Hi Jeff,
Sorry, I chimed in over on your roll call thread and rambled on there about the swap,lol. I'll repeat myself here--- it never hurts to brag more about how great the swap is and how much everyone will miss if they don't make it !!
I've been coming to the swaps since the first fall swap. I have made some great friends, brought home some fantastic plants, shared some of the best food with some the best folks there are----Like everyone else I can't name a favorite----it's all good!!!!
And the camping,and the setting--what could be better???
Ohhhh yeah !! Like Jeff says --it's FREE !!!
Marianne
AKA one of the ya-ya sisters

More images to intice.

And I promise, none of the "guy in the orange shirt and hat"....

I just talked to my wife and I believe we are going to make it to the spring swap. I'll have to take the two back seats out of the van to make room for the plants we are bringing. This time of year for me is usually spent weeding all of my flower beds and a lot of what I pull up are flowers that I allready have to many of. Most go on the compost pile, but this spring I have been putting them in small pots to bring to the swap. So far I have lambs ear, columbine, Arum italicum and Dracunculus vulgaris. If the daffodils are ready to dig , I'll bring some of them also. I'm sure I'll find a lot more to bring between now and then.
Jim

Jim glad you are going to get to come to the spring swap!

SEE YOU AT THE RIVER

Jan

Jim, save some of that for me !!! I dug up some Campanula and potted it today to bring, among other things of course !!

Hey Jeff, Im slowly finding more to bring to the swap. I have a lot of native columbine and was wondering if you think people would be interested in it. My Echinacea tennesseensis seed are coming up and are about 1 inch tall now but will probably be 3 or 4 inches tall by swap time. Last year I transplanted 70 or 80 to give away and will probably have that many again this year. I also have 20 pots of Siberian iris Im bringing. For the last 2 weeks I have been planting seed that I got from the Seed Exchange and if any of them are big enough by swap time, Ill bring them also. Looking forward to May.
Jim

Jim bring it all...you won't have any trouble getting rid of any of them!

Jan

3 minutes!!! Jan you sure are quick for your age! ;-)

HUH...my age??? Thanks a lot....I'm not that far gone am I? You aren't a spring chicken any more, either! :) (You are still the age of my oldest son, though.)

Joe, I just love that picture of Jan and Mona!

Jan, don't let BOV rough you up...he can't keep up cause he is vertically challenged :).

Rebecca

Thanks Rebecca. I'm glad someone is taking up for me. :)

Dang ya'll I'm challenged in sooooooo many ways...vertically, follicly, intellectually, financially, dimensionally, visually, physically, aesthetically, that list goes on and on forever! We could spend several days on that one.

AAAAAAaaaa poor baby. Want me to kiss it and make it aw better?

Follicly? Thats funny.

I am just thrilled with the plants I got at the Spring Plant Swap last year. It was a wonderful time. Don't think we can make it this year. If we do, it will be a last minute thing.

All of the things I traded for are my favorite. The things that are coming back this year are: small flowering plants called Acheilla or something like that -- they lived all winter here; two pussywillows that are doing great this year; bunches of irises that are about to bloom; bunches of daylillies that are doing well; hostas are coming back; some other green perennials that I don't know the name of are coming back. I haven't seen a sign of my lamb's ear coming back yet and don't know if they do.

A big thank you to everyone for all of these wonderful plants!

A note to Jennifer: I have found that Lady Banks roses do really well for a screen. After one year, the plants are spreading on my chain link fence very nicely and are covered with buds. I think after two years I will have a real nice screen about 5 feet tall in some places. All I could find last year were white ones, but this year the nice lady at that store we go to ordered some yellow and pink ones -- they were about $5. We have also seen lots of people using red tipped photinia (I believe that is the name), so we bought some of those. I've seen them really tall -- like 12 feet; I've seen them trimmed like a hedge; I've seen them growing together like a large tall hedge and separately like huge bushes. Just some ideas for you to think about.

