PLEASE! WE NEED YOUR INPUT FOR ROUNDUP PLANNING!!! HELP!!!

We have set the official date and place for the roundup, but need help from the members who plan to come so we can make the First Annual PNW Roundup as fun as possible for everyone.

Location: Lynn Weidman's house ...the address is found in the details thread...Buckley, Washington

(details found at http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/962968/ )

DATE DETAILS:

Arrival time can be any time from Friday 8-28-09 (noonish or so) on.
Departure time from Lynn Weidman's can be as late as Monday afternoon 8-31-09.


FRIDAY:

We are planning on having a simple arrival dinner on Friday that will consist of chilli and bread, and will be available from 6:00 on, so if you get there Friday night, you will have a hot meal waiting.

SATURDAY:

Our thoughts were to organize a group outing for the day to enjoy both the local area and getting to know each other.

I was thinking that we should start Saturday's activities with a no-host (that means you buy your own for those not down with the lingo :P ) breakfast at the local Shari's for anyone interested in a morning meal, to ease the workload of our generous hostess. There will definitely be coffee available at Lynn's for anyone who is not a "food first thing in the morning" type of person.

Pixydish has been kind enough to offer to open her garden in Lakewood to us for a tour, and has suggested a tour of Lakewold gardens which is within walking distance from her home (at a cost of $5/person). She gave me the website if you are interested. http://www.lakewoldgardens.org/
We could do the Lakewold tour in the morning, and then do a tour/picnic at Pixy's (we could either each bring in our own take out from the local businesses, or if enough people are interested, we could pool $$ and have a simple sandwich lunch catered.

There are a couple of very nice nurserys (Watson's, Vassey and Windmill) that are between Lynn's and Melissa's that we could stop at either before or afterward (we were leaning towards afterward just in case you saw something in either garden that you just HAD to have :P )

If we did such a group tour, we could make something of an official time line, so that latecommers could hook up with the group mid-tour and not be totally left out.

Again, this is just my thinking, but I figured it would be nice to be back to Lynn's around 3 or 4ish, so people could rest after a morning of walking and talking.

IF THIS KIND OF TOUR SOUNDS GOOD TO YOU, PLEASE LET US KNOW. IF YOU WOULD RATHER HANG OUT AND GO NURSERY HOPPING WITH A LESS FORMAL STRUCTURE, LET US KNOW THAT AS WELL. We are really open, but want to have structure available if people would like it that way, but as this is our first time putting something like this together, we are shooting in the dark!

The evening will start with the "official" tour of our hostess' garden, and our plant and seed exchanges before a bar-b-q potluck dinner.

We are planning to do a door prize drawing after dinner (if anyone has anything that they would be willing to donate as door prizes, it would be fantastic! Plants that you have to share, but may not have enough to share with more than one person, garden ornaments, houseplants, anything fun that you can think of.... we have raffle tickets, and plan to put everything provided as door prizes on one table and first ticket drawn gets first pick, and tickets are drawn until prizes are gone.)

Again, as mentioned above, we plan to have a potluck dinner. We would love to know what you would be planning on bringing so we can make sure the meal is well rounded. For example, PNWMountaingirl and I will be bringing salmon as we will be fishing for a week in Canada that month.

The evening will end with a BYOB bonfire.

SUNDAY:

PNWMountaingirl and I will be hosting a breakfast and garden tour in our yards that are about a mile and a half or so away from Lynn's Sunday morning. We plan on fresh fruit, biscuts and gravy, and egg souffle, along with coffee of course. As far as I know right now, this is the last "official" roundup meal we are planning.

The rest of the day will be left to whatever activities you would like to pursue on your own or in groups. As mentioned above, accomodations will still be available at Lynn's through Monday afternoon, but we don't have plans for Sunday lunch or dinner at this point. There are plenty (well, OK, at least a few) restaurants within 5 miles of Lynn's house, so if you are staying over, you have many options.

We are planning on having a list of and maps to local attractions, and there was a suggestion of maybe coordinating some kind of artsy or garden class that we may fit in to all this as well. We are also working on possible activities for the "non" garden addicts.

