10th Annual Spring Park Circle Plant Swap

I missed the plant swap last fall, so I thought I would be really excited about the one this weekend, but I wasn't.  The main reason is that I have been very busy the past few weeks and did not prepare as much as I usually do.  Last year I had grown a lot of things that I ended up taking to the swap.  Spring this year has been on the cool side and it hasn't been very warm until the past few weeks - and then it was more than ten degrees colder this weekend!

So, here's what I managed to scare up for the swap, and I'm warning you - it wasn't much:  a couple of Sago

Palms that I decided I didn't have a place for, three small tuberous begonias that survived the winter and being eaten by chickens, a couple of arrowhead plants that were growing in a pot that someone was throwing out, and lots of alligator plants, that came from something else someone was throwing out.  Like I said - not much.

I think I talked about how either the swaps aren't as good as they used to be, or that I'm just not in to them as I was before, and that was the same this time.  I hadn't really thought about what I hoped to find there until the morning of the swap.  I realized that I ought to look for vegetables, especially tomatoes, so I don't have to go out and buy them, and maybe something for Robin's new house.

I saw a few things that I might want if I could get them, but nothing really jumped out at me.  There was a giant pot of native palms that I thought about, as well as a corpse flower cactus - I had one of these at one time, but I let it freeze.  I saw a couple of night blooming cactuses - I have two, but I thought I would get Robin one.  I did get a few good things:  Mother-in-law's Tongue - I have some, but I thought I would get more, a couple of cactus cuttings, and some daisies for Robin.  Robin found a rubber plant, a few succulents, and she decided that she wanted a sago palm after all, and she found a pineapple bromeliad for me.  The best part of the swap was when someone showed up very late with flats of vegetable plants.  We got "moon and stars" watermelons, plus another variety, cukes, and some purple/red okra.

I plan to re-pot a few of the plants for Robin and plant the vegetables after I first pull up my unproductive peas.  It's either that or clear and make another row and that's a little too much work at the moment.  Happy Earth Day!

Fifth Annual Fall Park Circle Plant Swap

To the swap

We've been going to these plant swaps for at least five years and we usually have a lot of fun.  Sometimes it's a little disappoint- ing when someone gets that one plant you had your heart set on, or when you see something afterward that you would have picked up if you had seen it earlier.  We have also gone through a change of attitude toward then over the years - in the beginning we were just excited over free plants, but then we became a little more discerning, and practical.  What I have noticed at the fall swaps is that people will bring their leftover annuals - if not seedlings, then vegetables or something else that won't last past the first frost, which I have the same problem with, since we have a less that ideal home for these.

From the swap

I know I'm being a little critical - these swaps have been really fun, and I've gotten a lot of great plants from them over the years ...and I wasn't even able to attend yesterday's.  I know I will continue to go to Darren's plant swaps, but they have grown into something they weren't five years ago.  When I started going, they were a little more intimate, but still had tons of plants.  I was still a little green, and got excited about.  And maybe I'm a little disappointed in the plants that I was able to take as well.  I remember looking at them as I was labeling them thinking, "really?  These same plants again?"  So, without further ado, the plants that Robin took to the swap:

Purple Water Iris
Purple-stemmed Elephant Ears
Native Hibiscus seedlings
Dwarf Papyrus
Root Beer Plant
A few small Agave Americanas

And, what Robin brought home from the swap:

A couple of small shrubs
A few different succulents
A few gardenias
and a Dianthus

5th Annual Fall Park Circle Plant Swap - September 22nd

It's that time of year again - the fall plant swap.  I can't believe it's been five years.  The spring swap has been going on a lot longer, but I've been to every one of the swaps in the fall.  Unfortunately, I won't be able to attend this time.  I have to say that I'm not too upset - I've been to a lot of these and each time I get pickier.  This year will be a surprise - I'm putting plants together for Robin to take, and we've come up with a list of plants we both want, so I'm going to leave it up to her and be surprised when I get home in the afternoon.  I'll try to do my usual before and after posts, but we'll have to see about that.

For more information about the plant swap, click here.

