Though not a garden club these free plant swaps in Redmond, WA are a gathering place for gardeners to network & share plants through the seasons. Autumnal Abundance Saturday November 5, 2011, 10:00 AM to Noon -November is an excellent time to divide and conquer your garden: move woody plants, empty containers, divide perennials, gather seeds and store frost-tender tropicals. While weâÂÂre at it, itâÂÂs time to exchange and share plants and talk about the highlights of our summer gardens. Winter Seed Sowing Saturday January 7, 2012, 10 AM to Noon (indoors) -Right after the holidays in the cold dark of winter, we get together with our treasure troves of seeds, and dirt and pots and labels, to winter-sow perennials, trees, shrubs. These pots of seeds then go outside for cold treatment which breaks the seedsâ dormancy. You wonâÂÂt believe the great results! Come spring they germinate in profusion. For this event, potting soil is provided. Bring your pots, seeds, labels to share. You can also divide and repot houseplants at this event. Bareroot Bonanza Saturday March 3, 2012, 10:00 AM to Noon -It may still feel wintry, but spring is on the way. March is an excellent month to move dormant plants. Annual seeds can be traded for spring planting. ItâÂÂs time to dream big for the coming summer. Victory Garden Vegi-Swap Saturday June 2, 2012, 10 AM to Noon -Whether you feel the budget crunch or just want to grow your own delicious healthy food, the vegi-swap is offered so we can exchange and share vegetable seeds and plant starts for our own Beat-the-Economy Victory Gardens. ItâÂÂs too late for bare root plants but potted trees, shrubs, perennials, annuals and tropicals are most welcome. If you are interested in growing your own food, you are not alone. Here is a link that might be useful: Green Elephant Plant Swaps

Greeting from another Michigan wintersower! I have some asters, not sure what kind though, they were snatched from some-one elses flowerbed(with permission).Drk purple and about two ft high. How about some rugosa roses and grape hyacinths?? Echinacea would be good too, the kids might not see the flowers but could watch the birds that eat the seed. I have all those seed. You might also try perennial sweet pea if you've got the room-mine are still around but I don't have any seed right now. Also try wild violets-I have plants but no seed. -B

You can still sow seeds in flats outside..many many would do well for your project. We don't direct sow as there are too many negatives leading to failure. Before you start I think the most important things you must find out are: Does having the kids weed out the beds equate with "child labor", and If the school has unionized groundskeepers will you may violating their work contract. You should schedule an appointment with the superintendant's office to get reliable and assured answers. Once you know you are not in violation of child labor laws or contractual agreements you can then begin your project. T

I volunteered with a school that thought planters would be a good learning experience for the students. But the deaf-eared project leaders were not interested in what the experienced gardeners had to say. The children ended up growing a bumper crop of 3' tall weeds. They filled the planters with good, but weed seed-filled soil. There was no plan for regular weeding; the teachers weren't gardeners. No plan was in place. They asked us to help after the weeds were a 1.5' tall, and we tried, but we could not figure out what the students had planted or if anything they put in was even growing. And the suggestion to pull it all out and start over was met with looks of horror. The students didn't use the planters again. I think a teacher planted some flowers in the front two, just to keep them from being such an eyesore. Edit: I got called away to plant a tree and posted before finishing. I didn't mean to sound negative. I just wanted your school to think about the after-construction maintenance period, too. That way, your school's garden will result in a positive experience for the children. This post was edited by Gyr_Falcon on Sun, May 19, 13 at 15:06