At this point, for planning purposes/food/Lakewold reservations etc, we would like to know (or get your input on)...

1. Are you coming, and how many will be in your party?

2. What kind of accomodations will you require.

3. When are you planning on arriving, and when are you planning on departing.

4. Does the plan for Saturday sound like fun and something that you would be interested in participating in, or would people rather do stuff on their own? We want everyone to have the best time possible, so want as much input as possible.

5. What time shoud we start activities on Saturday? What time should we schedule breakfast on Sunday? We don't want people to think that we are starting things too early, especially if they are driving out on Saturday morning from a distance.

6. As very kindly suggested, we are planning on arranging food to accomodate people who do not eat meat...but we would kind of like an idea ahead of time to help with preperation if you would like vegetarian chilli, etc.

A lot to think about, but as much help and input that you can give will be greatly appreciated. We do want this to be successful, and firming up plans will make it much easier.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Julie

This message was edited May 4, 2009 11:26 PM

This message was edited May 5, 2009 7:58 AM

First outline edited slightly with input from a couple of you. Please please...even if you don't know when you will be here for sure or what you are bringing for sure, let us know if our Saturday plan sounds like fun or if you would rather go in a different direction. Don't worry about offending anyone...we just want to try to start firming up plans for the people who are volunteering their time and/or gardens so they can plan accordingly. If you would rather d-mail than post on this thread your preferences, please do it!

Thanks!

Julie, you did a fantastic job in presenting this, much better then I could have done. A GREAT BIG THANK YOU!!!
I might add this:
There will probably be a lot of leftovers for meals/snacks on Sunday and Monday. Chili dogs are always good!
We do have a garage refrig, (after I kick out my seed packages), so there is plenty of room for leftovers, your own food, etc.
We just bought a hot tub, being delivered today, so bring your suits. Sorry, no birthday suits!
Plenty of sleeping accommodations, some have already been spoken for. Plenty of parking space, tent and RV space.

I'll be driving down Saturday morning and staying the day, then driving back home. Once I get there, you can point me in whatever direction and I'll go. I am not coming for the tours, plants, etc. I am coming to enjoy the physical presence of the wonderful people on this forum. :)

Thank you all for taking on the job of organization. I really appreciate all the effort you have gone to. I don't know for sure yet if my family will be coming for Friday and Saturday night, or just Saturday. It may depend on DH's work schedule at the time which can be variable and change suddenly if emergencies come up with the water systems he takes care of. The tours of Lakewold Garden and Pixy's amazing yard both sound fabulous. Then people could wend their way back via any number of nurseries, though I suspect I'm going to have so many plants from the exchange that I better not partake of too much more. I am really interested in seeing Lynn's and Julie's and PNWMgirl's gardens too. That seems like the most fun to me, since that is special to a get-together like this. So that sounds like a fine Sunday plan. I'll try to come up with an idea for the door prize collection. Need to ponder that and try to get creative in some way.

Just a plug here that Lakewold is completely worth seeing. Their website doesn't have enough photos. It is a large estate and has gardens throughout, including woodland, formal, and incredible creek with waterfalls that looks completely natural. There is also a very nice garden shop and small nursery with locally grown plants, including nice japanese maples and perennials. If people are coming up from the south on Saturday, they could come here first instead of driving all the way to Lynn's house and then back down this way.

Sorry I have been out of the loop. Its hard for me on the LapTop ( need new glasses)

But I am still planing on going, as of this time I am not sure I will have a car. I have the truck, but I am conserned about the planties riding in the bed for that long. ( concerned mother here)

We've missed you, Tills!!!

I have missed all of you, will try to stay in touch better. I hate this LapTop. LOL

Hey Tilly, maybe if you could make it to here or to Pixy's house, we could give you a ride the rest of the way.

will come up with a plan, this is Aug. we are talking about. LOL I hope my new car I blew up will be fix.

Thanks for all of the response so far! I know it is a long time ahead to plan, but those of us who are going to have people seeing our gardens for the first time need that much time to feel somewhat ready to show it off! At least we are all gardeners and understand that every garden and yard is an infinite "work in progress" and can see through the areas that aren't "done" yet to the beauty that they will eventually become!