Ninth Annual Spring Park Circle Plant Swap

It's that time of year again - time for another plant swap.  I feel like I say the same thing in every post, so I'm going to be lazy this time.  Here is a link to every other time I've done this:  Plant Swaps

Now that that's over I can give you an idea of what I took to and came home with:

Took:
Narcissus bulbs
Root Beer plants
Cream irises
Lavender irises
Giant sunflowers
Tropical hibiscus
Garden phlox
Dwarf papyrus
Pickerel weed


And lots of lots of pots!

So here's what I brought home:
Mimosa tree
Angel's trumpets
Stokes aster
Day lilies
Heather
Giant sunflowers
Spider plant

And a few things that I don't remember, plus different pots!

As we go to more of these things, I end up taking more and coming home with less.  It make sense - In the beginning, I saw it as, "FREE PLANTS!" and I brought home everything I could.  Generally, 20 percent would die in the driveway before I got around to doing something with them.  As the years went on, I became more selective - which meant I brought home fewer plants and a smaller number of plants died in the driveway.  All of this is a good - this year I have plans for most of the plants I brought home and they shouldn't stay in the driveway long - especially with as hot as it has become lately.

So that's it - that's my plant swap blog post.  Hope everyone enjoyed it.  See you next post.

Fourth Annual Fall Park Circle Plant Swap

It was that time of year again - time for the fall plant swap.  We had a lot of stuff going on this weekend and the thought crossed my mind that I might not have time to go this year.  Can you believe that?  It was only a passing thought - I came to my senses pretty quickly.  We have had a lot going on, and I procrastinated until this morning as far as pulling plants together for the swap goes.  I got up at 5am and was outside at 5:30 trying to get plants together, realizing that I couldn't see a thing!  I promptly went back inside and read the paper, ate breakfast and watched tv until 7am, when I resumed my activities.

I came up with a large pile of plants - more than I expected on such short notice.  Earlier in the week, I had dug up all the pups from our century plant.  This morning I dug up some irises and some phlox and potted them up.  I thinned out the water irises growing in the waterfall of our pond - it needed it.  It needs a good cleaning out and repotting, but that will have to wait.  And hostas - I have to explain the hostas.

While at the previous plant swap in April, I was in the middle of planting a shade garden and was looking for enough hostas for a mass planting.  I didn't find many at the swap, but I met a woman there that offered me some from her yard.  A week or so later, I went to her house and we walked around and dug up parts of almost every clump she had in her yard.  When I got them home, I broke them into smaller plants and had them in a couple of buckets of water.  I planted as many as I could and put the leftover bucket of hostas, dirt and water in the driveway, intending to plant them in the next couple of days.  Days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months, and so I ended up bringing them to the next plant swap.  I wanted to tell her the story, but she wasn't there.  I did save a clump for myself - I still have plans to plant some in the near future, along with what I got at the swap.

I mention this every time now, but I don't find as many plants that I have to have as I used to, and it was trued this time.  Inevitably I end up doing more socializing in the beginning, rather than scoping out plants.  I see people who I don't see all the time and I end up talking to them.  I eventually find my first selection - there's usually one must-have plant - but I didn't see one today.  Just like last time, I found my groove - I changed my first selection from a Euphorbia trigona to a citrus I found after Darren mentioned that there were some mixed in with the rest of the plants.

Before I go any further, let me mention the plants I didn't get.  These were high-ranking choices, that got picked by other people while I was picking other plants:  Euphorbia trigona, night-blooming cactus, corpse-flower cactus, giant papyrus, canna and ginger lilies.  I think that's about it for the plants I didn't get.

I had a little trouble prioritizing this time.  Every other time Robin was there and, for the first few rounds, she would help me get the plants I wanted.  So I started out with the citrus and then I found some daylilies.  I saw someone with one of my friend Joan's Yuccas and I decided to get one of those.  I would have preferred Echinacea, but I got some of Joan's Black-eyed Susans instead.  I found some more daylilies - I wasn't sure what they were at first.  They were in a plastic bag and extremely leggy, like they didn't get a lot of sun, or they were over-fertilized with Nitrogen.  They reminded me of the Narcissus bulbs I brought previously - in their case, it was not enough light.  I got some Persian shield and a couple of beautyberrys to add some native plants to our landscape.  As always, I feel satisfied by what I brought home from the swap, and the fewer plants mean that they won't be neglected because I don't know what to do with them.  I've already planted the Yucca and I know what I'm doing with most of the others - nothing should be neglected this year.  I would say that I'm happy about this swap and look forward to more in the future.

