As an annual event we would like to invite people May 27, Friday 4-7 pm for our annual garden swap.
Unitarian Church of Evanston parking lot. Plants, seedlings, divisions, garden items. Come with something you have, leave with something you want to grow.
Post your wants and haves if you like below.

I'm sure there are a whole lot of us who wish we could be there! It's a bit of a trip from here.........

Yeah!! I can't wait! Thank you for organizing it again. I will bring whatever I can pot up. Here are what I plan to bring:

Alchemilla mollis - Lady's mantle
Carex greyii
Feverfew
Forget-me-not - annual & perennial
Hydrangea 'Annabelle'
Johnny-jump-up (Viola tricolor)
Lamb's Ear
Lamium maculatum
Leucojum aestivum 'Gravetye Giant'
Lily of the valley
Monk's Hood?? EDITED: sorry, not monk's hood - turned out to be an anemone, possibly Anemone canadensis
Penstemon 'Husker Red'
Phlox paniculata
Rudbeckia 'Goldsturm'
Rudbeckia triloba
Variegated Solomon's Seal
Wild ginger

I will continue to update the list as the plants continue to grow.

I would like:

- Vegetables
- Dutchman' Breech
- Epimedium rubrum
- Mayapple

Yay, I'm so excited!

Sorry we won't see you, wcgypsy, it's always a really fun get-together!

Pitimpinai, may I please have a monkshood? I will hopefully have some cucumber and tomato plants you may be interested in.


I'm still creating my list of available stuff, but I know for sure I will have:

Snowdrops (short very early blooming)
Agastache foeniculum
Tansy
Aster: Wood's (or very similar)
nepitella calamint (low growing, lavender flower)
Rudbeckia seedlings--yellows and browns

Plants I'd love to get are
pure white iris
white calamint
purple prairie clover

I live in the Chicago area, just west of O'Hare airport so Evanston is only about a 30 minute drive. Can you give me a little more information on the event. How old is this swap meet and what kind of participation have you experienced. Thanks.

Boy...we used to have some really great Roundups (old DG terminology) out here at drdon's and at kathleen's (kaperc). Those were the days, lots of plants and good food. I hope you guys have a good time.....I already see plants listed that I would grab right away....LOL...nothing better than a plant or seed swap.

Hi wcgypsy ,
Wish you could come. The swap is always a great fun. So many new friends and so many old friends get together for this event. It is most anticipated and the invitation most welcome especially on a cold, dreary day like today.

frahnzone5,
This plant swap is 10+ years old. Participation ebbs and flows. There were times when more than 100 people showed up. Ever since it has been moved to Unitarian Church, we usually see around 50 - 70 people. People bring whatever gardening item (s) they have and take whatever catches their fancy. I always go home with more than what I originally planned.

Seedrat,
Monk's hood has been potted up. I will pot up some more as the weather clears.
I would love the veggies, Snowdrops and Rudbeckia hirta seedlings, please.

Well, I'm really glad to see that you're doing this....and surprised that there are not more in different areas. In our California group we're really too spread out to do a swap.....

I think it's great how the swap has continued year after year, moving to the parking lot when having a large gathering in the yard wouldn't work because of sad circumstances for the neighbors. It's too bad people don't get to see Oerickson's beautiful garden, but I'm sure she's glad to not be readying her hundreds of plants as well as trying to make the garden look super tidy for guests.

The swap was first organized by Oerickson and her gardening neighbor so they invited friends and neighbors and those of us in an online Wintersowing group when she went to our (one?) IRL meetup, and it's always had a great variety of plants and so many fun people to talk to! We moved over to this site for our pre-swap "insider trading" at Pitimpinai's suggestion. I like this site a lot. I love that we do some trading here, because then I know a plant I have extra of is wanted (I cannot fit all my extra plants in the SUV)

People bring all sorts of stuff to the swap, from seeds and seedlings to large clumps and trees. We see plenty of orange daylilies but also nice hostas, some even with commercial nametags. It's not a one-on-one swap, just bring what you need to find a home for, and take what you think you have a spot for! One of my duties is to "petal-push" to try not to have anything left over at the end of the day.

People with no plants to offer are welcome, hopefully they will bring spare pots or magazines or even snacks and drinks or cardboard boxes, those all come in handy during the swap. (Most people don't think to bring stuff to protect their cars! I thought they were GARDENERS! :D ) Sometimes we just shove plants into peoples hands and tell them to pay it forward. It's such a nice afternoon, filled with generosity and good will.

Frahnzone5, if you attend, just be aware it's the Friday before Memorial Day Weekend, so traffic gets bad early. I hope you do come!