There has been enough interest expressed in the Lakewold tour and Pixy's garden tour, that I think we will make it "official" ...will work out times soon. It is also looking like people are leaning towards having a catered picnic for a fixed price per person at Pixy's for lunch that day. I will be asking for signups to make our Lakewold reservations/ numbers for the lunch as we get closer to the round-up.

I think that Pixy had a great point that people who are coming up from the south or across the bridge on Saturday morning that are interested in these tours would benefit from meeting at Pixy's rather than driving all the way to Lynns and then going backwards.

There have been a couple of other cool suggestions that I think would be fun to incorporate...Katie59 had a wonderful idea for a white elephant type gift swap for Saturday's bonfire, and I can't remember who suggested the pot contest, but think that it would be fun to work that in as well.

Please keep your input and plans coming, as it really helps us out!

Just wanted to mention that quite a few responses have been coming to me through d-mail, so you haven't been able to see them all. I am appreciative of either type of response...even like the "I don't know but I think that I'll be there..maybe" ones. We know it is a long time away, but even knowing if people would have an interest in stuff IF they manage to make it helps us solidify something of a plan!

Gosh, I don't know if my pot will be ready by then. Hee Hee, just couldn't resist that one, Julie.

LOL! You're right...it might be a tad early! Funny how you can proofread things and still skip over word groupings that will jump right out to someone else!

Those who are staying here a our house are more than welcome to use the showers. The house will be open for bathroom, kitchen use, or just for an indoor place to gather. Who knows what the weather will be like, pray for sun!!! NO RAIN!!! DH might build an outdoor shower next to the hot tub, for those who would prefer to rinse off before/after using the hot tub, and not go through the house. But that is another project to add to the evergrowing list.

Rachierabbit, did you still want to help with the RU?
Pixydish, let me know what your thoughts are. Thank you so very much for including your lovely and extremely interesting gardens in the events. I am looking forward to seeing your gardens again, in a different season. I have always wanted to go to Lakewold Gardens, thanks for suggesting this.

It's shaping up to be a fun roundup. I welcome people from the southern area (or anyone really) who wants to come here first if arriving on Saturday. It would be a waste of resources for those folks to drive to Lynn's then back here, then back to Lynn's place. I have a large driveway and my street has parking. I also have neighbors who have plenty of parking. We can carpool from here to Lakewold. Even though it's only about a mile, if we buy plants there we won't want to carry them home. The garden shop is very nice and the woman who owns it carries interesting plants that most people don't have. She gets plants from edelweiss perennials as well as Mt. Tahoma, De grow nurseries, and other small local growers. They are very reasonably priced. For instance, right now she has a very nice Acer japonica for 20$. It's about 4 feet tall already. Very nice!

If we want to cater lunch that's fine, but also if people want to get their own, I am about 5 minutes from the Lakewood center where there are grocery stores, take out places, etc. There is a great Greek restaurant that makes stuff to go, and also a new Red Robin restaurant. It would be easy to call stuff in from my house and then go pick up. If we want to cater lunch, that's okay, too but it will take further planning. I was thinking we could do lunch in my yard because the weather WILL be nice.

In my experience, it's hard to keep to any kind of a schedule when people are getting their own stuff. My suggestion (and it is only a suggestion) is that we try to set a time for lunch and have something like subway sandwiches delivered. Anyone who wants to go that route can pay at lunch to make it easier.

My other suggestion is that we have a little gift exchange on Saturday night for people who want to participate. Gifts would be non-plant garden related and be under $30. They should be wrapped. People who brought gifts would draw numbers and then we'd open them in order. As each person's number comes up, they can decide to open a new gift or take someone else's (only one time). It would be much like a Christmas White Elephant gift exchange, except that the gifts wouldn't be White Elephants. If you're interested, post to the thread and let us know. We can adjust any of the rules to suit participants (just so we do it ahead of time and so everybody knows the rules).

I know that none of us is made of money. I also know that there will be costs borne by our hostesses (coffee, electricity, forks, papertowels, bandaids, etc.), no matter how hard we all try to bring our own stuff. Does it make sense to ask for people coming to the swap to send in a nominal amount to help defray this overhead? How much would it be - $15 a person?