2011 Park Circle Spring Plant Swap

Plants I took to the swap

When I first started going to plant swaps, I tried to take as much as I could, because I knew I would be coming home with a lot more.  I even started propagating plants specifically for the swap.  I don't feel like I have that kind of time now, but I do try to take as much as I can.  Leading up to this weekend's swap, I had picked up a few plants from people's trash that I repotted, divided or nursed back to health; I had a number of plants from the previous swap that I never did anything with; and I had some plants from the yard that were volunteers or extras that I felt like I could part with.

Neglected Irises

On Saturday morning, as soon as I could see outside, I started gathering plants for the swap.  I put the obvious ones in a pile and then I started looking around the yard.  I had some Narcissus that I dug up who-knows-when that grew and flowered, just sitting next to the house.  I pulled up half of those.  While I was at it, I pulled up a couple of irises that had rooted where I dropped them.  I unpotted a couple of small cactuses that I had gotten from a previous swap.  Doing that reminded me of another cactus growing near our back fence where I had discarded a piece years ago.  When I went to trim the cactus out front, I saw some canna that I didn't really want, so I put those in my growing pile.  While looking for more plants, I found a couple of pine trees in an untended area of the yard as well as a couple of volunteer root beer plants.  After all of that, I was ready for the swap.

I mentioned before that I usually come home with a lot of plants - that used to be the case in the beginning, but not so much now.  I have to say I'm more particular these days.  This swap I had specific plants I was looking for - ferns, hostas and anything else for a shade garden, ajuga and other groundcovers, and possibly some hardy succulents.  I didn't find much of anything matching that description at the swap.  I saw maybe five ferns, a few pots of ajuga, a few hostas and five or six fairly large hardy succulents.  After perusing the several hundred plants, I decided my must-have first plant was the Agave attenuata, a hardy succulent with variegated leaves - it would be a good addition to my desert garden.  (I didn't want to be greedy, but there was another hardy succulent next to the one I had claimed, that I was planning to get next if no one did, but, alas, someone did!)  My next plant was going to be a hosta, but they were all gone, so I got some ajuga.  During the third round I got the last, sad-looking holly fern.  After three or four rounds, we got to grab two plants, so I started getting pots of this Japanese herb that Scott and Fred brought.  I'll use it as a groundcover like the ajuga.

By this point I was at a loss for what I wanted.  On more than one occasion, I would survey the remaining plants, identify my first choice, and when Darren gave the signal, I couldn't find the plant.  Obviously someone beat me to it.  I picked up a few more plants, but I didn't take all the leftovers like I once would have.

Plants I brought home from the swap

I am happy with what we brought home.  I've already planted the agave and the fern is ready for the shade garden and I have a number of plants I need to learn about.  I made a few contacts as well - the woman who brought the hostas gave me her number and said I could come and get lots more hostas from her anytime.  And the man who brought the large succulents has more he wants to get rid of.  Apparently there's another plant swap at the Elliotborough Community Garden this Saturday at 1pm - I'm not going to be able to go, but Robin's going, so I'll have to put together some plants for her to take.  The fun never ends!

Third Annual Fall Park Circle Plant Swap

Today was the 3rd Annual Fall Park Circle Plant Swap. I've been looking forward to this for...well. since the spring plant swap! I didn't do a lot of growing specifically for the swap, but I ended up having a number of things that I was able to take as is. There was a growing number of garden-related items being brought for people to take, so I had a number of things in that area - old tools, pots, books and magazines. I guess there wasn't much of a trend, because I think I was the only one to bring any of that stuff this time.

Getting rid of the books and unused tools was great for me - like a fall purging of junk. I had a few plants that I felt the same way about too. This morning I got rid of most of my water irises around the pond. It's real hard to contain them and by the fall, they are just trying to take over. I still have some in my waterfall filter, but all of them in the bog are gone - at least I think so.

