Hello everyone,

For anyone who hasn't been to a past swap, or anyone who has been to one but still has questions about who, what, when, where, and how we do it, here are the "Basic Swap FAQs" for you. Pretty much any questions you may have should be answered here, but if you think of something that isn't included here, this is the place to ask about it!

~~~~~ THE BASIC SWAP FAQ'S! ~~~~~

WHAT TO BRING!

Anything that has anything to do with gardening is welcome at the swap!

Plants, of course, are our primary "commodity," but people also sometimes bring fresh produce, like cut herbs, rhubarb, or other fresh spring veggies to include in the trading. The Spring Swap plants are usually mostly starts and seedlings of annual bedding plants and veggies, with some perennial “starter plants.” (The Fall Swap is usually mostly perennial starts!)

In addition to garden plants, we also welcome house plants, seeds, pots, books/magazines, tools, rocks, garden art.......... Anything garden related that you don't want or need anymore!

WHAT HAPPENS AT THE SWAP!

~ The Arriving Part!

When you arrive, there will be a table with a sign in sheet and name badges. Everybody needs to sign in and make a name badge for themselves and any significant others or guests that came with them.

~ The Eating Part!

We start out with the pot luck! Your dish can be absolutely anything, hot dishes, cold dishes, appetizers/finger foods, salads, sweets--anything you think others would enjoy! Homemade dishes are always good and very much appreciated! Please plan to bring a serving spoon if it will be needed for your dish, and also please make some provision for it to be covered--a lid if it's that type of a dish, or plastic wrap, or whatever. And a request I've made at swaps in the past that seemed to “even out” the types of dishes people were bringing! I love sweets, so I definitely don't want to put too much of a damper on the dessert type things, but at a couple of the early swaps we seemed to wind up with mostly sweets, so if you're trying to decide between that or something else, lean toward the something else!

~ The Swapping Part!

During the arriving/eating parts you will have had time to check out the plants people have brought, and now it's time for the swapping! First we make sure anybody who has plants earmarked for others, gets or has already gotten them to the right people. Then we draw numbers for the first TWO rounds of picking what we want. With number in hand, we go around and have everyone briefly describe what they brought so people know for sure what's there and so everyone can decide what they want the most! Then we go around twice in "number order" and each person picks the one thing they want the most in each round. This gives everyone a pretty good chance of getting the two things they really want! After the two "civilized" rounds of picking we open it up to a free-for-all! Everyone just goes around and grabs whatever they want of what's left! (Bring your Body Armor!) *NOTE:* At more recent swaps, after the first two rounds of picking we’ve been deciding as a group if we want to do more “rounds” of picking before we go to the free-for-all! Most people seem to prefer doing that, so odds are that’s what we’ll do again this time!

~ About the Earmarking!

On the day of the swap we don't allow any "early picking," meaning, while you can look and touch all you want, nobody can take any of the plants till we start our first two “official” rounds of picking! BUT we do allow earmarking of plants BEFORE the swap when people post what they plan to bring. When people start posting what they plan to bring they'll say whether or not they'll be willing to earmark plants for people, and if they are, you can ask for dibs on them at that point! In more recent years I and a couple other people have decided it's more fun to not do dibs—and less complicated—at one swap I had almost 150 plants earmarked for people and I almost needed to hire an accountant to keep track of it all! So for anyone who posts what they’re planning/hoping to bring, please state if you’re willing to do Dibs for people or not.

OUR PRIMARY SWAP RULE!

And then there's that one Swap Law that everybody needs to know about! Nobody needs to have any plants to be welcome at the swap! If you're new to gardening and don't have anything yet, if you just moved to a new house and don't have anything to give away yet, or if you just don't have anything for any reason at all, that's ok! There are always way, way plenty plants to go around, and we get together as much to swap gardening talk and friendship as to swap plants--so come regardless of how much you do or don't have to bring! (And, yes, you do get to pick plants in the swap part even if you weren't able to bring any!)

HERE'S SOME BASIC INFORMATION ABOUT THE PLANTS YOU BRING!

