Mark the Date - Green Elephant Plant Swap

The Plant Swap is Saturday November 3, 2007 from10 am to Noon. Rain or shine gardeners from around Puget Sound gather to exchange and share plants, seeds, ideas and enthusiasm with others. There are no sales, just trades or freebies, please.

The Green Elephant is a twice-a-year plant exchange on the first Saturday in March and on the first Saturday in November. It is hosted in North Redmond, Washington, at the Episcopal Church of the Holy Cross. The site offers parking, covered areas, indoor facilities, kitchen, lots of lawn, and a playground. It’s five minutes from I-405 and I-520.

The street address is:
11526 - 162nd Ave NE
Redmond, WA 98052

If you have any questions, contact Jim Eichner at 425-223-7249.

Tailgating Encouraged: The format for the trade is like a tailgate party. You just pull into the parking lot and open up your trunk to display your treasures. Traders exchange expert gardening information as well as plant materials. In two hours all the deals are sealed.

Free Stuff: Many gardeners generously share plants from the abundance of their gardens--An excellent way to begin your garden. There is always a pile of plants free for the taking at the swap.

In Pots or Bare Root: The Green Elephant is convenient for trading bare root plants. Simply dig and divide perennials bare root to trade. They are dormant and can be transplanted with no shock.

Winter Seed Sowing: You can increase your gardens dramatically by winter seed sowing collected seeds. Your bring the pots, the rest is provided. Volunteers will be on hand to show you how it’s done. Soil and seeds are provided. You can come home with many new varieties of plants and hundreds of future seedlings by winter sowing.

Dahlia Demonstration: Do you grow dahlias? Dig your clumps of dahlias and learn how to divide, preserve, catalog and store them through the winter. A dahlia tuber exchange will increase your dahlia varieties too.

Take a walk in our beautiful memorial garden and see the dried flower arrangement in the church.

Even if you have nothing to trade, the swap is a great place to start your garden. Many traders love to help new gardeners get started. Come and ask questions, get advice, schmooze a little and you’ll walk away with some goodies. Bring some homemade cookies; gardeners are a pushover for food.

http://www.holycrossredmond.org/greenelephant.htm

I'm hoping to come this year. Is there a thread on gardenweb for people to arrange specific trades? I'm going to have lots of extra plants this year. I need to thin out the herd!

Why, funny you should ask. Firevicar asked me to post this and suggested I add one of the two links he sent. One was the . Of course, I chose the simpler one, not realizing that people would want to arrange specific trades. He says he's going to work on making the holycross site more interactive. Here's the second lnk:

https://auth.gardenweb.com/members/greenelephant

So, now, how do you arrange for more specific trades? Share your trade lists and then e-mail, or is there something else on the site to use?

Pixy, glad to hear from you and thrilled that you're coming. It will be great to meet you!!

Thanks! It will be fun to say howdy in person. Here is the link to the page where people set up personal trades.
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/expacnw/

Sometimes on DG this is known as the 'other' gardening forum. LOL! I don't know how much specific trading happens at this plant swap, but I'm thinking quite a lot. I've only ever been to one other at a DG members house, and it was much fun!

Thanks, Pixy. I see now that you said in your previous message that you were looking for the specific thread. It appears I wasn't really paying attention - trying to do too many things at once, as usual. ;-p I don't go to gardenweb much - spend way too much time on dave's as it is. But I'll check this out. I need to figure out what I'm going to bring, too. Mostly young trees, I think. I get them from arbor day and then don't have space for all of them. :-)

LOL! I understand the 'doing too many things at once' comment! I don't go to gardenweb at all unless there is a swap going on. I have too much to do to get involved in yet another gardening website. I belong to this one and to a coop/wholesale one. I spend WAY too much money on that one. I will be bringing lots of plants to the swap, mostly to give to good homes. I'm thinning the herd.

Katie,
I will be bringing lots of stuff too. It makes me feel good to know that they will go to loving homes (I am such a plant dork.)

Rachierabbit, I'm totally with you on that one!!