I might have mentioned this before, but I was dividing and repotting succulents a few weeks ago - most of those went to the swap. I got some hibiscus from a neighbor in the spring, and have had it in a container of water since - minus what Robin wants to keep and what my neighbor Joan wants, I took the rest to the swap - about four pieces. I changed my mind about a few things I could have taken - if I don't want them, they can always go to the next swap. I also took the smaller Hymenocallis that I divided earlier this year - I still have twenty left.
I gathered up everything and got there a few minutes after 10am, when the set-up started - the actual swap wasn't until 11am. I wanted to get there a little early so I could socialize a little - I always do too much talking and not enough looking. When I got there, there were about 10 cars and hundreds of plants - I couldn't believe it. I unloaded my plants and stuff and started to look around, but ended up doing a good bit of socializing - catching up with friends and neighbors, helping other people with plant identification where I could. Eventually I got around to looking at plants.

Like the last few times, I wasn't excited about what I saw - there were some things we could use when we do our landscaping in the near future, but nothing that jumped out at me. I remember feeling this way at the last swap, but ended up being very happy with what we got at the end - I hoped today would be the same. When Robin showed up I was able share my ideas about which plants we might want to try to get. One good thing about not being overly excited about many of the plants, is that there is no disappointment when you don't get the plants you want.

I was interested in a couple of hostas and ajuga. Robin found a couple of ferns. There were a number of bromeliads that I considered, but I already neglect the ones I have - same goes for the night-blooming cereus. We got the ferns and the hostas and the ajuga - Amy Dabbs, who brought the ajuga, said I could have more if I ever needed it. After several rounds of grabbing plants, we started running out of plants we definitely wanted - I laughed a little bit when I saw Robin grab plants that I had brought, until I did the same thing a few minutes later! I was impressed by what we ended up with - a lot of what Robin grabbed, I didn't even see! We got a lot for the landscape: rug juniper, liriope, hosta, ajuga, society garlic. A couple of curiosities - pregnant onion, bed of nails. A couple of things that I'll repot and give away - dwarf papyrus, aloe, spider plant.

I was very pleased with our haul and I feel like we will get more use out of these that any other plant swap we've been to. Now it's time to get planting.

Plants Swaps

I was involved in a interesting plant swap recently. There was a post on the Carnivorous Plants page of Gardenweb - someone was looking to trade a dozen carnivorous plants for any number of things - irises, coins, etc. I've been wanting a Venus flytrap, but I haven't been willing to pay for one, since I'm not 100% sure I know how to make it thrive. I saw this as an opportunity to get something for essentially nothing.

I emailed about my irises, but they weren't the kind he was looking for. He asked if I had any old coins - I did, but I wasn't sure what I had and I wasn't sure I wanted to part with any of them. I found my coins - I had wheat pennies, buffalo nickels, silver Jefferson nickels, Mercury dimes, silver Roosevelt dimes and silver Franklin and Liberty half dollars, and other miscellaneous coins.

After a little negotiating, we came to an agreement - half of the Roosevelt dimes and half of the half dollars for the dozen carnivorous plants. From what I know about each of the items in the trade, it was an even swap.

Once the plants arrived, I was pleasantly surprised. They were packed well and looked like I had hoped. There were two pitcher plants, four sundews and six Venus flytraps. Since receiving these plants, I've been reading everything I can find on carnivorous plants - I want to make sure I do everything right. I feel comfortable with the pitcher plants - I already have some of those and they are thriving.

Getting the plants in the mail sent me on a mission to round up all of my pots to figure out which pots I would put these plants in. I started two piles in the driveway - pots with drainage holes and pots without. I thought I would need pots without for carnivorous plants, but after a little reading, that doesn't seem to be the case. Venus flytraps don't like to be swimming, and I'm not sure what to do with the sundews yet.

While I was de facto organizing my garden area, I started thinking about plants I wanted to repot and divisions I wanted to make, to get ready for the plant swap in a few weeks. I repotted some succulents and a cactus. I divided my aloe and Euphorbia tirucalli "Fire Sticks". I've got a lot more that I can do and I'll probably do a lot over the Labor Day weekend.

