Treasured "Weeds"

Petasites japonicus (Giant Butterbur) - Mine's not QUITE this big yet....
Went to the semi- annual Perennial Swap in my city (the one and only, far as i know), the proprietors of a small sub shop on the outskirts of our Downtown area started organizing it several years ago. i discovered it about 4 years ago, and have attended at least the Spring swap every year since then. As i mentioned before, there is a strong group of gardeners in my city, but unfortunately, there are not many of us, relatively speaking, considering we are in a fairly large city.

This is also one of the events i whined about in my rant, " Seed Swaps". A lot of folks show up with nothing and take plants, and that bothers me, BUT i realized this year that, if you are a real "plant nut", chances are you'll be there -with your plants-earlier than they are, and will more than likely find some treasures anyway! So i was calm, collected, and in a good mood when i showed up this year. The weather was about perfect (it's usually windy, rainy, cold, or all three!), about 65-70 degress F (19-20 C), sunny, not windy, and all in all, a pretty day! i arrived with a large purple leaved Honeysuckle that had taken over my garden one too many times, (but would be great for someone with room for it), several divisions of "Yellow Sword" yuccas, a yellow- leaved Forsythia, and several pots of Blue Sedge. I left with 4 Hostas (two for me, two for my MIL), a Jack in the Pulpit, a Chinese Lantern (that i have had difficulty starting from seed), another start of a Giant Butterbur -Petasites japonicus- (gotta have those big leaves!), that i may try to put in the pond, and my

Rose Acacia
"treasure" this year - a Sweet Pea tree, or Rose Acacia (Robinia hispida). i had managed to transplant one from my hubby's grandparents' farm years ago (they are very hard to move), and had to leave it when we moved. It took me years to find out what it was (this was in the Eighties, B.I. {Before Internet}).i Think it's a pretty little tree, but it does send out runners and may become weedy, so i am thinking i may keep it in a large pot. i'm happy to have one again, though!