Katie

Man, I'm gonna be SOOOOO swap starved this year! My kennel club will be having our yearly show on the 27th, so I won't be able to go to the East TN/Knoxville swap -- and I'll be showing my dogs at a trial in Gray on the 20th, so I can't go to the Mid-TN swap either. Boo hoo! And I already missed the two big spring sales in Knoxville, because I was attending a tracking seminar. These danged dogs, they oughtta learn how to take THEMSELVES places...... LOL.

BOV, as for your original question about plants we're enjoying from previous swaps -- I am loving watching the leaves starting to come out on my Petite Negronne fig. Just a coupla days ago I FINALLY planted the crinums YOU gave me (they still look pretty good, all things considered!) I repotted the "Color Guard" yucca just today, and I've been looking around for the perfect spots to put my Paul's Glory and Sum and Substance hostas. So I'm enjoying all sorts of great stuff from the fall swap!

My friend from Maryland and I just spent the weekend at the Bloomin' Garden Expo. We had a great time! I was so glad my friend came for this instead of Nash L&G because it wasn't a good year for speakers at Nash and it was a great year for speakers at Franklin's Bloomin Expo.
Anyway, I was so inspired by all the people wanting to buy plants (especially anything mentioned in a lecture) that I am busy potting things up for a "Yard Sale" which means I will have leftover things all ready to go for the swap, without running around like a crazy person the weekend before. I might even have things to swap that are well-rooted!!!!
I'm embarrassed to say that I could use some native columbine. I think I mulched under mine last time and it didn't self-seed, duh!
I may be bringing lenten rose, mayapples, a few corydalis, foamflower, etc.
Looking forward to seeing everyone and some year, when I'm not on my way to a conference, I'm camping dang it!

whoo put me on the list for columbine and irisaddict it sounds like you plant what's right up my ally. I'm so excited to meet everyone!

My husband and I just found this site, and after reading the posts are excited about this opportunity. We've just moved into a new home, and need lots of help with landscaping ideas (we moved from Seattle). We're excited about the swap, and look forward to meeting all of you...and learning about the plants in the area!
Rachel

Hi Rachel,
Welcome to Tennessee!! You will have a great time at the swap,Southern hospitality at it's best and some darn good cooks too!
You'll be able to find some great plants for your new home and by the time you leave you'll have made many new friends . You'll be looking forward to the fall swap and catching up on what everyone has been doing all summer.
See you at the river,
Marianne

Rachel, another TN welcome! If you need info about the swap go to www.midtnplantswap.com and read all about it. There is a link there to email Jeff if you need more info, and a link for directions, too.

SEE YOU AT THER RIVER

Jan

Hello,
My hubby and I attended one swap, and I am here to tell you .... it was awesome. Unfortunately, I ended up sick as a horse and had to leave early. While we were there, we met so many absolutely fabulous folks. I am going to try to get back out there again this spring. I am ripping out one of my flower beds and giving away absolutely everything in it. I am not so able to care for them like I want to. I will see if a couple of my friends might like to join us too.

Keep your fingers crossed that I can get out there this year.

Big tight gardening hugs,
Carolyn

Carolyn!!! I do hope you get to come back...I've wondered what happened to you...I emailed you a couple of times but they came back undeliverable.

Jan

Marianne, just be sure you save your leftovers for the campfire that night ! I'll never forget the YaYa sisters and everyone else sitting around eating that beef stew you made. It was yummy !! LOL

Hi Cheryl,
Lol, I promise something good! I'm gonna be camping out again. Can't wait.
Marianne

I'm looking forward to attending for the first time this year. Just moved here about three months ago from South Louisiana. At first I didn't think I'd be able to bring anything, but as the spring progesses, we're noticing more and more things coming up. We have LOTS of hostas, so that will be the main thing we bring. I may try to root a few cuttings from the hydrangea. If so, I'd better get started now. Maybe a few irises or lilies, whatever they are that are coming up all over the place.

