That sounds like the first application for which I would really like a "tablet" PC.

A mobile database of my own plant photos, and saved ones from the Web!

That would be a great way to keep track of your own garden.
When I get home from a swap---I make a list of what I picked up and then
when I have time----I look the plants up either online or in books.
I use a scrawl journal, but yes, now, a tablet would be the way to go.

--but scrawl journals are $ or $$--tablets are more $$$

Oooh, a tablet would be nice for that; also for dragging along to the nursery in Spokane with my wish list!

Trying to think about the upcoming Fall swap coming up in Sept. Have some ideas of plants I will be willing to share or need to divide of mine. I tend to have plants related to cottage gardening; old standbys; heirloom plants..nothing exceptional or different.

Any suggestions? I have plenty of shasta daisy seeds, rose campion, snapdragons, can divide the Zagreb coreopis, liatris seeds, some gaillardia and some rudbeckias. Some coneflowers. Will have to look up how to take cuttings from tall garden phlox. See some seedlings of raspberry wine monarda and Jacob cline. Have some Malva zebrina seeds, as well as some other perennials.

Great thread here for me! I am preparing for a first plant swap in Oct. I have two flats of plants rooting that should be ready to go to their new homes in 7 weeks. I have plant tags made (see my Garden Idea entry) and pictures. But I love the idea of a poster for the pictures! I might even include my email addy on the plant tag in case someone has a question. This swap is a Potluck and promises to be a lot of fun. I can't wait! Any more ideas would be appreciated.

+All of the 3 plant swaps I've atteded have been pot lucks..and a lot of fun. It's fun to put a face with a username that you might have become familiar with on the gardening forums. My husband has been amazed at how far gardeners will travel to attend these events. Our first one was less than 10 miles from our home. Because that was our first one, we really didn't know what to expect but you learned quickly. At that one there was a fella there with a truckload of aged horse manure and he was the most popular person there! He gets his burlap bags that coffee beans come in from a coffee shop near his work, and the aged horse manure from a nearby horse farm. He bought along a short handled shovel, and he'd guide you into digging your own, how much you wanted. The gardeners there that wanted any, shoveled what they wanted into the burlap bag and the next person stepped up. Evidently he goes to a lot of plant swaps or maybe just that one in particular. I recall him posting a few days before the swap that he would be there.Amazing how many realized even fine manure gets heavy so most only filled their bag only 1/4 to 1/2 full. We were parked two parking spaces over and there was no odor..From what we could see, it looked fine, like a very good grade of potting mix. He left with an empty truck so he was the most popular person there! There were about 60 to 80 people at that plant swap.

Another thing I learned was that some plants or other items have been promised ahead of time for certain gardeners..Always ask which plants are not spoken for. I watched this one gardener unload and she had many bags with usernames of the person for whom those bags are intended. If a gardener arrives late, wait for that person to have time to set up. I noticed people were like vultures around that persons table and evidently a bag that was meant for somebody was taken. I watched from my parking space across the way in amazement..

Wear or take a hat and sunscreen and bottled water and maybe even sunglasses. Most gardeners bring along a folding table to set their plants on and a comfortable folding chair and bottled water and a camera if you so chose .Enjoy the event; you'll meet a lot of nice new friends.

Thanks, Pippi! You have been to so many plant swaps since you first posted. I can't wait! I hope someone brings manure to our plant swap. Sounds like loads of fun. Good idea to mark plants intended for others. I'd better to that right now as they root, or I will forget. You are right. They say people come from out of state. Should be a good one. Yippee!!

Yep, we had people from different parts of Va. Md. Delaware, Pa. and NJ represented. I don't know how long it took the NJ people to drive but it took John and Ruby about 5 hrs. from Charlottesville, Va. area. The Mid-Atlantic group from Dave's Garden is such a nice group of gardeners, very caring, very generous and most of them are extremely experienced gardeners and are always willing to share their knowledge with others; especially us Newbies. Please report back after you get back from your plant swap and let us know how it was. You will come back with a lot of inspiration..

I've found that people often don't know what their plants are, so I've always brought reference books to swaps, with my name clearly labeled on the front and a note that they are not part of the swap items. It also helps ease the pain and make it less personal if realizing one or more of them are invasive weeds. When I organized swaps before, I brought those sticker name labels so we didn't have to try remembering all those new names at once, and people also wrote their forum handle on their tags. I put a label for each of my plants in a baggie kind of tucked in the pot with plant name, and my email address for questions. Also handy to take a couple jugs of water, like milk jugs, in case there are any plant-thirst emergencies. A cheap plastic tarp or even table cover makes an excellent liner for the trunk of the car. I like milk crates for moving around more than 1 plant at a time, and they help plants stay upright while driving, don't melt if they get damp.

You guys should get together and write up an article on preparing for a plant swap. I see some really good ideas here! Add some photos and you'd have a great article!

Purpleinopp...that idea of putting the plants in milk crates is a great idea..one might want to line the bottom of the milk crates, in case the plants have been watered before you left. Might save the carpeting in the vehicle from being soiled or wet. I like the idea of carrying a few extra milk jugs of water in case the plants need watered when you get there.

The first plant swap that we attended, the hostess had her husband to direct all the vehicles to an open field that was once part of a horse farm. You parked your vehicle and you were asked to make a sign with your username and place it where it could be seen by others, as they walked around looking to see what people had to offer and to find people they had promised plants to..etc. One could even tape your username sign to the front of your table if you take one to set up your plants on. Some people run out of room on their tables and set plants on top of cardboard boxes or crates..Whatever works!

It is nice if you have a camera with you to take pictures of your gardening friends, your haul as you are leaving with your new found plants, nobody goes home hungry that is for sure.
At the first swap, I offered to clean up afterwards..I felt it was the least I could do because the hostess shouldn't have to clean up afterwards since she did all the prepartions to host the event, but nobody else volunteered and people left food that they bought sitting out on the table. As I said there were between 60-80 attending that swap..Nobody signed up for cleanup but me before hand but one gal saw that I was alone doing it and stayed for a short while and helped until her family kept calling her cell phone asking when she was coming home. I didn't know what to do with the left over food, or where to put dishes that belonged to the hostess..I washed dishes with what I think was hand soap because I didn't know where to look for dish soap. I looked in the most obvious place, in the cabinet under the sink and found none. Finally the husband of the hostess came in and told me where to put the clean dishes that belonged to them.

So if you sign up for cleanup, make sure you ask the hostess, where you are to put stuff and what you are to do with leftover food that had been sitting out for a few hours. Duh! There were a lot of left over paper products so the husband said he'd put them in the paper goods cabinet for the next year. I tried to leave her kitchen and dining room immaculate; it was the least I could do for all she'd done for us gardeners. Her gardens are to die for beautiful! Looks like something you'd see in a popular garden magazine!

with wolfie






edited to clarify what I was agreeing to.

Whenever I put plants in a cardboard box, first I lay some plastic inside the box, draped so that runoff water can't get to the cardboard. You can even bottom-water a tray that way.

HD givves away shallow cardboard trays. With a plastic-bag liner, I reuse those for a few years.

BUT rain or over spray from watering still dissolves the boxes from the outside in. Milk crates sound much better!

I've even laid an old bath towel inside cardboard boxes or crates to keep any soil or wetness off the carpet or seats..They can be washed after you get home..

Ok I have a stupid question. If we all have our plants nicely displayed out on tables at the swap, labled up, signs in place, name tags on, etc...how does the swap actually take place? Do you leave the tables unmanned and just walk around?

Cheryl..All of the above! Usually before hand the plant swap is announced on a gardening website..say for example Dave's garden website..Our area of the country is the Mid-Atlantic Gardening group..A hostess will decided when it is best what date she or he can host the swap, set a date and time. With our group, most of the gardeners live a good distance apart, some drive as far as 5 hr. 3 hr. or maybe less than that. so the swapping starts after you get there and get set up. It is always best to take along a companion or friend that can watch your plants that are up for grabs while you hand deliver to people you have already promised before hand. Weeks before members in this gardening group will post a list of what plants they will have to share and what plants they want from others. Some gardeners live close enough that they can exchange ahead of time in person..but since we are so spread out in distance it is not always possible to do that. If you go over to Dave's garden website, you will scan down on the right side of the page till you see Mid-Atlantic Garden group. Click on that and you will see something about the swap. There will be a thread started about what you have to offer to others and a list of what you want from others. Then the hostess will start another thread just for discussion of the plants mentioned in that other thread. There will be a separate thread listing food list..where you will list what food you plan to bring along..

If you are not a member of DG website, you can still read all the threads(conversations)without posting. The website will not allow anybody to post a message unless you are a paid subscriber/member. The cost to join the website is $19.95 a year..Gardenweb.com is a FREE website, as is Allthingsplants.com..

It is hard to explain about how the swapping is done, there is no set rule..Go over to Dave's Garden and you can read about the upcoming swap and get a better understanding. Since some of these gardeners live a distance from each other, they may not see each other but twice a year unless somebody decides to hold a specific workshop. and announces that on DG Mid-Atlantic gardening group thread..Jill just held a workshop on making hyperfula(not sure of the spelling of that word) You can go to that thread and read about it, see pictures of the workshop, etc.

An average swap will have about 30-40 people at it, but the first one that I attended was 60-80. Some people come for the swapping of plants and don't stay for lunch..Believe me, those are not regular members of that gardening group. You do get those occassionally but most will be there until mid afternoon or the end.(set time for the swap).

Most swaps are held outside or in a covered area outside..never inside but a hostess can choose to set the luncheon be inside. Some hostess/host will furnish hot dogs, hamburgers, maybe even chicken cooked on the grill and let the guest furnish the pot luck style foods..It depends on the host/hostess and what they want to bring. It is set up and you get what you want and go back to your set up table and eat. Just like a picnic! Some hostess will do strictly a pot luck meal, where everybody brings a food to share..It depends on what the hostess choses to do.

In Feb. Jill hosts a seed swap that is held usually at a local chinese buffet restaurant in Frederick, Md. near her house. The restaurant allows the group to use their party room which is small without a charge.. Each person pays for their won meal..You exchange seeds, not plants. Jill ask everybody to bring a small gift that is garden related and as you come in, you put your donated gift on the table..It does not have to be wrapped, nor does it have to be brand new. Many of us may have bought ourselves something and never used it or only used it once or twice and decided we didn't like it, or you can buy something new at the $ store..you can even donate a gift somebody gave you related to gardening and give it away. Everybody goes home with a garden related gift from that table. Sometimes I have donated a book that I'd ordered from Amazon and it was not what I expeced but I never returned it. I even bought packaged spring bulbs at Big Lots and used that as my gift for the gift table. It could be a vase you no longer use or have rec'd as a gift and had no use for, it could be anything related to gardening. One year somebody was so cleaver and made up small dish garden inside a plastic cup that fit down inside the top of a child's rain boot. Maybe the child had outgrown the boots or they bought them for a low price at a thrift or yard sale..It is such a clever gift. Whoever came up with that idea found the right size of plastic cup that would fit right into the top of the boot.

You connect with other gardeners at these seed and plant swaps and some make lasting friendships to share their love of gardening with.

Go over to Dave's Garden and look for Mid-Atlantic gardening group forum and it will be easier to figure out than my discussion probably.

As far as the actual swapping, we always did it like this.
Round one - each person go pick up one plant.
Round two - each person go pick up two plants.
Round three - three plants each, etc...

When what you brought is gone, you stop picking plants. When everyone is finished, any leftovers are put up for grabs. Usually the people who didn't have much to bring end up with these, which is cool. We always asked people to bring other gardening items if they wanted to, which were usually a "great find" to someone else. Like bundles of pots, stakes, tags, baskets, bird feeders. Whatever you bought but ended up not wanting or using. You can choose to swap items separately, or as part of the overall swap included with plants. Just as long as everyone understands what is going on, however you want to do it should be fine.

Covered shelters at parks are great places for a swap. Usually you can reserve them for a nominal fee, you have the cover and picnic tables, and usually a restroom facility, trash cans, and hopefully a playground for the kids. You can split the cost evenly, like if it costs $40 and 30 people show up, everyone chips in $1.35. I would include the cost of cups, plates, etc, bought for the event, or solicit donation of those items beforehand, which is a lot easier especially if there is a meal but not everyone participates in that part. We would usually do the meal first so everyone gets a good opportunity to chat about their plants before swapping.

Agree, the hostess should solicit cleanup help beforehand, or at least remind everyone to take all of their stuff home and throw away all of their trash if at a park.

If you're unsure about shade at the swap location and you have all shade-lovers, a folding table could be needed to put the plants UNDER!

"Leave the rug rats" with a babysitter or home with hubby! It's Mommy's day out!

I realize this is an old thread but here's some ideas & suggestions I picked up while doing a search for planning a plant swap.


Pick a venue – someplace with bathrooms!!! Park, parking lot, close to a lake, etc. Decide if kids are allowed & be sure to let people know. Pick a date & time. Saturdays are usually the best day. Try to have it about 3 hours but if it runs longer because people are socializing, that’s okay.

Decide if you’ll have a potluck lunch where everyone brings a covered dish, or ask everyone to bring their own picnic lunch. You could also have a sign up list of who volunteers to bring what. Don’t forget things like cups, ice, drinks, plates, napkins, trash bags. You may also want to have clean up volunteers are at least require everyone clean up their own mess.

Could request everyone RSVP so you have a body count.

Have registration for 30 minutes to an hour to allow people time to register & get set up. Have a specific time to eat lunch. This will allow people to relax around strangers & walk around & see what’s available.

Plant swaps can work any number of ways. The host/hostess can yell “GO!” & everyone gets one plant/item & puts it in their reserved spot. Once everyone has one item, the host/hostess yells “GO” again, & it repeats until everyone’s done. Another way is everyone gets a ticket for each item they bring to trade & then they use those tickets to trade. Yet another way is to let everyone draw a number & then go in sequence.

When swappers receive plants they always put them under or behind their table. If they don’t have a table, they can bring a tarp or blanket. Maybe have a cardboard sign with their name to put where it’s easily seen. DO NOT take any plants or anything else from carts, tables, or someone’s area. Do Not take anything out of turn or without asking. Some people will have set up “pre-trades” with others. These need to be clearly labeled with the person’s name & set aside so they aren’t part of the swap.

Absolutely No Money Is To Be Exchanged For Anything!!!! You can bring anything bought or handmade you would be willing to trade for plants or plant materials. Homemade soaps, baked goods, candy, books, magazines, birdhouses, bird feeders, garden tools, hats, extra pots, the list is endless. If you have access to manure (chickens, horses, rabbits) you could use old burlap bags or those bags you get dog food, or ice cream buckets, whatever, & fill them, & use to trade plants. Or bags of compost or homemade potting soil.

If you have a registration, be sure to get everyone’s name, address, & email address. Also be sure to include any online gardening sites or Facebook groups they’re members of & be sure to include usernames. This will help with any future swaps you send out invitations for. You can have name tags for everyone or no name tags at all. You can have name tags that say “My First” or “I’m a Newbie” to let others know who’s just getting started & would appreciate freebies.

You could put signs up or have one for each swapper that says something like “Please Do Not Take Plants That Aren’t Your’s!!!! You could invite area master gardeners to hold demonstrations or have speakers but they aren’t necessary.

There could be a table set up just for seeds, bulbs, & cuttings, a table for potted plants, & a table for everything else. You could then swap by table until everything was gone before moving on to the next. Or, just let each person pick from any table.

Plants should be watered thoroughly the day before to allow time to drain without making the plant thirsty again. This keeps it from being too heavy or making a mess in someone’s car. Plants should be clearly labeled with what they are. If possible, growing information & a picture in bloom would be nice.

A potted plant has roots. A cutting does not. A cutting stuck in a pot of dirt is not a potted plant. Please do not try to pass one off as such. Cuttings should also be clearly labeled as to what they are. They should be wrapped in dampened newspaper & then put in a plastic baggie if possible. Bulbs should be placed in something like a paper bag & clearly labeled.

Door Prizes – Not necessary but if anyone wants to participate, each person can bring an item with a tag with their name on the item. We can then either pick one item & draw someone’s name for it, or when we call your name, you come pick from the items.

Items you may want to bring besides swapping & food items: bottled water, a friend or teens to help with unloading & loading, paper towels, baggies, tape, permanent marker, a little cart or wagon, boxes or newspaper to lay down in our car, folding tables & chairs, paper to jot notes or growing instructions, sunscreen, bug spray, & a hat.

@Trish & @Dave, I would also be interested in hints from people more experienced with what to do if the majority of the people who show up are looking for freebies & have absolutely nothing. I don't mind people showing up without anything because they're new to gardening. After all, most gardeners love to share. However, I've tried to hold a swap before & the few people that showed up had NOTHING so it was a bust. If everyone shows up with nothing, what's there to swap?????