Sorry Oliver I must have had you confused with someone else. It's not hard to confuse me
If I may take this opportunity to explain to you and other recent Forum members: My main focus in CP is to distribute as many plants as I can, free of charge, in my remaining lifetime. I believe that it will only be in the hands of good growers that the plants will survive into the next century for our grandchildren's grandchildren to be able to enjoy. I believe that generosity and the free sharing of plants and knowledge is the best insurance for this.
I want to raise an army of growers who want to Steward these plants: the ones that feel the plants "call". They do call out, don't they (!) and I believe with all my heart that the cycle of sharing and education as to how best to grow these species will also spread as others who feel the same way also take up the work. (They are! I see it happening!)
I can give away a lot more plants than I can sell, and if only 5 percent of those who try to grow them stick with it throughout their life, then I will have been repaid for my expenses in the way that is most important to me, and the rolling ball will stay rolling.
I want these plants to remain with us as something real and touchable, not just images on a screen, and wishful thinking in the generations to come.
I have preached this concept here and on other forums, and it will be the main topic of my lecture tour in 2004. (Yup, I have a tour scheduled!)
I could sell those plants, and lord knows I could use the money, but it is more important to see them well placed with skilled growers who will be able to reproduce and spread them. Those people are priceless to me. It's also important that all who do have them make the effort to teach the skills needed to cultivate them to others, and also freely share this material and knowledge in turn. This starts a dynamic and ongoing cycle, and the result is literally a shower of free plants for anyone with the heart to grow them. This is my dream which is becoming more and more real, and I am working hard to make it even more real. We can make a difference in this one thing, if we all pull together and kick money out of the equation.
I despise the head set that attempts to market rare plants with prices designed to insure that the supply remains short, so that prices and profits may continue to remain high. This attitude needs to stop, because the plants are diminishing in habitat. "Progress" is eroding them. Populations vanish yearly, and their biodiversity is lost forever unless someone somewhere has the plant under cultivation. For example, Drosera occidentalis var Australis "Warriup Form" is no longer to be found in habitat. All that stands between it and its extinction is the love of good men and women for this small plant, and their dedication in maintaining it, and spreading of it
to others of similar heart.
There are many fine and reputable nurserymen who do sell these plants for their living. There are expenses in such a large scale operation, and in these cases profit is both needed and desirable. Such nursieries go a long ways in promoting this hobby, and introduce beginners to the craft where hopefully they will be able to learn to sucessfully grow these plants without having to pay an arm and a leg for the priveledge. Such nurseries produce and distribute on a scale private growers can never hope to achieve. There is a difference however, between a reasonable expense of production and flat out cutting the heart out of those who love these species for being willing to take on the noble work of preserving them! I want to see this headset crumble into the extinction that will befall the plants if this type of consciousness prevails.
In my private war, Forums like this one (which is mainly supported by Petflytrap, Inc.'s profits) are major weapons, as are the free seedbanks throughout the world. This season the bulk of my seed harvest went to support those seedbanks.
Oliver, thank you for the opportunity to once again address this issue so near and dear to my heart. I guess I haven't been up on the soap box enough of late, and some things just need to be said, and said again
I look forward to the day when I can send you seed of this species FOR FREE.
-William Dawnstar, "Tamlin"