You guys are gonna love the Green Elephant. It's been getting bigger & bigger every year. I always get good stuff there.
If any of you have a greenhouse or know how to overwinter tropicals, let me know. I might have some things you'd like. :)
- Tom

I have a greenhouse :0)

Well have you every tried brugmansia? There are a few of us bringing cuttings for new people to try out.

Tom - it will be good to meet you!! I'm going to try to remember (not always easy LOL) to wear a nametag so I can be sure to meet all of you.

Yes it will be good to meet you all as well. Jim usually has nametags for us there. I probably wouldn't remember my own name there if it wasn't for the name tags.
Here's a link to my tradelist for anyone who's interested: http://members.gardenweb.com/members/exch/grrrnthumb It's still incomplete with tons of stuff I just haven't had the time to catalog.
Here's a picture of a brugmansia:

Tom-
I have not tried brugs yet. I started some datura that I got from (susielovesplants) from seed this summer. Going to repot them and move them to the greenhouse this afternoon along with my echium. I would love to try a brug. I need to get my plants together so that I can put my trade list together. Stay tuned! Rachel

I'll have get myself organized and get my tradelist up there. Thanks for the link to yours. Wish I had a greenhouse. I'm going to try brugmansia next year - they are so spectacular.

Glad Dave's going to remember the tags. One less thing to fill my [little] brain up. :-)

I'd love to share some of my extras and meet everyone. Do folks mind if some things aren't labelled? I've got some no-id daylilies that are very nice but I have too many of. Would anyone want them? I've got other stuff, too, I'm sure. It's just not organized yet.

How many cookies do people bring?

Oh, Susybell. It would be great if you could come.

I haven't participated before, but I get the sense that there are newbies who'll be excited at anything flowering. I'm not a total newbie and I'd love daylilies.

I'd love daylilies too :0)

Hi all, I love daylilies too, named or un-named---I am a newbie and I am going to the Green Elephant Plant Swap too--I can't wait!!! I have some callas that I will bring and some datura and red castor bean seeds. I will be looking through my plants to see what else I have.
Sharon

This is going to be so much fun! Brugmansias are so beautiful. Even if you don't have a greenhouse, you can overwinter them in a cool garage that protects them from frost. I have a greenhouse, but it was too full last year to house the brugs.
Mine were pitiful this year. Tom, maybe you can explain to my why some of mine made it just fine through the winter in the garage, even putting out a leaf or two, but then when I put them in the garden, after the frost date of course, I lost some of them. Can't imagine why! I had a really nice variegated one with peach blooms last year and it just went kaput on me when I planted it out.
My B. sanguinea grew like crazy but did not bloom. Do you grow this one? It is a bit hardier than the brug hybrids, but perhaps I need to bring it in as well? If so, I'll be bringing cuttings from that one to the swap. I will check out your trade list.


Tom, I'm looking at your swap list and I have a couple of things you are interested in. You have a couple of things I am interested in as well. I will dmail you.

This message was edited Oct 5, 2007 9:35 PM

Susybell, most people will appreciate labels on the plants. It sounds like there are going to be a lot of new gardeners there and they will definitely need labels. I've been thinking of how I'm going to do this because I do not have the time to put everything in pots, etc. Since it's fall, most things are dormant anyway. I'm going to bring my plants in big boxes or plastic laundry tubs packed in peatmoss, which I will then put into the garden soil. I'm going to buy a large package of plastic knives and a package of rubber bands. Every plant will get a knife with the plant name written on it along with it's height, and a symbol for the amount of sun it needs written w/ a sharpie or a paint pen. Then the rubber band goes around the plant and knife. It's simple and cheap, and then the recipient can use the knife as a marker in the garden.

The only other swap I've gone to I ended up with just as many plants as I came with. This time I really REALLY need to come home with less than I leave with!!

Pixy - I think i'd better go just to see if you really can leave with a smaller percentage than what you bring!
I wasn't going to go as i had plans for that weekend. But things can change (or be changed...)
I have things i would love to pass on to others. But curious about getting cuttings rooted in time....?
Is there a spring version of this one? I can't remember from last spring - foggy brain & trying desperately to forget last winter.