PLANT THEM – Whether it's divisions or seedlings or whole plants you'll be bringing, please try to get them into their pots AT LEAST a couple weeks before the swap so they have time to "settle in" and start to root out some. If plants are dug up and put into pots, and then taken back out of the pots to be planted in the ground just a couple days later, it's "double trauma" for them! Also, most plants don't do at all well in pots in "garden soil," so if at all possible, use some sort of a store bought potting mix—it doesn't need to be expensive! (But Hyponex brand would probably be worse than garden soil, so if that's the only option, stick with the garden soil!)

LABEL THEM – Please be sure the plants you bring are labeled one way or another! Here are some of the ways people have labeled their plants in the past: a regular plant tag in the pot – plastic beverage cups cut up into narrow strips – popsicle sticks – old blinds cut up into label size strips – staple or tape a piece of paper with the name onto the pot – write the name of the plant on the pot with a marker or crayon – make up adhesive labels with the plant name and basic information and stick them on the pots. I make up little strips of paper on the computer with the name and other info and include one with each plant. Be creative, but find some way to label them! Anything to ensure the person getting the plant will know what they have when they get home. When we're at the swap, we all think we'll be able to remember the things we're getting to take home, and then we wind up grabbing all kinds of things in the free-for-all, and........... Oops! What is this!

WATER THEM – Please plan to thoroughly water the plants you're bringing the DAY BEFORE the swap so they'll have time to drain well enough to be easy to transport, yet be wet enough to not be wilting at the swap or while people are taking them home!

TAKE THEM HOME! – It's a really good idea to bring a box/tray or two to carry your booty back home in! If the plants you're bringing are in something, don't let anybody else snag it, and you can use that to refill with the new goodies! We do ask that you please don't use someone else's boxes or trays without asking first if it's ok!

MARK YOUR EARMARKED PLANTS -- If you're earmarking something for someone who's requested it, please be sure to clearly mark on the pot somehow who it's for, to be sure it gets to the right person. You can write the screen name of the person on a paper bag and put the plants in the bag, or write the name of the person directly on the pot—if it’s a light enough color for that to work! That makes it easy for everyone to find the ones that are for them. Small boxes work well too! There will be an area “away from the general swap plants” to put things that are earmarked for specific people.

COMMUNICATION ABOUT THE SWAP!

ALL swap information is posted here on the Rocky Mountain Gardening Forum! The ONLY email that will be sent directly to the people that are planning to attend the swap will be one with the address and directions, approximately a week before the swap. Be sure to Private Message the host with your email address so you can get on the mailing list!

BE SURE you have Private Messaging enabled on Houzz! To do that: Click on your screen name to go to your “profile page,” then, in the upper right corner hover over “Your Houzz,” then, in the drop-down menu click on “edit profile and settings.” From there, in the left side menu click on “advanced settings,” scroll all the way down to “privacy settings” and in the “who can message me” box, on the drop-down menu click on “allow anyone to message me.” Then click “update” on the bottom on the right side!

Also, since houzz took over, when you PM somebody the person who receives the message will NOT get your personal email address unless you put it in the BODY OF THE MESSAGE, so when you send your PM to the host BE SURE you include your email address in the message!

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Now it’s your turn! If you’re planning—or hoping—to attend, come post that on this thread! And remember, you need to Private Message your email address to Arborwolf—in the body of the message—so she can send you her physical address and the directions when we get closer to the swap!

Skybird

SU 03.24.24 @ 1620 MDT

Darn! sounds so great and nearby too. unfortunately im working that day. Darn healthcare just doesnt give us enough weekends off. hope you all havr a great time! I hope the stars align eventually so that I can come.

We plan to be there. Will probably bring strawberries as they have taken over our vegetable garden.

Also will probably bring 3 Chuckles Roses that don't do well under our tree and give someone else a shot at them. https://www.highcountryroses.com/shop/modern-roses/floribundas-small-landscape-shrubs/chuckles/ They have never filled out for us but may do Ok mixed into a perennial garden where they contribute but don't need to stand on their own. Will update with more plants closer.

Love the purple globes (Globemaster Alliums?) we got last year (have seen 12 of the 13 growing back) and the Sweet Woodruff looks to have taken and is coming back. It appears to be doing well under our tree so will see if any shows up we will try to get it. Also looking for other plants that do well under a tree. Especially ones that will flower through the summer.