Kathy

Katie59,
The White Elephant swap sounds like fun, I vote for it.
As far as the donations go, it would be nice to get some help, HOWEVER, I do not want someone to not come because they couldn't afford it. I don't want them to feel embarrassed about it either. That is one of the reasons I offered my home so no one would have the expense of motels, campsites, etc. I honestly expected to pay for everything myself. But donations would certainly be appreciated! We are certainly not wealthy, just common working people with a passion for gardening and a desire to share with others. (OK, we are enablers.)

I completely understand your sentiment, Lynn, and would do the same if I were in your position.

So let's all just give a little donation if we can and if we can't, then it's understood.

I'm hoping that we can make the gift exchange NOT be a white elephant, though. I know those are fun, but it'd be much more fun to have something for your garden from somebody else that you could use or display. I know I have a few too many real white elephants at my house just waiting to be donated or thrown away. :-)

Sorry, I called it White Elephant cuz that term was in my head. I agree, I do not want to spend money on worthless crap to send home with anyone. And I have enough worthless crap to fill a garage, don't need any more. I was never a big fan of gag gifts, too frugal with my money. Not to say, they are are cute at the time of opening, but that is about it for me. It seems like I am always the one who buys a nice gift, something I would enjoy, but always receives the thing someone else was trying to unload!
If someone wants to bring those items for door prizes, go ahead. I have some plastic hanging bags that I thought looked great at the nursery, but my attempt at planting one was disastrous. So guess what, DOOR PRIZE!!!

Oops. Sorry I put it that way. No need to be sorry. It is all about the white elephant exchange rules . . .

I agree, though, it's way too easy to fill up with the stuff you don't really like and miss out on the things you do.

I saw [what looked like] some great things called Plankets at Home Depot on sale the other day. They're for covering your more sensitive plants.

I also recently just found something I love for the garden. They come in different shapes, but I've found the one that works for me. They were on sale at Fred Meyer last weekend, but the sale price is similar to what you can get online, I think.

http://www.gardeners.com/colorful-garden-tub/PropertyMaintenance_YardCleanUp,37-027,default,cp.html

I agree about the white-elephant type gifts. Like Lynn, I usually end up with the funky stuff.
Q: at the end of August, will the nurseries cited have much variety to sell?
Q: what about a seed exchange / offerings of cuttings?

OK--gonna confuse the heck out of everyone as it is Julie typing this post, but was accidentally logged in as Mom. Sorry guys...down side of sharing a computer over coffee!

I think that the gift exchange will be a blast! As a matter of fact, I picked up my gift last night and am really excited about it! I figure that if it is something that I would love, then someone else in the group will have to love it! The plus side of a gift exchange at this event is that the conversations and photos shared on this forum have given people a wonderful insight into the types of things that would be enjoyed.

Katye, We are planning to have a plant and seed exchange on Saturday PM. If you have missed the thread, there is a pre-roundup have/want list that can be found here:

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/964425/

This is just the "preliminary" of the plant exchange, so that things can be potted/reserved ahead of time so they are available for sure. I would encourage anyone who has excess plants, or plants that they feel that people would like that they find available later in the season....bring them. Don't worry about having to haul them home again...like Lynn said above, her yard is huge and just in the beginnings of being, and PNWMountaingirl and I also have new woodland gardens that would be happy homes for any orphans. Also, we would make offerings to the people in South Prairie propper who went through a devestating flood this winter. Several yards and gardens that were just beautiful are nothing but silt now.

For the seed exchange, we plan on setting up a table and having people add to it as the day goes on. Then at a specific time, it will be a first come type of basis for what you want. I would suggest packaging at least a few of each variety of seeds that you are planning to bring to allow as many people to share as possible.

In terms of nursery stock, August is probably NOT the best time to find good quantities or varieties of plants. This is one of the reasons that we felt that incorporating garden tours as well as nursery stops would be a good idea. I am going to try to suggest nurserys that have either display gardens or nice gift shops so that there is going to be something to make it worth stopping.

