Free plant exchange downtown

The 11th annual plant exchange takes place Saturday at the Toledo-Lucas County Library. The 11th annual plant exchange takes place Saturday at the Toledo-Lucas County Library.

Saturday’s free Toledo Plant Exchange is all about math and here’s the equation: Gardeners who subtract from their beds by dividing perennials will multiply their bounty by taking home additional and different plants. The cost: Zero.


It’s the 11th annual Plant Exchange, rain or shine in the underground parking garage of the Toledo-Lucas County Library. People often arrive early because admission is first-come, first-served, but there’s plenty for all. Even those who don’t bring a thing can take home at least five plants.

Donated goods vary each year, depending on who brings what. It can include anything from ajuga to zinnia, and usually gardening tools, ornamental grass, cannas, daylilies, daisies, seeds, hostas, ground covers, and raspberries. Among the interesting items that have shown up are buckets for worm-composting, a cactus collection, landscaping rocks, lilac and rose-of-sharon tree seedlings, llama poop, and voodoo lilies.

People bringing plants should drive to the back of the parking garage between 8:30 and 10 a.m., then park and obtain a wristband which secures one’s spot in line. The wristband will indicate how many free items the person can receive, which correlates (math again) with how many they brought. Plants should be labeled.

Arriving early is also a good idea because the plants are picked over within the first 20 minutes and often gone by 10:40 a.m.

At 11 a.m. in the library’s McMaster Center, Toledo Zoo biologists will explain their Wild Toledo Initiative and the importance of including native plants in our landscapes for birds, butterflies, and beneficial bugs (that’s alliteration, not math).

Audience members will receive a packet of prairie seeds.

Organized by volunteers from many walks of life, Toledo's Plant Exchanges are usually held on the first Saturdays of May and October.

Master gardeners are on hand to answer questions, several booths will provide related information, and the library will have an excellent display of gardening books.

The Plant Exchange partners with Lucas County Master Gardener Volunteers and the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library.