See y'all there.
Dianne

Dianne, welcome to TN. I hope you do get to come to the swap. You are in for a treat! You'll never want to miss another one! Bring what you have, and I promise that you will go home with a car load.

Did you reloacate here because of Katrina? I have a brother living in Mandeville...north of the lake.

Let us know if you need any questions answered...there are plenty of people to do it...we'll help Jeff out.

SEE YOU AT THE RIVER

Jan

Hi Dianne,

You'll have such fun and you'll never forget the experience. I look forward to meeting you !

Cheryl

Hi everyone, I am new to the website. Your swap meet sounds like so much fun. I would love to go but will probably have to wait till next year since so far we don't even have grass growing around here and I would have pretty much nothing to swap. Might be able to dig up some small trees from the woods behind us, that's all we have here is trees and red clay where the yard is supposed to be. When they dozed for our new house everything got dozed under. Does anyone know where I can find out about the other swap meet in knoxville if I can get some stuff to swap from neighbors or friends I would love to go to both. I think all you guys are just wonderful. Thanks a bunch.

Lisa

Hiya Lisa!

The East TN/Knox plant swap will be on May 27, at the house of GW member TnShadyLady (Cheryl P). The web site with full info is here:

http://www.knoxplantswap.com/

We hope to see you there!

Lisa,

The Knoxville plant swap website is at www.knoxplantswap.com or www.easttnplantswap.com. I will post a link below. PLEASE don't worry if you don't have anything to bring. Just come and stick your lower lip out in front of my table and I will give you plants. LOL

Seriously, there are a number of us that will be bringing much more than we hope to take home. We actually NEED people like you. Our yards and windowseals are overflowing with neat stuff that we have to get rid of before we'll be able to get more stuff. Visit our website and you'll know a lot more about how the swap will work, etc.

Darn, I keep forgetting that **I** won't be there. :-/

Ahem. THEY hope to see you there! LOL!

Lisa you don't need to bring a thing! Like Brandon said, we all have more stuff than we need and don't need anything else! We're always happy to pass along to those in need.

The webpage for the Middle Tennessee Plant Swap is midtnplantswap.com and you can email me at jtoothmanindadj@comcast.net for any info at all. We should have around 100 gardeners at the Spring swap and the Fall swap, which is normally a third that size, is in October but we wait until the Spring swap to set that date. The MTPS will be May 20th. If you miss it you'll really kick yourself for not coming!

You can find info for the Mountain Madness Plant Swap in Seymour at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MountainMadnessPlantSwap and you can email Cheryl at fai34@chartertn.net.

Fell free to come to all three!

Thanks for the plug Jeff lol. Yes the East TN Mountain Madness Plant swap will be in Seymour, May 7th. We have the Garden Girls coming, and just maybe another guest speaker that my son is very excited about ( can't say for sure until that is confirmed ). There was an article in the local newspaper last week which included my phone number and i've been covered up answering phone calls and questions. I'm glad we have a field for this one ! Looking forward to seeing everyone there.

Cheryl

Jan, yes I moved here because of Katrina. I have family in Dickson County, so it was a logical place to move. I did not lose my home or anything like that, but I was tired of evacuating every year. I did sustain some wind damage, but nothing compared to what so many other people lost.

I lived in Slidell, which is a neighboring town to Mandeville, and I worked in Mandeville. I hope your brother fared well in the storm.

Dianne

Awwwww with all this talk and after going to the Seymour swap meet..I am so wanting to go...looking at accomodations too. I won't have room to bring a tent and plants with two kids..lol Just have a little car right now..Saturn..so it doesn't hold much....:)

I meant to ask....from 75/40 (Knoxville) how far ( hour wise) would it be? I am trying google but it doesn't recongize my address...LOL
ALso, I would need to make sure I had a # to call in case I get lost. (easy thing for me) LOL

Sondra, its about 4 hours from Knoxville...2 hours from Nashville. If you will go to our website, you can get directions from Nashville, and there is a phone # there, too. www.buffalocanoeing.com

SEE YOU AT THE RIVER

Jan

Sondra, sorry I was thinking you meant the middle TN plant swap.

