Perennial Plant Trading

The idea of trading perennial plants grew after talking with a friend about all the plants I needed to dig out and separate due to overcrowding. My Iris's were notorious for over propagating and in danger of not blooming the following year. The Vinca Minor ground cover was going crazy and getting tangled up in all the shrubs along the front side walk.

The first thing we did before we made the big trade was to look at what plants we planned to remove and separate from our individual flower beds. We waited until the plant’s finished blooming which was late summer. Then we set up a time to dig up and separate the plants we wanted from the others flower beds. We had a great time working together discussing the plans we had for the individual plants we were sharing.

I ended up filling the backseat and trunk of my car with beautiful plants and she filled the flat bed of her truck. This would've set us each back at least a hundred dollars or more if we had bought all these plants out right.

PLANTS TRADED

♣ Variegated Iris's (purple & white)

♣ Lamb Ears,

♣ Vinca Minor

♣ Lily of the Valley

♣ Ribbon Grass

♣ Columbine Seeds (purple & pink)

♣ Hen and Chicks

♣ Red Bee Balm

♣ Yellow Day Lilies

♣ Siberian Iris's

♣ Pink Garden Phlox

♣ Queen Victoria

♣ Holly Hocks

♣ Gooseneck Loosestrife

Trading perennial plants is a great way to add something new to your landscaping at no cost but a little dirt under your finger nails. Through the process I was able to separate plants and give them to a friend who wanted them in her yard. We both wanted to fill in holes in our flower beds and add some new colors and textures and did that in just a few days.

There seems to be an ebb and flow in gardening. Some plants survive and multiply while others simply become mulch for the ones that are making it from one season to the next. I live where the seasons change so when spring comes around after a long cold winter its magical to see the first blooms breaking through the snow.

When my family moved into a new home back in 1999 I started a gardening journal. I wanted to remember where I planted things and easily locate them in the spring. At my old house I would accidentally pull out plants thinking they were weeds in an attempt to clean out the flower beds.

I use the journal as a guide to plan the placement of flowers and plants according to color, size, texture and when they were expected to bloom. If I see a new plant or flower in a magazine I simply cut it out and paste it in the journal too.

New plants often come with information tabs that I tape into my journal. It lets me know whether to plant what I've chosen in full sun, part sun or shade. The tabs also indicate the plants growing zone that it will grow the best. The eleven zones are based on the coldest temperature in the area for the plant to survive.  I look for zone 5 plants as they're supposed to do well in my area, and so far that's been the case.

Try your hand at gardening if you want to add some color to your surroundings or spend more time outdoors. If I can get things to grow you can too. I consider myself a novice at all this, and don't claim to have a green thumb by any means. I love watching things grow and thrive and consider it a miracle when anything I plant actually grows and blooms.

Perennials are a good way to start because they are usually pretty hearty and come back year after year. They have a wide variety of flowers and plants to choose from too. Have fun getting your hands dirty and watch your flowers bloom.

This lovely Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly was flying back and forth on the pink garden phlox in front of my house recently. I was so excited to see it getting nectar from the flowers I'd planted at the beginning of summer. The flowers were part of the plant trade my good friend and I'd done. Not only do I get to enjoy pretty pink flowers but the added bonus of seeing amazing colorful butterflies too.