i'm in.

iris, goji (have no vegetable starts this year).

if anyone wants lilac (from seed from one of mine, it's offspring of blue lilac I'm not sure how the baby will be looking like) pls let me know I'll dig up and stabilize, if I dig later lilac may be less stable, they are best to be moved dormant-waking up

if someone wants walking onions pls let me know. at that time I may have plenty rhubarb going wild, let me know if you care for that

I was wondering if anyone has palmers penstemon, one from this list seems to be very tall, over 5ft, is that even real?

https://extension.colostate.edu/topic-areas/yard-garden/growing-penstemons-7-428/

Penstemon palmeri Palmer’s penstemon

2000-9,000’

June – Aug. sun

Course, well-drained, lean, dry

Pale pink, fragrant

To 6’ x 14”

Native to Utah desert shrub to mountain brush, PJ-ponderosa. Introduced to CO in roadside seed mixes.

Planning to attend, and I found a new person to bring along too... I guess to make up for the fact that I didn't start ANY seeds this year. :(

(I'm telling myself I could still start some cukes or something... but we'll see if that happens.)

Looking forward to seeing all of you. :)

I'm in + probably 2 more.

I will be there. I will probably bring a couple of people also.

Plants:

1 lilac

Larkspur

Mystery iris

Borage

Dark red mums

Pink yarrow

I plan to come and have PM’d you my email. I may bring 1-2 more Loveland area folks. Thanks for hosting.

Paul, welcome aboard! If you get a chance, post what you are likely to bring. If you don't have anything that is fine also. But with an idea of what is coming it allows those of us unfamiliar with the plants to look them up in advance. Very excited to have new blood because that always introduces new plants!

Hello All,

Please make sure we have your email so we can send the address as we get closer to the date!

Thanks.

Arborwolf

mmmm12COzone5 if you have lots of strawberries could I have some please? I was just given a strawberry pot last year and need to fill it!

Yes, catnohat, we will pull some strawberries for you! If you want them earlier than the swap just let us know. Our entire vegetable bed has been over run with strawberries. They cover every square inch so we have to take some out to plant anything else. Just let me know how many plants you want.

This is the plot today. Yes, we need to take the Christmas lights down. At the end of last year we cut off alot of strawberries that were escaping beyond the fence. We've had them in this bed forever and normally they stayed in one area. Something about the climate the last couple of years encouraged them and they spread rapidly.

I know it's not fall, but If anyone has any white iris they want to divide, I'm looking for some.

Thanks.

Arborwolf

Mmmm12 I sent you a private message.

That is a nice strawberry patch you have!

We’re planning on coming to the swap. I’ll send a list when I know for sure.

catnohat and tomatoz1, I sent you private msgs. Hope they got through.

I would love to get some strawberries as well, mmmm12!

Is anyone interested in a wooden pyramidal strawberry planter (looks roughly like this one)? I bought it from a guy off Craigslist a few years ago and it just hasn't worked well for me... it seems to lose some soil from the corners when watering and I don't really have a great spot where I can access all the sides, so I usually end up just planting one side. I think if you got some roots in there to hold the soil in place it would probably work pretty well.

If someone wants it, I'll bring it. (I'm also planning to bring my seed collection and some anise hyssop plants.)

Oladon, How many do you want and do you want to get them early?

Maybe 5-10 if you're offering that many? And sure, I could swing by pretty much whenever would work for you!

Olandon, We can easily do 10. I'll send you a msg with details. We can dig them up when you come. If you could bring something to put them in like a plastic bag or bin that would be helpful.

Arborwolf, will immortality do? I have another pale off-white iris as well

looking for primocane blackberry, preferably thorn-less so I can tell it from paspbery. I bought tripplecrown last year, all 10 are dry-frozen over winter sadly, they were fine in summer and autumn, did not make it

Yes, any white iris would be perfect. Thanks llgarden!😊

I'm planning to bring some thornless blackberry cuttings. Two of them are already potted up!