Pitimpinai, last year you really wanted that tidy, innocent-looking chocolate mint I brought for someone else. Do you still want one?

OERICKSON, I hope you email a link to this thread soon so we can see some more of our regulars in here for trading

Thank you, Seedrat, for telling us about the swap. I love reading about how the swap and our friendship have evolved over the years. It always warms my heart when I think about the swap and all of you. I have more time to spend in the garden this year, so I will pot up as many plants as I possibly can.

Yes, please bring me some chocolate mint. Thank you. Last year, I got some chocolate mint from the Plant Project, but I have not seen any shoot yet.

EDIT on 4/27/2016: Seedrat, my chocolate mint is sprouting big time. Please give the one you planned to bring me to anyone who may want it. Thank you.

OK, I'm going to start my spreadsheet!

Hi All!

I'm back! I don't think i'll have any perennials to give away this year, but i'll have some annuals i'm growing from seed in a greenhouse. I'll bring some cheese and wine though! :)

I am looking for a few prairie plants, if you don't mind. I started a new neighborhood organization and we're thinking of planting a few butterfly habitats for the monarchs. I'll take any milkweeds, rudbeckias, and coneflowers.

I'm also hoping to tap into some of the veggies early. we have a local neighborhood garden, Olive's Community Garden for the Hungry and i'd like to donate some veggie plants to get them started. The garden feeds about 80 under-privileged families and donates the extras to the local food pantry.

https://www.dnainfo.com/chicag...

https://www.facebook.com/Olive...

I can't wait! It's one of my favorite days of the year.

Hi, RolRod!

I will have some prairie plants for you and hopefully milkweed syriaca too. My milkweed plants send out runners which are not happy about being dug up but they seemed to do ok last year. (I'd love to hear from anyone that took one of my transplants last year).

OH yeah, some Monarda would be great. I think i always miss out on Monarda, for some reason. I may just have to buy seeds and start my own.

Red monarda will be no problem--Pitimpinai gave some to me years ago and both of us usually have some we can bring. I will see if I still have some lavender.

Hi RolRod,
Yeah!, so good to see you post. I have plenty of Monarda and Rudbeckia. You can come by my house and get them before the swap, if you like. Except for doctor's appointment and early morning swim, I am home all the time. You should see the garden before this heat burns everything.

Hi Pitimpinai!!! Back from all your travels? you posted some stunning and inspiring photos. I will definitely stop by this week or next week (depending on rain). I'm a little swamped today or i'd run over there later.

I may have some carnations that i'm growing from seed for my dad's memorial garden. They should be ready by swap time. I can bring a few of those since the germination rate was so high. I think i have white and orange.

Next year i promise to get back to growing some tomatoes and peppers.

Hi everyone, glad to see we all survived and are perennials!
Frahn, just like seedrat says we do not have strict rules- bring what you have- plants, seedlings, divisions, garden items, etc. Newbies are welcome! There plenty to share. This site is used for pre-trading but not everyone participates so there will be more people at actual garden swap.
Yes, we are into 10 plus years and hoping to keep going.
Currently I will have some veggies as usual- tomatoes, peppers sweet only, eggplant, maybe zukes and cukes not sure. I should have some heuchera americana from seed, ligularia from seed. Winter aconitum does well for everyone and disappears- love the stuff!
Looking for banana peppers, forgot to get seeds this year. And some herbs as well. If anyone has garlic to spare , too.

Ooh, Oerickson may I have some ligularia to try?

I have garlic--I can bring starts, and I also have a giant harvest of garlic from last fall that people can eat or plant, as long as you don't mind that it's dirty (the outer covering is always gone when I dig them up!)

I'll also have basil seedlings, they're up!

Hi Everyone,
Yeah! I love this cool weather. I wish for more rain, though.

Seedrat, please bring me garlic and basil seedlings, please, please.
Nix the chocolate mint. Thank you.I am having mint galore.
A spearmint hitchhiked home with something last year. I have been digging up bits and pieces and shoots from my veggie bed everyday this month.

RolRod, Yeah, just came back from Mexico. Still mad with the car rental company. When I stop steaming, I will post some more photos. I might have to make at least 2 trips to bring all the potted plants to the swap unless you come by and take some off my hands.

Oerickson, I would love some toms, peppers, eggplants, please. May I come by this weekend or on your dY off? My cukes and zucchs have sprouted, so won't have room for anymore.
Are you splitting any epimedium rubrum this year? I am thinking it will look terrific on the spots where the gas company had dug and left naked.