Thanks seedrat for the lovely plants. I have potted up 8-10 New england aster plants from them 2-3 are small clumps and rest of the seedlings (one to two stems) are in small cups. One clump is hot pink and rest of them are purple. They are looking good and ready for swap.

You were looking for begonia last year which my sister got i think. I have small 4" seedling of it if you like I can bring them for you. It is wax begonia I think. The leaves are round and green to bronze color.

I have baby tears plant in small quantity if anyone needs. These are not hardy but did very good on window sill and multiplied and spread to the other pots nearby. Makes nice carpet outdoors.

This is getting exciting! So many lovely offerings.

I found I have chocolate eupatorium if anyone wants some. It’s a great one to have blooms in the fall.
Also heliopsis, a tall plain bright yellow. Loosely double. It might be the same kind as Jasmine has.

It’s been a good year for phlox seedlings. But I now have so many colors, that I don’t know what any of these are. So unless there is an interest, I will just pot up the best for the general table, and pull the rest.

Seedrat, you have so many nice things. I don’t want to get too greedy. I don’t know how you and pitimpinai can possibly dig and pot up so much!

I’m not familiar with calamint. Is it for cooking, or is it an ornamental? So far I have steered away from all actual mints, fearing they might invasive.

The cherry tomatoes sound good. I don’t have much sun left, so cherry tomatoes are the only ones that ripen fast enough to use. I would like any variety that you have enough of.

I don’t need any catmint, but thank you. I already grow Walker’s Low.

Jasmine, is your purple New England Aster a tall variety? I’m into purple lately, especially if it is a deep purple. But I am looking for shorter ones.

The baby tears sound interesting. Good for a planter with annuals?

Oerickson, I would like some heuchera seedlings if you have enough.

Seedrat-I have both persimmon and black cherry tomato seeds for you. Any other varieties that you might want?

Linnea-I would love some phlox. I'm partial to pink (used to have Eva Cullum at the old house as an homage to my daughter, Eva) but surprises are fun.

I potted up seedling bunches of German thyme, Greek oregano, and lemon basil yesterday if anyone wants. I also have been tending to a small patch of yerba mansa that I brought back from an herbal medicine class in Arizona last year. I don't think that it will survive winters here as a perennial, but it runners and spreads readily if given the right conditions and is a powerful plant medicine (leaves, flowers, roots) especially as an anti-inflammatory, as well as a pretty plant. I have mine in a large self-watering container that I overwintered in my garage next to a window and it came back beautifully with a 50% increase in plants. I could pot up one or two to share with others if there is interest.

Happy, I will have some phlox for you. I have some I am 95% certain are a lavender pink, as I have only one color planted on one side of the house. Not a bright pink like Eva Cullom. The ones in my main bed could be either the same lavender pink, a purple with white eye, or white with pink eye, or “red” which is really closer to raspberry. Or plain white. At some point I expect to see crosses. So let me know if you want for-sure lavender pink and / or a “pot-luck” phlox. The “pot luck” are small, so I would put several in a pot.

Lemon basil sounds interesting. My husband loves basil. He will eat it plain or chop it up and mix into yogurt. I’ve never had the lemon kind. I imagine it would be good in Thai cooking.

I’d like to talk to you at the swap about the yerba mansa. I am taking anti-inflammatories due to my knee injury and starting to think about safer alternatives.

Linnea, Ok will bring baby tears. They do good with annuals. I plant them in planter with other plants and their root stays shallow so they don't hurt any other plants. New england Asters are dark purple but are taller. It grows upto 3-4' high. I can bring it for you if you are interested. I think if you prune them they can stay short under 2' but not sure.

May I have Phlox red and bright pink or pot luck please? I have white and lavender ones.

Happy, may I have lemon basil please?

Linnea, I will be bringing many of those plants anyway, so if you want something, just say so I've gotten a lot of nice plants from you over the years!
I'd love to get a mixture of phlox seedlings; I now am able to keep the deer from eating the phlox! What I have is light pink so some variety would be neat.
The nepitella calamint is supposed to be for cooking, but I've never tried it (I hardly ever cook!!). It doesn't spread through roots like proper mints, but it does seed itself around plenty. It's like the nepeta I have (while I think your Walker's Low is sterile, right?)

Jasmine, it sounds like you're bringing a nice number of aster plants, so I probably will just bring the one or two I already dug up.
I bought a little 4-pack of green begonias, and I kept a red one from last summer alive all winter, so I'm good on begonias, thanks!

Linnea, thank you. If you have enough to go around, I would love a lavender/pink phlox and a pot luck. I would be happy to talk to you about yerba mansa at the swap. Would you like me to pot one up for you as well? I love lemon basil for making pesto and it adds a hint of lemon to many fresh summer dishes. I haven't tried it with Thai foods but I'm sure it would be delicious. Would you like one of these too?

Jas, I have you down for a lemon basil. They are seedlings (so they're small) but they will grow

I also can bring:

Walking onion
Chocolate vine--1 is already dug

Also, Linnea, I have a small chameleon plant I'll be bringing for you/your friend.

I'm so excited, I found a waterproof and tearproof paper I can use in my laser printer. I tested it yesterday, it's great! That will simplify my labeling while still allowing me to label things earlier than I did before.

Jasmine, with the phlox there is only one bed where I can be sure what color they are, which is the lavender pink. As for the rest of the seedlings in my main garden, they are all pot-luck! They could be any of the colors or a blend. So I will assemble a pot luck selection for you.

Happy, I would like some yerba mansa to try growing, and you can tell me how to use it! I would like the lemon basil as well.

