Goldie's garden party/plant swap
This isn't working out exactly the way I had planned it, but I think it'll still be a fun day.
I invited some friends and family over to have some snacks and join in a plant swap. Basically, you bring a flat of flowers or plants, and everybody takes one, then gives you one of theirs. My only requirement was to make one purchased flat for trading, and then you could also bring stuff from your yard that needed to be thinned out.
The issues I ran into were that it has been a cold spring and I didn't want to plan this too early where things could still get hit with frost, and then we have two holiday weekends in May (plus my birthday & Casey's!), so I should probably have stuck with an April date. Next year, I'll do this earlier!
I will also make the next one an open invitation on a first-come-first-serve basis, because of the whole scheduling and weekend activity issue. And maybe it will be a two-day process of swapping whenever you have a chance to stop by. At the start, I didn't want this to get too big or crazy, so I limited the number of people invited, and that kinda didn't work out so well...but I was trying to pick the friends who I knew were interested in gardening, and I over-thought the process.
I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone brings. It is always a good idea to share, and this gives people an organized time and place to do it; prompting them to go ahead and dig up some of those daylillies that are going crazy in the yard, ya know?
Below is the text I used in my email and flyers—feel free to borrow it for your own garden party plan:
I'm planning to have a garden party & plant swap on [date] .
The basic premise is to share different types of plants among all the attendees. However, if you are not interested, or aren't available on this date, please let me know a.s.a.p., so I can plan accordingly.
What you should bring:
1) A flat of plants + a few more from any of the local garden centers (grocery stores even have the garden tents put up now). If each person does this, we will each receive a nice variety in the swap.
2) Bring any plants from your yard that need to be thinned out or divided. But you are NOT required to bring extra store-bought plants—this part is strictly voluntary, for those who have the resources in their yard and want to do the digging.
3) Extra seeds or seed packets that you'd like to share. I know every year I save a TON of seeds from my columbines, marigolds, hollyhocks, dill, and all kinds of other stuff.
If you want to join us, please let me know what you intend to bring, so that we can coordinate colors and not get too many duplicates in the swap. I’ll keep everyone updated on this.
Snacks and drinks will be provided, so you only need to bring plants and not food.
Thanks a bunch, you guys! See you soon, I hope!
RSVP:
I will try to post some pictures later or tomorrow...
2 comments:
What a clever idea! I've heard of recipe, fabric, and even "husband" swapping ideas, but never gardening. Let me know how it works and I'll start planning one for next year. You're brilliant!
This was a fun day, and I think it went well. It was nice to sit around and chat with folks outside on a reasonably nice day. Stay out of the wind and you're fine!
We gathered everyone inside our cavernous garage, but you can also have it in your yard, making sure you have plenty of drinks on hand if it's hot and sunny.
A few tips would be to invite A LOT of people, and to have extra plant trays ready and available. I just had some snacky cheese and cookies set out with drinks, and people seemed fine with that. It also helps to keep track of what people intend to bring, so that there are not duplicates.
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