PNWMountain girl has volunteered to be in charge of our "POT" contest (Lynn, you can quit laughing any time now!!!), that Susybell had suggested in the idea thread. She will be posting contest rules on this thread soon for anyone who would like to participate.

As for cuttings, some people have volunteered to start some on the have/want list. If you have something that you think people would like and are willing to bring fresh cuttings in a jar, that would be a wonderful addition to the plant exchange. I am going to make a "be sure to bring" list eventually, and was planning on suggesting bringing a container for cuttings if you are interested, as I know that Mom and I will be willing (within reason of course) to let people take cuttings of things in our yard on our garden tour.

Whew...hope you were ready for that long winded answer!

This message was edited May 9, 2009 9:24 AM

An exciting detail...

Interest was expressed in visiting the Mt. Tahoma Nursery which is in a very ROUNDABOUT way on the way back to Lynn's from Pixy's home.

Melissa, hope you don't mind me quoting you as I didn't really feel like typing all of this out again...so as Pixy told me:

"One thing that is nice about visiting Mt. Tahoma is that he no longer ships plants within the state of Washington, so if you want something from him you either have to find someone who carries his plants or you have to go there. The legislature has completely screwed the vendors from Washington state in terms of collecting sales tax. Now they have to collect the amount of tax that would be due from where the buyer lives, not from where the nursery is, so it's a calculating nightmare. He refuses to participate in that and I don't blame him. But that means visit his place, or forget it. ... his display gardens are supposed to be way cool and he is the local and national expert on building alpine/rock gardens"

She was absolutely right, and this nursery is visited by "inventation only". Katie59 was kind enough to share the link to his website:

http://www.backyardgardener.com/mttahoma/

I contacted the owner Rick, and he has graciously agreed to let those of us who want to see his nursery visit that Saturday afternoon. He requested that he have no more than ten guests at a time, so this nursery stop will be by signup only. He is willing to let us stop by in shifts if more than 10 people want to go, so it's not like anyone would have to be left out...we just need to plan ahead of time.

This is the perfect opportunity for anyone who has an interest in his plants to purchase...even if you will not be going to the nursery, some of us will be and we could pick your plants up for you. He requested that if people were interested in ordering ahead of time and having plants ready for pickup, they need to have their order and payment to him no later than August 15th. As his stock is limited towards the end of summer, I have e-mailed and asked if he would be willing to hold any purchases made this spring until the date of the Roundup. I will get back to you with this possibility when he gets back in touch with me.

I for one am definitely going to want to visit!

Ok..one more detail...(can you tell that my brain is stuck in Roundup mode this morning?) After thinking about it and reading Melissa's suggestion above, I am thinking that take out from Subway or such would be perfect for the picnic at here home. That will eliminate any unnecessary planning, and we won't over/under order food. Perfect idea Pixy!! And you are right.....IT WILL BE NICE WEATHER!

OK, so this is really me (Sharon) this time.
We think Susybell's idea about a "pot" contest would be lots of fun and a challenge as well.
Here are our ideas, and we will want your input soon so that the "competition" can mature: (How about that, Steve, both sexes in competition!)
The theme might be a "harvest" theme. (And WILL be unless something better is suggested soon or that one is vetoed.)
Plants will be limited to ten in number and to the following types (easy and cheap to find.)
Marigolds
Salvia
Petunias
Ageratum
Lobelia
You can use whatever container you would like. There will be a display table and each RU attendee will get one vote for the "best."

The recipient of the most votes will get a first choose of the door prizes. Any tie will be broken by a toss of a coin and then door prizes will be chosen by each of the winners.
I'm sure I have overlooked details. Please give me some input!

Thanks for all the legwork, Julie. Please put me on the Mt Tahoma visit list as it was my plan to go there in the first place. :-)

I like the idea of a pot contest. I can see both benefits and difficulties with limiting the plants used. Is there a particular reason we don't want to allow people to use a wider variety of plants? Do we want to specify pot size so that they are kind of comparable?

I think it might be fun to let people select their own themes . . .

Kathy

Sign me up for Mt. Tahoma. I've been meaning to get out there for ages.
I agree with katie59 about choosing the themes/plants. Maybe limiting it to size and number of plants?