Rats! A spy! LOL!
Getting cuttings rooted in time might be touch and go, depending on what you are trying to root. Some things do it fast. But you better come just to see what others are bringing. I've just been out in the garden with my flashlight starting my list of 'haves'. Yes, I realize this makes me just a little insane, but what's life without a bit of insanity? I will have a LONG list of 'haves'.
I believe there is another one of these the first weekend in march or something on that order. Check the post at the top. I think it says when in that post.

ooooo - I'm not so observant today.
I have a rather substantial Phygelius that must come out. I know these can be done as root cuttings, but haven't had the time to even take a look-see. More important things happening in the back. The front is on hold for now. In any case, I let Verbena bonariensis take over an entire raised bed, and have many healthy sized verbenas. They were cut 2 days ago, so they are easier to manage. Besides, I didn't think anyone would want to deal with a 5' plant!
I really don't have a whole lot more - I did a lot of plant editing this summer & the compost pile grew quite large.
I'm going to try to go: maybe the weather will cooperate & be a sunny 72°!
Hahaha! yah, sure.....

Katye yes there is a spring trade too. First Saturday of March & November. This is a good time for cuttings for me, I start them under lights in the garage. :)

Susy even if you don't know the particular variety, it's still much appreciated if you can label it just "daylilly". It's really suprising how much all these plants can look like each other when you get them home.

Pixy do you want to try another variegated brug, like in the picture up above? What was the date you put them out? Sometimes when they're on the borderline of cold they don't like to stay too wet if we get a lot of spring rain. Another thing may be that they will usually loose most of their current leaves as you acclimate them to the outdoor sun. The more gradual the better.
Yes sanguinea needs to come inside. It's possible it could make it in a mild winter in the perfect spot in the warmer parts of Puget Sound, but I wouldn't count on it.
I believe Patrick might be giving a little talk on Intro to Brugs after the plant swap. We'll have a bunch of free cuttings for newbies as well. :^)
- Tom

Sure, I'll take a cutting of the variegated brug. I keep my brugmansias in my garage over the winter and keep the soil close to dry, but not quite. There is a window in the garage, but it has a northern exposure so the amount of light is probably negligible. I'm sure I will learn a great deal at Patrick's talk! I'm flying by the seat of my pants with brugmansias. I love to be in zone denial except when I have to be moving plants in and out.
Our spring was so cold and wet that this may have been the problem with the brugs. Also, I do tend to put things in the ground rather than leaving them in pots. Maybe they didn't like being unpotted.

In the photo above, Tom, is that a datura to the left of the Brugmansia? Whatever it is (my eyes just don't tell the tale anymore) I love it! Perhaps this is the seed you have listed on your trade page? I have a datura that I got from Firevicar many years ago at the local church plant sale. He used to be the vicar down the road and he started an annual plant sale at the local Episcopal church that continues to this day. I got a regular white datura from him and it comes back every year and blooms by the middle of august.



One thing I am looking for is large leaves from people's perennials or trees. If anyone can bring me big leaves from their garden, I would appreciate it. They need to be whole with no slug bites, etc. I do leaf casting, so I like for them to be as perfect as possible. It's a little late to find really nice ones, but it never hurts to ask. I am particularly looking for ligularia (the round type), large leaves of maples of all kinds, and any leaves with interesting shapes. I would love more tropicals. I have the usual elephant ears, but the more unusual tropicals I do not have. They can be stored in damp papertowels or newspaper in the refrigerator in the days before the swap.

This message was edited Oct 5, 2007 11:16 PM

Tom - I would love a cutting of any Brug. I lost 2 of mine to an overnight drop in temps - they went to mush. One was variegated, yellow-flowered & had a very nice tall shape. The other was white-flowered, lower, and in full-flower looked like a petticoat. Both were water pigs. But I loved them anyway. Anything that smells that good is a must have.

I really meant that they were an unknown variety. I'm sure they have a name, but I don't know what it is. I can still put a tag on them, I guess.
They're a nice little daylily, otherwise. Hmm, now what else do I have? I'll have to think about it...I don't have anything exotic to trade-that I do know-and I don't want to come home with lots and lots of new plants, anyhow.

