finding a GW friend so close! I have several within a couple of miles, but no one that I know of in my immediate neighborhood. How nice!

Marcia

Yeah, Marcia, and what a gardener V is! It's primarily she and her wonderful husband who have re-inspired me back to gardening and yard art/hardscape. Can't wait to meet ya'll at the swap! V and I will be riding together. Neither of us has much in the way of plants to swap, but I'm bringing a "secret weapon" which might just guarantee that I get a few plants. (-: As for the zones, I agree... some things simply won't grow in my "microclimate" and other things that shouldn't grow, do. Zones are merely stereotypes, as too many things in life are.

Lookin' forward to meeting you, too, WWW, and seeing Vanessa again! She's such a sweetheart, and her property is fantastic! You'll be guaranteed of some plants, I'm sure, no matter what you are able to bring to this swap. And by the time you go to your next one, you'll probably have lots of cuttings or seeds to share. So you'll pay it forward, as someone mentioned in another post recently.

Yeah, the zones are good guidelines, but the plants don't read the books, after all. Sometimes they surprise you. For instance, my grandmother, who was the finest natural gardener I ever knew, planted a small florist's bird of paradise in her backyard in JACKSONVILLE. Back in the days when Jax got reallyreally cold every winter. Several freezes each year. People told her she couldn't possibly grow this plant outside, but it DID grow. And grow and grow. It ended up being at least 10' wide and about 7' or 8' tall! It would have dozens of "birds" on it each year. She had a special canvas covering made for it which she put over it during every cold spell, and it was the focal point of her whole backyard. Go figger!

I say use the Zones as rough guidelines, but if you want to experiment with something "iffy," go for it! That's my plan, anyway. Once I get the basics of my landscape established, I plan to do a lot of experimenting with a whole BUNCH of Iffies.

Marcia

Hi All! Really looking forward to seeing everyone and the garden is looking pretty spiffy. Worked most of the day putting in two new beds and mulching everything in. Anyone still needing directions e mail me and I will get them out to you.

See Ya Soon!
Susan

Nova, if you haven't heard from Nicki about directions, maybe you could send them to me...from Nicki's house in Leesburg, that is. Kate and I plan to pick her up and the three of us ride together, if all goes well. We had such a swell time last year, wandering around the forest like babes in the woods, stopping to ask directions from a supremely suave local, chewin' tobacco, and giving us the ol' fisheye. Cletus, his brother Darryl, and his other brother Darryl were a lot of fun an' all, but this time, I'd like to try to find you on our own!

Looking forward to it! Can't wait!

Marcia

Marcia, Sent You an e mail!
Susan

ill be comming too if its the same plant swap that maureens going to

Susan,
Can you send me the directions as well? (solstice98@att.net)

It's not that I don't trust Marcia and Nicki's navigation skills... But the 3rd time we passed the little church with the cemetery I knew we were in trouble.
Marcia is right - Cletus was very willing to offer advice on directions - but when he was done we still didn't have a clue where we were supposed to go! LOL!

Kate

It's not that I don't trust Marcia and Nicki's navigation skills...

Oh, sure, Kate! Disparage my navigational skills, why doncha! I was merely trying to be sociable and make a few new friends along the way. Three brothers, with most of their own teeth, a big ol' truck, and a real yen to party? What more could you want????

Marcia

Kate - I will get directions out to you too! The problem that you had last year is that there are two 183rd Av Rds once you pass the church and cemetery. You want the second one. The first one just takes you in a big circle. [As you found out!]

Marcia - You are hilarious! The big joke here is -
"You got all your teeth, you're not from around here!"

See Ya Soon!
Susan