Jan...You were right...I was asking about that one...:))

It will take me about 5 1/2 ( I am 1 1/2 hours from Knoxville yet) hours so not really sure yet...plus would have to get a motel....

I am so excited about the swap - last year (my first time) i wasn't able to stay for the lunch, etc., but this year I am going to stay as long as possible.

What kind of food should I bring?

OH, and I posted my list of things I could bring on the tennessee exchange page, so everybody let me know what they would like to have!
Emily

Sondra if I can get a signal down there, my cell is 615-310-4155.

Emily I'm so glad you are going to come and stay a while this time!

CELL PHONES WON'T WORK AT THE CAMPGROUND...so don't count on using them...you are down in a valley...ours works ONLY when connected to the special antanea on the car

If any one needs help traveling, call us at 931-796-2211 and we will talk them in.

SEE YOU AT THE RIVER

JAN

Motel in Hohenwald is Embassy Inn..931-796-1500...better call ahead they stay pretty busy. On the main drag as you come into town on the right just before the 1st redlight (for those of you coming from the north and east) Go through the 4th traffic light and it is on the left (for those of you coming from the west)

Food...make sure that you can keep it cold/hot until lunch...I have a couple of plugs on the porch of the bathhouse were we can plug in slow cookers, etc. First come, first serve.

There will be snacks, soft drinks, bottled water, Gatorade and ice in the camp store. Cheaper than a convienent store.

In the past we have NOT had enough drinks for the potluck lunch...some of you coming from long distances, this is something you could bring.

FOODS...I suggest salads--fruit and veggie, veggie trays, sandwiches, finger foods, sliced ham, and anything just plain easy to fix or that you are good at making...we aren't fancy...just plain folks who like to eat. We do have several diabetics so some of you keep them in mind when you plan your food.

The paper products (plates, cups, silverware, etc) will be furnished... we are asking those of you that can to donate $1 to help pay for these.

Have questions???....email me at Jan@buffalocanoeing.com

Good! My cell will probably be blowing up anyway with work calls so that gives me an excellent excuse. I can't believe folks call me late at night and on the weekends! I reckon they they figure I work 24 hours a day and seven days a week. The sad reality is that I almost do.

Thanks Jan!

Jan,
What do you want me to bring??? Fruit? Tea? Drinks?????
Thanks
Martha
I found you some lavender but not very big.

Martha, thanks for the lavender.

As to what to bring...you be the judge...read my post above and decide.

Jan

This gathering is such a blessing. The best thing truly is the fellowship of kind,generous people sharing the common passion for plants. You just can't find a better group of people. I always leave with new knowledge as folks are eager to share what they have learned through the years. I always leave excited about all the great plants people have generously shared with me. I always leave with a full stomach as we all bring good eats. I always leave knowing that once again my children have witnessed first hand that the best times in life are had with the company you keep not the money you spend. Every rose cutting I recieved from last years swap has successfully rooted and are blooming beautifully. As far as favorite plants I have a yard full of them thanks to the generousity of all of you. Thank you all so very much. See you at the river, Rhonda

Is it to late to sign up for the swap next weekend. I have
alot of irises that need thinning, lambs ears out the wazoo,
rose compions(magenta) stella doro daylilly, pink evening primrose that is going nuts.. I have artimesia not sure of the type. some hens and chicks and black eyed susans
Please let me know if I can come.. thanks carolyn from fairview

Carolyn of course you will be welcome! We would love to have you come to the swap. If you will go to our website, www.buffalocanoeing.com and go to the directions link on the left there are directions from Fairview. Let me know if you need any help. Bring your cell phone with you and you can call me at 931-796-2211 if you have any trouble finding us.

SEE YOU AT THE RIVER

Jan