I would vote for a wider variety of plants & themes.

Wow, it's cool that you've decided that this would be something fun to do. :) :)

When I first suggested this, my reasons for limiting the choices were to level the playing field, keep the costs down so that it would be easy for everyone to participate, and to make it more about creativity of the gardener.

Another reason is that if common plants are used they would be likely to be able to be found from Eugene to Bellingham to Kalispell.

Plus, it's not that hard to put a fantastic container together if the sky's the limit, you've got tons of plants that are cooler than everyone else's and you've got easy access to really great nurseries, but what can you that's original and interesting with the old familiar stuff?

I think, though, that it would be hard to do this if there was an assigned theme AND a limited plant list. I'm wondering if there should be some non-blooming choices too, though. And maybe change one of them to asters or mums because it is so late in the summer?

Here's a suggestion-you don't have to use all 10 plants, just only those, plus, in addition to the restricted list, there's "gardener's choice" for ONE plant in the container-but that you still have to use some of the plants on the list?

I think it could be a lot of fun just to see what folks came up with without a theme.

This message was edited May 10, 2009 11:27 PM

I have alot of catching up to do, but read some of the ideas.

I like the the idea of the gift exchange, but I think the idea would be " If I want it in my yard, then it would be a good gift" We all love things to put in the yard, windchines, Animals stuff like that. I would not do bath type stuff, as some people have proplems with them ( not knowing the person).

Also I have done things kinda like this in the WAY past ( for the Eagles was a member 15 years) If you put a donation jar out, so all can see it, you will be suprised on how much you will recive. But to put a $ amount on it , that does not work well. Most people will give what they can, others will give move cause they are enjoying it.

Just my input for now.

UPDATE on the Mt Tahoma nursery tour. Rick got back to me today about pre-ordering this spring for late summer pickup, and he says that he has no problem holding plants ordered/paid for now until we visit at the end of August. Just make sure to attach a note with your payment that you will be attending the PNW Roundup and that items will be picked up on August 29th either by you or one of the group attending the nursery tour. If you are looking for some of the hard to find items that he carries, I would suggest that you order early rather than waiting until we visit.

Very cool. Thanks, Julie, for setting this up.

Thanks Julie. You are doing a great job!!!! I would like to go to Mt. Tahoma, also.

Julie, I assume you have me signed up for Mt. Tahoma as well.

First Group for Mt Tahoma so far...will edit as I get requests:

1. Rarejem
2. Katie59
3. Pixydish
4. LynnWeidman
5. PNWMountaingirl
6. GwendaLou
7.
8.
9.
10.

We can sort out groupings/timing as the time gets closer. Will just keep this list up to keep track of who wants to go. Glad some of you are excited about going...I am really anxious to see his gardens after doing a little more research!


This message was edited May 22, 2009 11:00 AM

Thank you all so much for the suggestions that are rolling in!

I think it was awesome of Katie59 to suggest a small donation to help Lynn with the setup costs, and I thought Tilly's idea about a donation jar is the perfect way to do it! We will plan that direction.


PNWMountaingirl has taken all of your suggestions to heart, and we are revising the "pot" contest accordingly. She is now leaning towards:

1. Your choice of theme/title for your planter, but that theme/title needs to be given at the time of the contest...kind of like a parade float title.

2. No llimit to container size, but a limit of 10 plants...that should automatically keep the size of the containers somewhat comparable.

3. Out of the 10 plants, 5 have to be out of the specific plant list. The other 5 are planter's choice. Still gives a little consistancy, but allows for a lot more artistic freedom and creativity.

As for the plant list itself, non-blooming choices would be good too. What plants would you all like to see on the "have to have" list? Remember that these should be easy to find and inexpensive. We will try to have the official contest rules posted by this weekend so that those who want to get started on their projects can.

Thanks again for all of the helpful input! It is looking like it is going to be a wonderful time.

We are getting some items from BocaBob for the RoundUp. He sells stacker planters, incredible fertilizer, and coconut coir, among other things. I am using his products, after reading fabulous reviews.

This sounds great!