Can you bring houseplants, too? I'm a bit overrun with jade plants at the moment, and of course pothos.

Pixy, I might be able to provide a hosta or ligularia leaf or two-depending on the slug army. I'll let you know closer to the swap if I've got any leaves that are still any good.

You can bring anything that grows. What color/size are your daylilies?

The daylily is a short one, with dark plum/purply blooms. I don't have a picture of it. It's not Stella D'Oro or Pardon Me, though.

Pixy, yep that's the Datura on my trade list. Very dark purple on the outside, whitish lavender on the inside. I'll bring you some, but I have to apologize in advance I don't have much left and they're a few years old. If they don't germinate I'll have more in the spring. I will bring you a cutting of the variegated one.
If anyone is interested in Patrick giving a brug talk at the trade, please let him know here http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/expacnw/msg0917433128588.html?13. Right now it's just a maybe, pending interest.

Katye I'm not sure I'll have enough of the variegated one, but if not I'll have cuttings from Charles Grimaldi, maybe others, and I can bring one for you for sure. Are you going to put together a list of what you can bring? :)

Susy I always bring a few houseplant cuttings too.

I'll go to the link and vote for a brug talk. I can use it!

I spent the afternoon "potting up" my two-year-old arbor day trees for my new gardening friends. I didn't finish, but oh was it fun. Now I just need to be sure that I'm identifying everything correctly. Pixy, I thought of you because I have one small tree that is very red, much the same color as a young Stewartia I have. I don't know what it is, but it sure it pretty. I also have a couple of Pin Oak. I don't really like the full grown shape that they show on the Arbor Day site for these, but you can't beat the fall color.

Mary, I do believe that I have several white dogwoods and I'm saving three for you.

I also have a Mountain Ash, several Washington Hawthorne, 2 Forsythia, 2 Kerria and 14 Colorado Blue Spruce. They are all still small, mind you, but they have been doing very well and I'd like to see them go to homes and get planted. And I have a Horsechestnut that was rescued from an empty lot in the city. I need to have someone take this soon as it feels like its roots have already reached China!!

Then there are the trees that are still mysteries to me - I need to work on identifying them before they lose their leaves completely.

I'll try to get my info onto my trade list on gardenweb as I take stock of what I have. Hope tomorrow isn't too rainy and cold, as I still have more to do . . .

Katie
If you have any more dogwood I would love one or two. Rachel

I think I do. This is what I think are dogwoods. I'm going to see if I can't confirm because they've all grown differently. But I'll save a couple for you.

I'm working on my trade list. Here's a link to what I have so far:
http://members.gardenweb.com/members/exch/pixydish?2555

I'm sure I have a lot more to add.
Katie, are those native dogwoods?

No - not native, I'm afraid. They came from wherever Arbor Day sends them from. I'm guessing that's not the PNW. I would love some native dogwood . . . they are hardy, though. They came as sticks 2 or 3 years ago and have lived in these pots since then.

Pixy - how do I access my trade list on gardenweb? Can you describe briefly? I'm having trouble finding it.

Thanks.

This is what they should look like, unless something at Arbor Day has changed.

http://www.arborday.org/shopping/memberships/memberships.cfm?trackingid=528

I'm wondering if I don't have a couple flowering crabapple. Investigating . . .

They don't make it easy on gardenweb, do they? I spent about 15 minutes trying to figure out how to put stuff on my trade list. No directions are anywhere. What I suggest you do, since I have no idea how I found it, is pull up my trade page, go up to your address bar, take my name out and substitute your own name. I think that should work.

Or go here after making sure you are logged in:
http://members.gardenweb.com/members/exch-edit.cgi

I forgot I put a link on my desktop because I can't remember how I found the thing. It was a complete accident.


This message was edited Oct 6, 2007 9:59 PM

I found more info: they are cornus florida.

Thanks, that's what I'll do. Makes you realize it's not easy to design a user-friendly site, that's for sure.