Hi Carol. As far as I know there's just the spring and fall swaps and they move around mostly Denver metro and northwards.

What plants to you have to swap?

Carol, I think a lot of people would be happy to swap (or in some cases even just give away) plants if you in the area. I gave Holly (Oakiris) potatoes way back in March, well before the swap. Of course, it's just on an individual basis and not a large organized gathering like the swaps.

I always have stuff to give away and would be happy to do a metro swap (schedule permitting!).

Hi Carol,

Our swaps (started in '07) are held all over the Denver Metro area, just depending on who volunteers to host any particular swap. So far they've been held in Castle Rock, Thornton, Westminster, Longmont, Kersey, and now in Berthoud, so you can see it ranges from way south to more "central," to way north! We hope you'll keep an eye out for where future swaps are going to be and come join us if the location is convenient for you. The Spring Swap is generally sometime in May, and the Fall Swap is generally sometime in September. It's always a fun time!

Welcome to RMG,
Skybird

I miss the Castle Rock swap, that was always a lovely spot and great company. BUT...I am seriously considering hosting the fall swap! We have to get a few things done (some for safety reasons - rail around the deck, anyone??) but maybe if I have that as a goal I can light a fire under DH...not to mention myself.... :)

You can always set up caution tape around the deck haha!

Don't laugh, that thought has crossed my mind more than once.... :D

As last year's hosts of the spring swap, I think hubby and I can both attest that having deadline to have a bunch of people over is a pretty good motivator! Dee failed to show up and pull the grass out of my iris beds (AHEM!) but it sure helped us to get a couple priorities ironed out!

Yes, Dee, and it's as tall as the full-blooming irises right now. Just waiting for you to come and put it in its place... where ever that may be that is NOT amongst the irises LOL

:-)

Oh, Skybird, if you're in the market for grass plugs, boy have I got a deal for you!

You know those fruit farms that have "self pick"? Well, it's just like that, ONLY... and here's the real kicker, you don't even have to pay me for what you get! Shoot, it's not even a limited time offer, no coupon needed, just come on down to Zach's "world of grass" and you can haul it out of here by the bushel basket! If you find a better deal, I'll eat my hat!

But you guys are TOO LATE! I already have my Grass Quota filled for this year! Small yard! No room for any more--right now! But I sure will leave you--both!--know if I'm ever in the market for some more!!!

Maybe if you pot some of it up Jali would like to sell some of it out in Limon!

:-) - :-) - :-D - :-D

Skybird

I got home too late last night to take a picture, but Dee, if you recall, it needs to be pulled and not potted--and it's currently over 3 feet tall! Maybe I could dry some of the seed and grow a little pot of it for you ;-D Grass, weeds... I don't know about you guys, but I really am talking about the stuff that the only way ppl want to smoke it is in a BONFIRE. I actually did pull quite a bit of it last year and it ended up in the fire pit. Didn't burn worth much, tho. Talk about disappointing

OK! Let’s work on
this problem—uhh—situation!!!

Chop it up, ferment it, and sell it as silage?

Cut a maze thru it and sell tickets?? (Perhaps some of the people who go thru the
maze would surreptitiously “steal” a little to keep for a souvenir of their fun
time! -- look the other way!!!)

Declare it a High Grass Prairie and charge for people to do
tours???

The Indians braid Sweet Grass, and then use it for smudging
and ceremonies! Wonder what yours smells
like when it’s smoldering! You could
try inventing a NEW ceremony!!!

Or, how ‘bout this!
Braid it really tightly, coil it, and make baskets out of it!!! You could start a whole new tradition! Denver Braided Grass Baskets! People would come from all over the world to
see and buy them!!!

How about Braided or Woven Grass Yoga Mats?????

Always remember! Your
WEED is somebody else’s wonderful Ornamental/Useful Plant!

If you decide to try any of these, I get a free tour or a
free basket/mat—don’t have any way to use silage tho!

Every problem has a solution! Maybe we should think about this one a little
more!!!

;-)

Skybird

I found a few hollyhock seedlings...someone asked for them on the initial swap thread. Come and dig!
Zach, the callirhoe is thickening...come and dig!
Raspberries galore - come and dig!
Wait - sounds like I'm hosting a swap - your work for my - ahem - extras....not bad! ;)

I would like to volunteer my 3 foot tall grasses, too, lol. Haven't been able to weed more than the edges of any of may perennial beds since about mid March so the darn grass is taking over the world and choking out the plants for which the beds were made. Everyone is probably struggling with the same mess; we should make up a work crew to go from garden to garden to help with the weeding, if the weather ever settles down.... lol

Hey, Carol, it is certainly EASIER (for everyone except the hosts, lol) to wait for the official swaps, but there really isn't any need to have an official RMG plant swap in order to swap plants. Just a suggestion, but perhaps you can post what plants you have available and what you would like to trade for - if trades are necessary - and folks can tell you if they are interested, via either PM or a posted reply.

Sorry you missed the Berthoud swap. I don't know exactly where you live, but it was less than an hour drive from metro-Denver and it was absolutely lovely out there - well worth the trip, even if there weren't friendly gardeners, good food and free plants available at the end of the journey!

