Whhhhhooooeeee!
I got up this morning and found 16 requests in my email!!
This is shaping up to be a great project!
Keep them coming!
And now, my disclaimer:
Pygmy species present a very difficult taxonomy. After reviewing what I sent out last year, I realize I made some ID errors. My apologies if I have spread confusion along with the plants. I am still learning, and there is MUCH to learn, so I hope all will understand I try my very best to keep things straight, but well, mistakes happen. The summer before last season birds rearranged my plant reality by pulling out markers. This season, I fared much better and am more confident my ID's are accurate. Just so you know!
My thanks to you all for your interest and willingness to try these plants. With the prolific reproduction these plants demonstrate, there should be no reason why they are not common in collections and freely available worldwide. It is ESSENTIAL that they find places in private collections, and soon: their home in Australia is under attack by the forces of "progress" and populations are vanishing yearly. As Cper's, we have a duty to these living jewels to keep them for future generations. For this reason I feel growing CP carries with it a little bit of "nobility": it's above and beyond typical plant hobbys. Being willing to maintain these plants at your own expense is very commendable, and you deserve to be thanked.
Thanks again for all the nice comments you all are making. So many of you have said I was your "inspiration" or your "hero". I just want to say that the reverse also applies: it is your interest and dedication that fuels my own and gives me the inspiration to do this work. Without you, there would be far less reassurance that the plants will continue into the next century, but from what I am seeing on the various world cp forums, the chances are improving for these plants all the time. It feels good!
The old guard must pass, and it will be the newbies and kids of today that will carry it on. Perhaps most will abandon this hobby with time, but for some of you it will become a lifelong love and endless passion. It is to you, and those like you that the plants will call most loudly, and although you may leave the art of cultivating them at different points in your life, they WILL call you back.
Phill Mann said "They get in your blood" and he is right!
So to you, (and YOU know who you are I bet) I ask, implore, beg and plead: carry on this work. Learn your craft well, and teach it. "Seed the World", as my friend Patrice says. You will make a difference.