I rather miss the old DG group events, and thought it might be nice to start something up here on ATP. I'm thinking of a very casual get together with the intent to just trade or share excess plants. I know I always have a lot I can split off either in the fall or early spring, and for those of us with plant lists, folks could poke around and suggest things they might be interested in that others have. Some may be ready for division, others not. If it's raining, I have a barn we could use for trading.

There is a fairly new botanical garden about 5 minutes from my house which is lush during daffodil season - I think they planted over 40,000 daffodil bulbs and it is quite impressive when in full bloom. http://www.freebornlutheran.or... I don't think they charge any admission, and this could be a quick and easy side trip.

Thoughts?

I love the idea Deb!!!!!! I miss all the wonderful people that we use to visit from DG. I will be going to the sempervivum clinic in Oregon in the spring so hope that it would not be the same day. They have not set a date for that yet but I'm sure after the 1st of the year we will have a date for the clinic.

I'm open to a date and happy to work around local garden events. Just thought I'd put it out there so folks could start thinking about what they have to share.

Excellent idea! We used to meet quite often for plant/seed exchanges, work parties, tours & general goofing off.
I miss those early days of DG.
Sharing experiences & site-specific information is always welcome: makes for better gardening & enhances our sense of community.
Also, quite beneficial for beginning gardeners...

March, sometime?
Hmmm, that sounds like a long time from now, as does 2016 Tomato harvest... relentless.

That sounds like a lot of fun. If I have a few months lead time I can make sure I am off that day.
I did a lot of cuttings a few weeks ago, just went around my yard. I put some in a cold frame, some on the kitchen counter. Kind of a weird time to take cuttings, but you never know...Also could dig up some divisions, I have a lot of things that could use dividing like Solidago 'Fireworks'- so I might have some things to bring!
The last pic is Cestrum 'Orange Peel' I made some cuttings from.

Wish I could join you but that would be a long expensive 'party' to attend. lol. I try to make a trip 'down south' once a year, usually Oregon or Washington. I have my botanical garden friends (mostly staff) but their goals are a little different than mine. Mike makes me laugh. If I mention seeing a plant with flowers this time of year he just grunts and says "unnatural - will have to dig it up." He is only partly joking. So I make sure to tell him about the arabis and lamium that still have occasional blooms. He is from Michigan originally but you would swear he was from New England he is so taciturn. Good guy though

Bumping this back up to the top. My daffs are just now starting to poke out of the ground. I will check Bonhoeffer Gardens to see if they are about at the same stage as me, then we can pick a date for an exchange. I'm thinking real casual - just bring what you have to share, we can meet and greet and exchange at my place, then go tour the garden. Maybe a pot luck lunch? I presume a weekend will probably work best, although I'm retired so am open to midweek if that works better.

I'm about an hour north of Seattle, and once you get past Marysville, it is smooth sailing. Once we set a date, I'll send out a group D-mail with my address.

Who's in?

I'd love to meet people, and my calendar is totally open (on weekends) for the rest of this month. After that, Saturdays are usually open and Sundays often taken.

However, I have no plants to share. I would bring my rather large seed collection, including many older seeds.

So I wouldn't take plants home unless someone wanted:

a heavy steel-wire shelf suitable for supporting hardware cloth for a wheel-barrow-sized sieve.
propagation trays / plug trays (I have extras of a few sizes, plus some sizes I never seem to use)
plastic yogurt tubs, will drill 1/4" holes if wanted
many 2 liter soda bottles (will cut off tops & drill holes if wanted)
a tub of all-nitrogen urea fertilizer (46-0-0)
WW I bayonet and/or used stainless steel knives, for weeding
gray-painted steel "angles" (uprights for steel shelving, suitable for strong posts)
variety of sprayers, spinners and odd fittings for irrigation systems

I would love to come. A potluck sounds nice. And daffodils-I drove by that church a few years ago and saw they were turning it into a botanical garden, then last year I met the guy who is installing mowing strips. I have been eager to see what they are creating out there in the middle of nowhere!

My work schedule is irregular- I could come Feb 14, 20, 21, 28, and am off the first three weekends in March.

Corey I would love the steel-wire shelf.
Along those lines, if anyone wants I bought some hardware cloth rolls of different sizes for sieves, I can toss them in the trunk to share if anyone wants a piece.

Most of my cuttings I had on the kitchen table rotted, but I peaked at the outside ones the other day-many seem just fine. Yay!

Pistil said:... Corey I would love the steel-wire shelf. ...

I was thinking of you when I mentioned them!

Pistil said:...Along those lines, if anyone wants I bought some hardware cloth rolls of different sizes for sieves, I can toss them in the trunk to share if anyone wants a piece. ...

I'll bring a pair of tin snips! And I'll check to see if I have extras, but I think only odd shapes and scraps.

Oh yes! I'll bring some fine-mesh screens for cleaning seeds, though I gave away most of the best sizes. I know I have something around right for dust-like seeds, plus some coarser mesh sizes in plain, rustable steel. They started as 12" x 12" squares, and most have been partly used up or given away.

http://garden.org/ideas/view/R...

You can also put very flimsy screens like fiberglass window screening or mesh fabric into embroidery hoops to use for cleaning seeds.

My husband has some sort of connection to the Bonhauffer (sp?) folks, and will check to see if he can arrange for a guided tour or something along those lines. The way this spring is sprouting, I'm thinking perhaps mid-March? When the heck is Easter this year, that one always surprises me...

Easter is March 27, so perhaps one or two weeks prior to that?

I might be tempted to make the (long) drive up. It would be really awesome if someone else from the eastside (Bellevue, Redmond, Kirkland) would like to commute with me.

Hi In2art-
I have also been thinking about carpooling. Springcolor also lives near me, and RickCorey is kinda close, but his car could be filled with bulky things. I live just off route 9 in Lake Stevens, so if you got here we could take my station wagon, lots of room for plants in there! Lake Stevens is at about the halfway point for you, if nobody else from the Bellevue area is coming.

I'm in but need to have a date so I can get it on the calendar. My niece has a bridal shower on Saturday in March, let me look.

Shower is March 26th so that day is fill for me.

I think it's a great idea, count me in. I recently relocated to this area (King Co) and know a few ATP folks here and it would be fun to meet more.

If it's on a day when I can go, there would be room for 1-2 other people in my car, except that the trunk might be pretty full. if 1-2 people both brought many plants, that might not work.

But one person ought to fit, especially if we can set plants on top of steel shelving, which seems possible if we block them from sliding around.

But some weekends in March will be "taken", I just don't know which ones yet.

I hope I can come!

I remain computer compromised so not posting very often. Please post weekends you have a conflict and hopefully we can identify one that works for the majority. I am available any Saturday in March. My daffs are swelling So earlier may be better than later.

Mar 5
Mar 12
Mar 19
Mar 26 - SC conflict

I am open March 5,12,19, but I work on the 26th.