Holly

Amy, shoot me a message with your number and we'll make it happen within a week, if that works for you.

Funny story about Callirhoe since you brought it up... We have a small clump of it at work, right off our entrance road. The Native Plant Master's were absolutely FIT TO BE TIED when the boss ran over it with the lawn mower. Declared it to be a rare plant they did. Though, I think they are a touch excitable, and anything they find to be especially pretty is automatically deemed rare and/or threatened and endangered. Say, maybe I'll tell them you have some to share, they can plant it all over the park to save it from extinction.

ROFL! If you need some extra help with your Rare Plant dis-extinction project, I don't get many seedlings, but you can have the ones I do get!

How long has it been since the boss mowed it down? I bet all he did was to pinch it, and it's gonna come ROARING back!

Skybird

Yeah, I'll get a hundred or so 'rare' plants potted up ASAP....ha!!
Zach, I'm up to my eyeballs this week - anytime from next Monday on is great. Throw some of your open times at me and I'll know more after work tomorrow.

Okay lets do it next weekend, does friday, saturday or sunday work best for you?

Yes, please get them potted up, I may have trimmed our's back a little further with the weed whacker yesterday... I sweat it was an accident!

I've got some callirhoe potted, they're sulking, though. They're almost as bad as oenothera as far as the transplanting drama goes...

What else did you want? Or do you want to just come and wander and dig as we go? Friday AM would be best, if that's ok with you. Feel free to bring your son, I have a 9-year-old and he would love having someone to play with!

Liz has my cell # if texting is easier, I'll tell her to shoot it to you.

Your thread kind of got high-jacked, Carol. Are you still with us and still hoping to set up some sort of a swap?

Holly

Amy! How the heck did I miss this?! Geeze! Shoot me an email we MIGHT figure this out yet! Zachary.b.schiff@hotmail.com

We did hijack - please accept my apologies, Zach and I have taken this offline.

HI all. I'm an old member of the GardenWeb Swap Group. I haven't been active in years, but I would like to do so again. Please include me in for the Fall Swap.

FYI, this is Cyndi. Gardener from Highlands Ranch.

CYNDI!! Welcome back, it's your fellow HR gardener, Amy! :)

Hi guys, I'm a recent addition to Denver and love gardening. Ive recently planted some perennial flower beds and could always use a few new plants. Please let me know about the fall swap.

Debby g

Hi Debby,

I recently emailed some swap info to somebody, and since you're new here, you might be interested in this too. I'm just copying most of it from the email!

================================================

We have two swaps a year.
All planning is done on the forum for the swaps, so you just need to
keep an eye out for when the fall one—or any of them—will be. Nobody has started a thread for fall yet, tho
a couple people have "potentially" volunteered to host it. It's usually in September sometime, but the
exact date varies quite a bit depending on who's hosting and when it looks like
most people can make it.

For information on how it's all done, here are links to
this spring's swap threads. The first
one I'm linking has all the FAQs at the beginning of the thread, but the very
first post I did became irrelevant a couple weeks later, so if you read it, go
down to my second post that has ~~~~~
THE BASIC SWAP FAQ'S! ~~~~~ in it!
[Houzz took over the forums just as we were starting to plan this one,
and in the beginning there was no way for us to easily PM each other, so we were
trying to figure out how we could all get in touch, off-forum, if we
wanted/needed to! Houzz
"fixed" that problem shortly after they took over!]

http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/2848434/spring-swap-official-site

http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/2993424/swap-plants-what-are-you-bringing-and-ear-marks

And sometimes the person who's hosting starts a "food
thread" too, so this is that thread from the Spring Swap. A couple people who have hosted have made a
"basic meal" for everyone, with the pot luck things being in addition
to it--but that's strictly up to the person/people hosting and not in any way a
"requirement!"

http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/2993416/swap-food-list

The only direct email is the one that's sent to the people
who plan to come with the address of and directions to the hostess/host, so you
need to check RMG fairly frequently when there's a swap coming up if you want
to keep up with what's going on.

==================================================

If you have any questions, just ask! Somebody will be along to help. The swaps are always a fun time, and I hope you'll be able to join us!

Welcome to Denver, and welcome to RMG,
Skybird

Cape Honey Suckles - I have two beautiful ones I had to dig up and put in plastic pots. They were in too much shade. They are now thriving in the pots on my front porch. Please someone come and take them, they need a lot of room to grow and lots of sun (either all morning or all afternoon). Bright red/orange 2-3 inch flowers. I'll send you info if interested.

Hi, Lizyliz

It looks like they are hardy in zone 9, 10 and 11 only. Are you in the Denver area? I am interested if they are hardy in zone 5. Thanks!

The Cape honesuckle looks remarkably similar to Trumpet Vine. If they are true Cape Honeysuckle, I don't think they would survive the winter here unless you bring them inside which is a possibility.

I would love and appreciate trumpet vine if it turns out that's what they are.

When and where is the fall swap?

In Littleton, flowerridge is hosting on Oct 3. There is a string current titled fall swap. Make sure you get on there and message flowerridge so she can send directions! See you there!