Great! I wish I could have gone! I got called into work.

The meet-greet-eat sounds nice! Was it a picnic?

It was great fun, thanks everyone for the wonderful plants! I came home and planted like a maniac and I'm happy to say everything is in the ground except Carl's celandine poppies, which will go in tomorrow (still working on the perfect spot). Dee and Suebot, we missed you - - hope everything is ok.

We had some great newcomers this year, a friendly crowd all around, and great food, including Marty's chicken salad, which is the best I have EVER had!

Glad to hear everyone had a great time. I was so sorry to miss it.

We had a minor medical emergency here involving a sleeping teenager and an unidentified giant bug that decided to bite/sting, so I spent the late morning in the medical walk-in with my daughter and her swollen hand. (And now I have two teenagers that don't want to sleep in their beds, lol, even though the offending bug was found!)

If I had been ready to leave just five minutes earlier I would have been out of the house and would have made it to the swap and DH would have had medical duty. Just as well, I guess, since he had to catch a plane a bit later.

I'm glad the weather held out for you guys! I hope someone posts some pictures!

:)
Dee

It was a GREAT swap! Especially nice after missing the fall one ... and for me (not having been to Wolfe Park) a beautiful spot to gather. I am stiff as can be, but all plants except two pots and Jane's poppy seedlings, which will stay in the "nursery" a bit longer, are in the ground. WildBill and Dena -- that pussywillow took two of us to wrestle out of the pot, but it looks SO great (will have to post a picture of it, too!) Thanks so much to all of you!

Here are some great pics for those of you who couldn't make it (and for those of you who were there, too!) Thanks again to everyone, and welcome (again!) to our newcomers!

(did anyone pick up the package of nametags and markers? if so, just hold onto them until the fall swap!:)

{{gwi:1074683}}
(Yes, folks, that's a NEW JERSEY plate! One of our new swappers, Carl, drove all the way from Freehold, New Jersey for our plant swap!!)

{{gwi:1074684}}

{{gwi:1074685}}

{{gwi:1062708}}

{{gwi:1074686}}

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(The whole gang!)

/ Marty

Forgot to include this (per request!):

Curried chicken w/avocado filling for pita

2 cups cooked cubed or shredded chicken
1/4 cup currants or raisins
1 tb. finely chopped onion
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 cup diced avocado

Mix together all ingredients except avocado. Add avocado just before serving and toss gently. Serve stuffed in pita halves. Makes 3 cups filling. Take to your next picnic and enjoy!

Embarrassingly simple ;)

/ Marty

Great pics and looks like you all had a great time! Sorry the weather wasn't better for you. Really nice that Carl made the trip from New Jersey, but seeing his license plate online, raises concerns for his privacy. ??

I actually would like to come to the CT swap one of these years. :-) Would be very nice to meet so many who post on the NE forum all the time. Thanks for the photos!

pm2

Hi All-

I am so disappointed I missed out on meeting everyone. Seven weeks ago I had a total knee replacement and recovery has been slow and uncomfortable. Saturday morning I was out in the drizzle digging up vinca, hostas, and lily of the valley. Early Saturday evening I even made White Chocolate Macadamia cookies for our swap. My knee started to throb so I slapped my trusty icebag on my knee and got it up above my heart. Sunday morning my limp was obvious so DH forbade me to move off the couch. He did go out to HD to get something for the house but he did bring me home a dianthus "Neon" to console me. Very pretty purple flowers that smell like carnations. I am still paying the price of doing too much this morning but PT this afternoon should loosen up my knee and surrounding muscles and ligaments.

I wish I could put names to the faces in the pictures. The weather turned out lovely for you. Well, as DH says, there is always next year.

suebot

Marty - I have the name tags and markers. I REALLY had to laugh at the pictures. Why was I doing karate? And why is Carl giving Paul's head a shove? ;-)

Suebot - Sorry you couldn't make it, but better to err on the safe side where recovery is concerned!

PM2 - Actually, we had nice weather!

Hi Deb,

I actually thought Carl was giving Paul "bunny ears" ... until I realized he was leaning on a tree!

Have to say I never gave a moment's thought to privacy issues with Carl's license plate -- maybe I'll try to crop the picture down to just the "New Jersey" without the number.