Seedrat, I just didn’t want to be greedy! I’d like to have a cherry tomato and a sedum ruby mantle, then achillea love parade. About the perennial ageratum.….are they blue, like the little annual ageratums? I will have some Phlox for you.

I bought my catmint as labeled as Walker’s Low, which is supposed to be sterile. I have another on the other side of the house that I was assuming was also Walker’s Low, as they look identical. However, near that one I do have occasional seedlings (never many: like 1 every year or 2), so either it is not really Walker’s Low, or I got another catmint later (maybe at the swap?) that is not.

I need to get ready now for my first art fair of the season, but I will be back Monday to check on the list!

Linnea, the perennial ageratum are a light purple. Because they're fuzzy they blend into the distance but up close are so cool. And I have joe pye and eupatorium serotinum and aster blooming white nearby which contrasts with them. What I need to do is remember to trim it back so it doesn't get as tall.

Thanks for the phlox!

Thanks Happy and Lineea. Pot luck phlox would be fine.

Seedrat, my begonias too do good indoors. I have some begonias from past 2-3 years.

I have everything either potted, or dug and in "recovery buckets." and a lot of it is labeled already! Sadly a bucket got dumped by a raccoon and those plants suffered so a few plants will look pretty sad.

Jasmine, i just remembered your offer of christmas cactus cuttings. I would love some of either or both colors, thanks.

Rolrod you're getting lots of Rudbeckias!

Pitimpinai I hope you're able to bring a good amount of red monarda, stuff I moved last year died so I'm not bringing very much for rolrod and happy.

I just IDed a plant in my yard as star of Bethlehem and dug it out the other day. Today I visited the Morton arboretum and saw it--with a sign-- in the groundcover garden. I thought this plant was the stuff of nightmares? (and I have a couple of those in my yard already!)

Hi All, I wished the swap were earlier in the year. I like to transplant perennials no later than April when the soil is cooler. I have much less success if done later.

I started to pot up plants soon after I received an email announcing the swap. I am too cheap to use potting soil, so now some of the plants are showing signs of distress. Annual forget-me-not is setting seeds. I will dump them all in my compost bin today and start digging up new ones maybe on Thursday and soak them i water instead. Next year, I may start later than this year.

Sounds like a fantastic swap, too bad I'm so far away.

Pitimpinai, I rip newspapers into approximate squares and put one or 2 squares into any pot with holes to be sitting on my concrete or deck. It prevents dirt easily coming out the holes.
I'm wondering if it might help you to retain more moisture in the soil when you pot up early? You could use 2 or 3 layers and pots would not get water logged, just slow it down.

Pitimpinai, I always use garden soil, except usually not with seedlings. This year I'm doing it with seedlings too.

As you know I have sandy soil so what I do may not work with clay soil, but I find that even if the plant has sat in a bucket of water until it's perky again, once I pot it it gets droopy, so I use bins to house the potted plants and put water up to the top of the pot for a couple of days. Then I keep just a little water in the bin and water every day for awhile. I know clay soil holds a lot more moisture so this may not work at all, or maybe you'd only need a day with the soaking. (I bought some cat litter trays at Menard's for a low price, and I have some low black things used for mixing concrete, so it's easy to tip out the extra water.

I think using some newspaper in the pot may help too, although I haven't tried that.

Thanks, Pandora, for the suggestions.
Wish you could join us too. The plant swap is my most favorite spring activity after puttering around in my garden when lily of the valley and lilac and iris perfume the air.

I'll try newspaper next time. Usually I either place a couple fistfuls of leafmold or used paper towels at the bottom of my pots. The plants in larger pots are doing fine. It's the ones in 3"-4'' pots that are not doing as well. Furthermore, we had a water meter installed last summer, so this year I am especially parsimonious with watering.

Seedrat, hahaha, I am guarding my own garden soil even more jealously than store bought potting soil. After amending the clay soil for nearly 30 years, I want to part with none of it. If it's too early to go get horse manure, I would use bagged top soil to pot up plants for the swap. After a trip to the stable, I would use my own batch of potting soil made up from top soil, horse manure & bedding & peat moss & vermiculite.

I was coming back to fix my post since I realized I talked about keeping plants happy right when they're potted, and your problem is the ones you potted up awhile back. Once mine are stabilized they're good--but I've always been metered on water so I don't try to save water everywhere (unless I use a sprinkler, i am under the monthly amount included in the bill). The bins with a bit of water in them really do the trick for me, though.

Maybe there's a rain barrel in your future?

You have "pitimpinai's choice" going on with your dirt--lose your precious topsoil, or your precious purchased stuff!

Seedrat, I currently have 3 rain barrels and am waiting for more from the city. My neighbors promised to give me their extra rain barrels too. I hope they will be delivered soon.

I do keeps the potted plants in a tray. But I don't have enough trays for all of them, so it takes a while before I can finish with switching them and watering them.

I stopped sprinkling my garden last July after the meter was put in. I think many of my plants love it dry because this spring I discovered a bumper crop of Helleborus and Mertensia seedlings!!!

But it is distressing to see many drooping plants under the sun like today. So far, I have been using rain water from the barrels and from my kitchen grey water to water transplants and veggies. I may have to sprinkle the rest of the garden in a few days if it does not rain.

Not enough trays?? Oh no! I also grab aluminum baking dishes from recycling bins. They can't be lifted while holding plants but work for the immersion. I'm sure I could spare a couple, do you want some?

That's cool that you have so many rain barrels! We really need to get some rain soon.