NEWTOWN BIRD TOWN
Native Plant and Seed Swap Information
The Newtown Township EAC and Bird Town is pleased to present our second annual Native Plant and Seed Swap on September 26, 2015 at the Clark Nature Center, 235 Durham Road. The swap will start at 8am and continue to 12 noon. Swapping begins promptly at 8am. You can find more information on this page regarding the swap. If your question is not answered here, please do not hesitate to contact the EAC at eac@twp.newtown.pa.us or the Bird Town Coordinator, Autumn Thomas, at newtown.tree@comcast.net.
Not sure how the swap works?
Bring your labeled, native perennials, trees, or shrubs in a pot or bag, and/or seeds in baggies or envelopes. No registration fee, complimentary snacks provided. Free event!
DO NOT BRING:
-
Non-native, Invasive plants. Identifying invasive plants and understanding the potential damage they can cause is essential to stopping their spread and protecting native vegetation. See the list of plants that will not be accepted for exchange here.
-
Diseased plants
-
Bad attitude
Bring native plants, but more importantly bring a friend!
North American native plants are preferred because using native plants contributes to the health and often the restoration of local ecosystems. Planting natives in urban or suburban settings helps restore the character of the land and places fewer demands on limited natural resources. Some non-native, non-invasive plants will be considered if they are known to provide food and/or habitat for local species of bugs, birds, or small mammals. There are many sources online to find out if your plant is native or not. A good one is the USDA Plants Database.
**You must contact the Bird Town coordinator for prior approval of non-native plants.**
Bring as many plants as you want. The more variety there is the better. Try to bring at least two of the same type of plant to prevent squabbling (friendly, of course) over a highly desired prize. After all, it's not pretty to see a bunch of gardeners fighting over the same plant.
If you don’t have any native plants to exchange, plants can be had for nominal prices. Seed packets will be a $1.00 donation for 2 packs and plants a $2.00 donation per plant. All proceeds benefit Newtown Township Bird Town.
Don’t dig the plant on the day of the exchange.
Try to pot up at least a week before, water, and sit it in the shade. If you’re an active gardener and dividing plants in your garden during the growing season, there are leftover pieces to pot up and set aside for the next exchange. Pot as you go. It may seem unnecessary to say this, but the plant should have roots (unless they are cuttings). They don’t have to be perfect, but they should be growing.
Pot 'em up!
We’re not choosy about type of pot, but having them in a pot is helpful to the new owner to get them back home safely.
Some practical, temporary containers are:
-
cardboard milk or juice cartons
-
plastic or paper cups
-
tin cans (be careful of sharp edges)
-
plastic containers such as: butter containers, salad containers, milk jugs, etc. (washed first, of course!)
-
plastic plant pots/ terra-cotta pots
-
or any other container you have handy.
Just be sure to add drainage holes to water tight containers.
Labels
We're also not choosy how you label. We’re just hoping you will take the opportunity to look up the name and learn. Botanical names are especially important because they are consistent no matter where you are or go, whereas common names are variable and most likely regional. (Here is a good blog page explaining the difference.)
If that doesn’t work, note a little information about where and how it grows. Add your name and email (if you don’t mind) so people can ask you about it. Some folks are very generous and bring many plants. If there’s no time to get them ID-ed, of course bring them anyway. There are helpers, but please, not at the last minute.
Give a tag/label with each plant/seed packet including: name/variety of plant, sun/shade requirements, mature plant size- height and diameter, water/soil requirements, zone hardiness, perennial or annual. A nice description for ‘new’ gardeners will be so appreciated. Click here for a label template to use.