Annual plant swap May 18

Do the flowers along the walkway need to be thinned? Are the blossoms smaller this year from overcrowding? Do you want to add different plants to your garden but the cost is not included in the budget?

The Green Thumb Garden Club members have the solution. Each year they have an annual plant swap. This year, it will be from 8 a.m. to noon Saturday, May 18, at the Poplar Bluff History Museum, the old Mark Twain school, on Main Street.

“We will have a great assortment of plants and trees,” said club members Debbie Holt. “This is an annual project the club created so people can dig up plants which may need to be divided or taken out of their yard and bring them to swap for another plant. It is a good way to try new things in your garden for free.”

Holt became involved in the garden club about seven years ago because her mother Joanne Wylie was a member. When her mother passed away, she remained as a way to honor her mother’s memory.

It’s also an opportunity for fellow gardeners to talk about how to care for plants, Holt said, adding, “for those who want to take some of our plants and trees, but don’t have anything to swap, we only ask for a small donation.”

Holt explained, the swap started as a fun thing for garden club members to pull plants out of their own yards and share with others. They later opened it up to the community.

“We don’t know until that day what people will bring,” she said.

In past years, people have dug up and divided a lot of herbs and perennials, like day lilies, from their gardens to trade or sell.

The plants need to be perennials and these may include wildflowers from your garden, Holt said.

Lisa and Wolf Wyatt bring annuals to sell and local attorney Ron Little provides trees, including dogwoods, for exchange or a set price from his tree farm.

Usually, the group has repeat customers, but “the members would like to have more people participate since it is a great way to add to your garden,” Holt said. “We would love to see other people.”

Garden club members answer questions and Holt said, they will definitely negotiate cost.

While the goal is to swap plants, make new gardening friends and have a really good time, any money raised is used for community projects.

In past years, the money was used to help students studying horticulture or landscaping and buying and planting pink tulip bulbs for the Danny Bell Cancer Treatment Center, Recycling Grace Women’s Center, Poplar Bluff Regional Medial Center and Black River Medical Center.