Re: [IGSROBIN] P. sidoides & "hedgehog geraniums"

Joan,

I have that miniature!  I never even thought of it in connection to hedgehogs.
I was thinking "sea urchin" for some reason.  Will let you know what the
article says when I receive it.   As an aside, I have the book THE URCHINS by
Phyllis Kidd, and it's a wonderful hedgehog version of WATERSHIP DOWN.

The P. sidoides seeds that you got through the seed list are from the same
plant my cutting came from, which belongs to Gary Scheidt.  It's kind of a
cute story, actually.  I was trying to collect a specimen leaf and bloom from
P. sidoides, P. reniforme, 'Garnet' and 'Burgundy' so that we could take one
photo with all four together so show just how different they are.  Gary wrote
a wonderful article about the four plants, and he's the person who introduced
'Burgundy' and 'Garnet'.  Well, I couldn't come up with a true sidoides that
was in bloom, so I called Michael Vassar who is well known for his collection
of species to see if he had one.  He said that he'd send some leaves and
blooms to the next IGS board meeting with Gary along with a cutting so I could
have the real thing in my collection too.  Of course, I was thrilled and when
I got to the IGS board meeting I couldn't wait to see the flowers, which were
darker than anything I'd seen before labelled as sidoides and had a lovely
sweet scent similar to violets.  When I was talking to Gary, it turned out
that the donor plant had been Gary's plant as Michael's was out of bloom, or
something.  Anyway, Michael showed up at Gary's and explained that we needed
specimen flowers and leaves for the GATW article and could Gary please deliver
them.  Then he, according to Gary, ''plunged his stubby little fingers into
the pot, rooted around, and came up with a basal cutting" for me.  Gary is
probably the sweetest guy on this earth, and to hear his rendition of those
stubby little fingers invading the sidoides pot struck me as the funniest
thing I've heard in a long while.  Since I don't have anything wonderful
enough in my plant collection to share with him, I'm thinking I'll take him a
box of hedgehog chocolates to the next meeting and probably mail one to
Michael as well.

The dog has returned on her own volition.  If she ever learns how to use a
pair of pliers, she'll probably hotwire my Camaro and drive down to Tijuana!

Which GATW are you missing?  I'll see that you get a replacement.

Cindi
hedgehug@aol.com
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