Plant lovers on a budget, unite! On Saturday, October 20, there will be a big old-fashioned plant swap at the Schoolhouse Electric warehouse, courtesy of a Portland-based internet company, Plant Lust.

Why a plant swap? And why at Schoolhouse Electric?

In the words of Plant Lust's marketing maven and co-owner, Loree Bohl:

Basically this came about because Schoolhouse offered us space to do “something”... There was talk of a plant sale with plantlust.com nurseries - especially since the HPSO wasn’t doing a fall sale - but that just sounded way too BIG to take on. I got to thinking about how much fun the spring Garden Bloggers plant exchange was and thought, “why not?” The idea of getting the local gardening community together to swap plants sounded like the kind of thing plantlust.com should be involved in. Naturally I’m worried it will be a huge flop but we won’t know until we try, right?

That's the spirit!

Here are the deets:

WHAT: Plant Lust* plant swap

WHEN: Saturday Oct 20, 11 am to 3 pm

WHERE: On the loading dock at Schoolhouse Electric & Supply Co. at 2181 NW Nicolai Street, Portland, OR 97210 (on NW Nicolai St. between Front Ave & Hwy 30), free parking on the street.

HOW: Bring plant divisions, extras, or ones you’ve have just gotten tired of and swap them for something new! Bulbs and seeds are welcome too. Please make sure your plants are in a container and clearly identified by name and with any information you have on preferred growing conditions.

Editorial advice: try not to bring (or take home) any weedy plants. Plant exchanges are notorious for spreading invasive plants around, mostly because people usually bring pieces of whatever they have too much of. That's often invasive plants! If you have seedling butterfly bushes (Buddleia davidii), arum lily (Arum italicum), orange Peruvian lily (Alstroemeria aurea), bishop's weed (Aegopodium podagraria) or any number of other plants that just do just a little too well in your garden, well... don't spread the love!

The only rules are that the plants must be in a container and labeled by name. The three Plant Lust ladies will be on hand to answer questions and share more information about the website and its search functions. (Meantime, try out Plant Lust if you're trying to source a plant that's been elusive...)

COST: Free!

*And who is plant lust? Plant lust is a Portland, Oregon, based internet company that aims to help both new and experienced gardeners learn about plants and where to find them. Launched in 2010, the company has some 18,000 plants so far in a searchable database with 43 nurseries contributing information. Check out their resources here.