Fall Plant Swap

I know it's not even summer yet, but the date for the fall plant swap has been announced - Saturday, September 25 at 10am at Park Circle. For more information click here, or the link above. To see how the plant swap works click here. I'm looking forward to seeing everybody there

Spring Park Circle Plant Swap

This past Saturday was the Park Circle Plant Swap. We had been out of town for spring break earlier in the week, so I didn't have a lot of time to get my plants together. I had a good idea what I wanted to take, but after our winter there wasn't a lot around to take. The morning of the swap, I sorted through the plants in the driveway, deciding which to keep and which to swap. I ended up taking some sago palms, Mexican petunia, wild garlic, dwarf papyrus, a few cactuses and a handful of daffodils. Oh, and some plant I got off the side of the road, divided and repotted. It turns out it might be a wax myrtle.

There were definitely a lot more people at the swap this time - it just keeps getting more popular. Unfortunately, the plant selection wasn't thrilling. I say that, but I should mention that the plants were a lot of what I already have. There was nothing I was extremely excited by.

I did get some interesting things - a loropetalum (a shrub that we probably won't plant and it will die of neglect), Chinese lantern, peppermint, sugarcane, daylilies, succulent (for the desert garden), dried apple gourd (for the seeds), and a few other things. In hindsight, it was a nice morning. I have some things I like - I think I just have too much to do in the yard.

The Citrus Guy and Spring Plant Swap

My friend Darren, a master gardener who specializes in citrus, has started his own blog - The Citrus Guy. He has also scheduled the upcoming Spring Plant Swap for Saturday, April 10th.

Here's an announcement that I updated from last year. Darren may change a few things, but basically this is it:

7TH ANNUAL PARK CIRCLE PLANT SWAP
CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA
April 10th, 10am set-up and browse....11am swap...immediately afterwards...LUNCH!
This year we are having it at Park Circle in North Charleston, by the Gazebo. There are picnic tables, bathrooms and LOTS of room for kids to play and even more room for plants, parking and food.
Pretty much everybody in Charleston is familiar with Park Circle....there are numerous ways to get to it, depending on which way you are coming. If you want or need directions you can E-mail me, I will get it and respond ASAP.
The way we swap will be the same... the basic Free For All. I will say go, everybody will grab ONE (1) plant and take it to their hiding area. After everybody has a plant, we repeat the process. Nice and Simple!
We will have plates and napkins and such, Please bring your own drinks and food for as many as you can. We like to do a Pot Luck style picnic and encourage everybody to stick around and participate. The socializing afterwards is as much fun as the swap itself, please try to give yourself enough time to stay and enjoy yourself!
If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask.
Tell your friends, neighbors and anybody else you can think of....2010 will be the best Plant Swap YET in Charleston!
Happy Growing Folks! Get those seedlings and cuttings started!
Darren

2nd Annual Fall Park Circle Plant Swap

The second annual Fall Plant Swap at Park Circle is Saturday, September 26th. For those that don't know the area, Park Circle is the heart of the original North Charleston, which was founded about a century ago. For those who have never been to a plant swap before, it's really fun - this one especially. It begins at 10am with people arriving and bringing plants that they want to swap. Once the car is unloaded, people begin to mill around, looking at what others have brought, talking to people they met at the last swap, or bumping into neighbors. Most people have labeled their plants, but if not, there are usually master gardeners to help identify plants - including Darren Sheriff, who puts this together every year. There have been a least six swaps in the spring, but this is only the second fall plant swap to date.

Once 11am approaches, Darren will remind everyone of the rules - he'll yell "go" and everyone will grab a plant and take it to their "hiding place", which could be just a spot in the grass - whatever spot you have staked out as your own. After a few rounds of that, he'll tell everyone to grab two plants or more, depending upon how many is left. People have started bringing unwanted yard art, pots and tools to the swap as well. After everyone has claimed the last of the plants, there's a potluck lunch to be had and a tour of Darren's yard, which is not tobe missed - especially if you're a fan of Citrus.

The first swap we planned to attend was the 2008 Spring swap. I couldn't get off work, so I sent Robin with about 15 plants. I was surprised when she came home with probably 50 plants! It's been that way all three times we've been. Each time, I know I take more plants to the swap. More than a month ago, I started rooting cuttings for the upcoming swap. I count at least 30 plants that I'm taking, and that doesn't count what I may throw together during the coming month. So I hope everyone will come out and swap plants with us!

For more info, click on the link below: