PLANT SWAP ETIQUETTE AND HELPFUL HINTS

The pavilion has 8 picnic-style tables and benches.  You are encouraged to bring lawn chairs and card tables.

The common practice is to set the plants you are trading on top of your table in full view.  Plants you are keeping back for someone or that you are taking home are put under the table. It's not a bad idea to make a "Reserved" sign or something like that to hang above those in case someone who doesn't know the SOP peeks under there!  One thing I have done is find fairly small boxes and if you have pre-arranged trades, put the plants for each person in a box and label the box with their name.

If you have a child's wagon or garden cart of some kind, these are helpful to carry your plants from the car to the pavilion.

Don't take plants off someone's table until you ask them.  Above all, don't take something from underneath their table - these are reserved for others OR they are things that this person has gotten in trades and plans to take home.

If you want something that another person has to trade, and they are not interested in what you're offering in exchange, they are not under any obligation to trade with you.  Some things are more valuable and more highly sought after than others and that's just the way it is.

What to bring to swap:

Plants: Most anything you think someone would want ~ it's easier to water the pots the night before the swap so they're moist but not wet when you haul them and trade them (lots lighter, too!).

Seeds: Again, most anything you think someone would want ~ already packaged in easy-to-hand-out, labelled envelopes would be great!

Cuttings: Make sure they are fresh and have at least two nodes on them ~ keep them wrapped in moist (not wet) paper towels in a ziploc bag in a cool place 'til you trade them ~ you may want to make a note of which end is the stem end (end closest to the mother plant) while taking them.  It's also nice if you can cut them some time in advance of the swap and get them at least partially rooted in soil or water.

Bulbs, corms, rhizomes, etc.: Try to have them dried and cleaned of most garden soil ~ if you can't, no biggie! Just put them in paper bags so they're easier to handle

Anything garden related: Sculpture, honeycomb rock, books, old gardening magazines, etc.

 

IF YOU HAVE NOTHING TO TRADE, COME ANYWAY!!  THIS IS FUN AND IF YOU'VE NEVER BEEN TO A PLANT SWAP, YOU NEED TO HAVE THIS EXPERIENCE!!  YOU WILL FIND PEOPLE WHO WILL GLADLY GIVE YOU PLANTS THAT THEY DON'T NEED.  I KNOW BECAUSE (1) I'VE BEEN TO SEVERAL OF THESE SWAPS AND (2) I'LL BE TAKING THINGS I DON'T NEED JUST FOR THAT PURPOSE.

LABEL EVERYTHING THAT YOU BRING.   When someone gets home, they won't be able to remember that this plant in the tin can is an aster (at least, I might not) so label things and if you can, put your name on it so they can contact you later with any questions they have.  You can make labels of a lot of different things - old window shades, plastic milk cartons, etc.

OTHER HANDY ITEMS TO BRING:

Ziploc bags and paper towels to moisten and keep cuttings fresh & happy until you can get them home.

Pen and paper to write down notes like how to grow the plants you just got and someone's e-mail address.

Boxes ~ lots and lots of boxes! You'll need them to carry your things there and to haul home your treasures!

Plastic grocery bags ~ you can put all sorts of things in these.

 

 SOME THINGS NOT TO BRING:

 

The park has a policy of no intoxicating beverages and no glass containers.