Have you ever looked out at your garden and realized that you had too many of the same plant? Or noticed all the ‘volunteer’ seedlings that were getting too large? Or thought “Wouldn’t it be nice to have something different in place of the same old bee balm?” We gardeners are notorious for wanting more, different, new – anything but what we’ve already got in our own garden! And what more perfect way to get more, different, and new than by swapping plants with fellow gardeners?!

Last Saturday was the 2nd annual Fairfield County Plant Swap which the New Canaan Nature Center kindly hosted outside their beautiful greenhouse. We had a gorgeous day for the event, which drew participants from all over lower Fairfield County. Many were return ‘swappers’ from last year’s plant swap, but we also had many new participants who enjoyed the interesting plants, shared gardening tips, and camaraderie of the event. We had plants of all kinds, from a 6′ red maple and a large azalea, to European ginger, toad lilies, agastache, Joe Pye Weed, ferns and hostas of all kinds, echinacea and rudbeckia, sedums, irises, and much more. Everyone went home with a little something more, different, and new…

Click here to see a photo slide show of the Plant Swap!

Organizing a plant swap can be a  little overwhelming – publicity, event location, logistics, set-up, and materials all need to be planned in advance and it takes a lot of time.  If you’d like to help organize the next plant swap, please volunteer!  Just leave a comment here and I’ll get in touch with you