As far as I know now, I'm equally available on all four dates.

I had crocuses emerge, but then the clouds and drizzle came back. No blooms have opened.

Hello all, I'm in for March 12th or 19th It'll be very exciting to meet people in person
Cheers

March 5 or 12 work good for me

I can come any of those Saturdays. I used to be only 75% sure, but now I am sure.

Does March 12 sound good to you, Deb?

It appears that Mar 12 is the best date for folks, so let's roll with that. I will run over to the botanical garden to check out their daffodil progress and report back. If the daffs are done by then, they also have a large native plant display. Perhaps we could meet up at the garden mid morning (10:30 ish), tour it, then come back to my place for trades/chat/chow? I'm about 3 miles from the garden.

As an aside, I now have my regular computer back but it got reset to Windows 8 which I've never actually used, trying to get Don't-Buy-Dell to help me upgrade to 10 but so far no luck. So...still very frustrated.

I sure have been liking our mild weather, though, getting a lot of spring cleanup done! But, don't expect a display garden... Deb

Great! Thanks, Deb! March 12.

I found a street address for Bonhoeffer Botanical Gardens and some directions:

• I-5 North from Seattle
• Take the 300th St NW exit, EXIT 215. Go 0.23 miles
• Turn right onto 300th St NW. Go 0.20 miles.
. . . . . . . . .(If you reach I-5 N you've gone about 0.2 miles too far.)

2304 300TH ST NW is on the right.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .1. Your destination is just past 24th Ave NW
. . . . . . . . . . . . .2. If you reach 16th Ave NW you've gone about 0.5 miles too far


(I might wait near the entrance to the botanical garden for people to finish touring it, because I can only walk short distances and need to save my mobility. I'm sure there will be plenty of interest for me within a 1-2 block radius of the entrance.)

March 12th it is! Thanks for hosting this Deb!

The garden is quite easy to find, as Rick notes, just turn right on 300th, go up a short hill and look for the stone sign on the right. Exit 215 is one exit PAST the main Stanwood-Camano exit. There is a large sign for the garden, and it is located just before a small white Lutheran church also on the right. I plan to go out there this weekend and hopefully run into the guy who runs it. My place is located on the other side of the freeway. I'll send Dmails to everyone who has responded with my actual address and directions (they are about as easy as the directions to the garden).

At this juncture, I do not have an oven (it has been my year of equipment failure so far...) I may have one by March 12, but am not particularly counting on that (my luck with repairs has been rather poor). For simplicity, I am suggesting we all just bring along something simple to share in the way of food, and whatever beverage you prefer.

I look forward to seeing those I have already met, and meeting those I have not! Deb

I will be there. I will also try to get my sister to come, she just moved to Camano Island. She is an avid gardener but of course would have little to trade (houseplant cuttings?) but I will have plenty. She is not on ATP, but is on the "other" website as "momlady". She is in a new development, no cable yet!
I will bring some sort of easy potluck thing that does not require an oven, maybe a meal-type salad on ice.
I am still open to a bit of carpooling, but probably no more than one, as the car could get too full! I have a station wagon so lots of room in there.

I am just starting to think about what to bring.
I will plan an afternoon out in the garden dividing things.
I will make some houseplant cuttings.
I thought this might be a good way to find a home for various houseplants that do not fit my current decorating concept, or underperformed.
Would anyone want a big orchid? I have had it maybe 7 years, but do not seem to have saved the tag. It was beautiful, with warm Yellow? orange? flowers. It only bloomed the first year I had it. It is completely easy care, never gets a bug or any kind of disease. I have it in a 12" plastic pot, and the leaves get 2 feet tall, and look just like a grass. I sometimes forget to water it, but it does not die. It has always been in the same place, lots of light near a south window, in a bathroom that stays quite warm, and gets hot in summer. It looks kind of ratty, but I think could be a showpiece for a better caretaker! Without a bloom there is no way to identify it or know how to better care for it, unfortunately.

Mary, I do hope your sister can come. I'm also in the process of digging up some starts, although it is a bit difficult to know what might go or not. I can always dig on the spot, everything is really starting to pop out of the ground.

