Hedy -- is the elecampane (inula orientalis) the same thing as inula helenium? I think I got a pot of that from you last year, which I promptly planted at the butterfly garden at Flanders. I just heard an herb person speaking about inula today, and am thinking I want one for ME this time, so would love it if you have some. Tina - I would love the butterfly bush. I was so sad to lose my Dark Knight this year. No idea what happened. Just suddenly dead! I think one cannot have too many butterfly bushes! ;) I have alpine strawberries (the really little, intensely flavored ones) if anyone wants those. Unlimited quantities. :) Also a ton of monarda Jacob Cline (I think ... ), garlic chives, obedient plant, tovara.. in the fall, I will have astilbes (they are new this spring and I don't know the colors until they bloom as they were a gift (all 27 of them!) from a friend. Everything is looking SOOOO good right now! Amazing what a little rain will do!

Welcome, Tanya! I second what cloud_9 said: we may try for a Fall swap but it's been tough the last few years. Spring is always easier because everyone is so eager to get out and start digging! But we may try for one! They've been in different locations over the years, but always in the western half of the state (vs. the south or northeast parts or the central Hartford area, for instance). Monroe many years, Woodbury on occasion, we go wherever it works for people. This thread is in the New England Gardening forum of what used to be GardenWeb (now part of Houzz) so if you check this forum from time to time, you'll see if someone posts a thread to gauge interest in a fall swap. But there are many other threads about other aspects of gardening here -- it's an interesting forum! There are also forums for specific things like hydrangeas, daylilies, landscape design, etc., if you have specific interests. You can find them all here: http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums

That's good news and good timing for the swap. Added to my bittersweet job situation is that I've got a good feel about a job possibility I have up near Burlington VT (zone 4 ugh!) I really love it up there though, and options I lose due to zone I can make up for by getting a place finally with some sunny spots (tomatos!!!). It's sad though because I started 5 years ago with a desolate yard, and couldn't tell a daffodil from a rhododendron. Now my utterly random scattering of plants is atually starting to really get established and is so nice to watch grow now. Anyway, I should know by the time of the swap and will definately attend if I'm not going to be moving. Tricia: I can definately bring some ajuga, and would love bleeding hearts. Are you going to the swap? Giboosi: Thanks a lot for the offer, let me see where I land. Pennyviolet: The spruces will be coming out whether I move or not because they look pretty shabby. They are about 3' tall, and have pretty bad bare spots. They are alive though, and might look OK in a couple years of good sun. I'd be willing to dig them out for you if you wanted to come by. I can even send a pic if you were considering it. Thanks for the offer on the sedum but I think I might be a bit too shady. I'll chime in on the swap thread when I sort things out. Thanks all.

ctlady, do a search over on the shrubs forum for "viburnum pollinator". Yes, it is disappointing that you weren't told - - I wasn't either, and I got mine at Broken Arrow. My Blue Muffin has 3 - - yes 3 - - berries on it this year, and if it didn't have a pollinator at Broken Arrow, it's not going to find one in my yard. Here is my understanding based on what I read on Shrubs. Apparently you have to have another Viburnum dentatum or closely related species, but not the same variety from the same genetic stock. So your three won't pollinate each other. It's possible that if you got one from another source and it had a different genetic parenthood, it could work as a pollinator. Otherwise you need a different variety, but it has to flower at the same time. I could not find anything anywhere that indicated what a good pollinator for Blue Muffin was, given the timing of the flowering. Now if you live near the woods, it's likely you will have other Viburnum dentatum growing naturally that will pollinate yours. So I wouldn't rip them out yet in that case. I live firmly in suburbia so there's no chance of that. And none of my neighbors has a dentatum. And its flowers aren't showy enough to make up for the fact that for the rest of the season, it's just a bunch of boring green leaves with a measly three berries. So off it goes!