We did REALLY luck out with the weather! No rain, and blue skies and sun by the time we headed home. My neighbor had a wonderful time, too -- thanks to all of you for being so welcoming!

/ Marty

Thank you one and all for another great swap! I too spent the better part of yesterday planting all my new beauties. All except for George's Styrax, which looks so majestic I'm terrified I'm going to kill it! But I know it comes with "George luck" so in it goes this week!

Thank you everyone!

Amy

Well, as a newcomer who shied away from taking any plant, I ended up with a cartful! Many thanks to all of you for the great plants and the gift of sharing. George, the styrax has a place of honor on the edge of the "usually moist" part of my yard with part sun/shade and yes, I staked the little guy. He is now the finale to my "Oriental" garden. Actually, the only thing that ever made it an oriental garden is a Chinese lantern, a Japanese font and me saying it is oriental. Now, the finale is Styrax Japonicus! It was fun to gather, thanks to everyone who made this happen.

Kindly,
Jane

Great plants, great food and best of all GREAT FRIENDS! Thanks everyone for making this yet another success. Half of the plants are in the ground the rest will get done in the evenings. /Abi

Thanks, Abi, for getting us back in gear! I hope everyone will be up for another great swap in the fall (I know I will be!)

(And Jane ... now you know our dirty little secret: NO ONE MAY LEAVE WITHOUT A PLANT ... OR TWO ... OR TWENTY. I can't tell you what the punishment is if you try to escape empty-handed, but it's not pretty... :)

/ Marty

Got home from a long working day only to discover that
my car license plate has been EXPOSED on the World Wide
Web!!! Thanks for the concern about my privacy, but
literally thousands of people see that plate number every
week I drive around, it's photographed every time I go
through EZ-Pass (and at scores of intersections in New York!) and, if you think about it, it's actually
intended to be a very public identification tag. . .

It was a terrific day, folks, and I thank you one and all
for your hospitality and horticultural gifts - definitely
worth the trip, and I'm already potting up stuff for the
Fall.

Incidentally, if you recall that little phenomenon called
"Depth of Field" - that tree is really about 18" behind
Paul's head, and I'm actually holding it up because I saw
that it was about to fall and wipe out an entire gaggle of
gardeners. . .I should be receiving "kudos" for my heroics
on your behalf. . :-)

Thanks again, enjoy the rest of Spring. . .and PRAY for rain ! Don't know about you up there, but we have a severe
water deficit down here.

Carl

I have been quite busy since Sunday thanks to everyoneÂs generosity! I truly had a great time and I picked up information (and TONS of plants!) that will be helpful in establishing my own little garden here in Connecticut. It was great to meet you all and I hope to see you again in the fall...maybe by then I'll even have something to share.

Thanks again!

Linda

Carl ... as you can tell from the revised photo, you've now been officially enrolled in the CT Swap Witness Protection Program (CTWPP).

(You COULD apply for a waiver, given you have EZPass (and we all know where THOSE photos end up!) but we strongly recommend the program anyway... can't be too careful! ;)

Seriously, glad to hear you are potting things (already!) for the fall swap... (and let us know if you'd like us to send an unmarked vehicle to collect you. I'm sure it can be "arranged.")

/ Marty :)

Marty - Actually, I'm intrigued: how were you able to alter a photo that had already been posted? Methinks you
must be a dangerous woman around a computer. . . :-)

Carl

Hi Carl,

Very easy (don't tell the feds, though! :) -- what you post is actually just a link to a photo (which lives somewhere else -- on your own website or Photobucket or whatever online place you upload your photos). So since it's just a link, not the actual picture, you can change the original any time, upload it again (with the SAME filename, of course) and viewers will see the new image instead of the old one.

Check out your new vanity plate... ! ;)

/ Marty

Marty...you are too clever!! LOL Loved that WPP plate. Such a perfect solution and really got a great laugh from it this morning.

:-)
pm2

CTS-WPP plate is hilarious, especialy if you know what those letters means!
Go Marty, go!!!

Marty -

Well, you proved my prediction: you ARE a dangerous person
around a computer - and a very funny one, too! Thanks for
the belly laugh - it made my day. . .

Carl