As many of you know, I have chickens. If anyone is interested in taking home some fresh droppings mixed with wood shavings for your compost, bring along a suitable container (bucket, bag, whatever). I will likely clean the coop before the event, but can save some black gold if anyone is interested. Warning - it's more than fragrant.

Looking forward to this even. Patty, Greg and I will car pool. I can get starts but T mail me if you have a request and I will see what I can do.

I only have sempervivum to share, I am just planning to bring several pots and if they are wanted then good

I found my way back to the thread...I may have a commitment, but if I don't, I will attend.

I'm a Master Gardener, and that date was set as a tentative day for going to people's yards and dividing perennials in preparation for our potting party the following weekend. All of this is for the plant sale that is held on the first weekend in May. It could wind up being a different day, or not at all if no one signs up to have us come dig in their yard.

I hope I can attend, I have lots of great things to share. I have already begun my spring dividing...in fact, I taught a class on dividing perennials to our neighborhood garden club just yesterday. Everyone brought clumps of something, and I demonstrated how to go about dividing something really large (a 3.5' diameter clump of Eupatorium maculatum purpurea aka Joe Pye Weed). It was quite interesting the way it grew...you could see the center ring from the original plant quite clearly. We took off the outer ring in about 5 chunks. Then later, I dug the center part on my own. It was too large to lift, but I managed to get it tipped sideways and put a shovel handle across the hole to keep it tipped up. I started cutting with a hand saw. After I got down about 4" or so, I switched over to two garden forks and was able to pry it a bit at a time. I then divided the two halves in the same way. I was really proud of myself for getting through it on my own. I then came inside and had a good long nap. Today, it has been to rainy to get out there to replant the chunks I want to keep (my back is not ver enthusiastic about it either).

I also have two really large chunks of Helianthus 'Lemon Queen' that may be even worse to dig, I think this is also damping my enthusiasm toward getting back out there today

I only grow sempervivum, to that is all I have to share. They are looking great and I'm happy to share but don't know if anyone else is that interested in them. They will be in 4inch pots.

I sure hope you can attend. That was a whopper job. Looking forward to meeting all.

I'm definitely in! March 12. Does anyone still need a ride from the Seattle / Lynnwood / Everett area? I think there's only room for one person.

My crocuses came up recently, then did their usual rainy-PNW-thing and refused to open up. Maybe while-in-bloom is the worst time to dig bulbs, but if anyone would like a few clumps of Crocus vernus, , I could bring those.

Other than that, I have no plants to offer, and didn't plan to bring many or any home, but will bring my seed collection and:

2 boxes of old seeds + one box of new seeds
1-2 steel wire shelves, suitable for supports for screening mulch or soil.
fine wire-mesh screens for cleaning seeds plus tin snips (for Linda)
set of tiny measuring spoons for dividing up seeds.
a tub of all-nitrogen urea fertilizer (46-0-0)
WW I bayonet and/or used stainless steel knives, for deep weeding
gray-painted steel "angle irons" (uprights for steel shelving, suitable for strong posts)

If requested:
plastic yogurt tubs, will drill 1/4" holes if wanted
many 20 ounce (2.75") or 2 liter soda bottles (4.25") (will cut off tops & drill holes if wanted)
variety of sprayers, spinners and odd fittings for irrigation systems

I'm not sure how Deb has this planned but when we did this years ago it was very loose. I believe we just put everything on a trailer bed and we had great discussions about plants and everyone took what they wanted. Yes, people did private trades as well but that was done through private mail. I will be bring plants and I sure hope it is a one way ride with my plants to another gardener. I'm in this to meet you all, can't wait.!!

I'm with Julia on keeping things simple. My thought is to set up a piece of plywood on a couple sawhorses, put the plants on that, and once we've all had a chance to look things over, just more or less take turns at grab-n-go. I'm also going through my garden supplies and hopefully will rehome other garden related items. At prior PNW garden events, this seemed to work fine. As demonstrated here on ATP, gardeners are essentially well mannered and generous. Everyone will go home with new treasures.

I like this plan, it sounds easy and fair. Like springcolor I am also "in this to meet you all" I might spend a bit of time looking at peoples plant lists to see if they have anything specific offered I would want to ask for. Sorry mine has little in it, I haven't taken the time needed.