Hi Jane! I really do know what you mean, and no matter how much I don't like *some *of those vernacular names, I absolutely would use them in the sort of context you are talking about--at least the few I know! Otherwise, I'd probably try some sort of reference to the family or genus if there are better known members ( " a member of the daisy family from the mountains of china!--I know Saussurea occurs in the Rockies, but not close enough to me to know a vernacular name--now I do :)..and I am not above calling Sempervivum 'Hens and Chicks' when the occasion calls for it. Mostly, though, no one is likely to see my yard or garden (invisible from the road, and virtually no neighbours) except family and most of them are gardeners of some sort who are at least aware of the growing of oddities even if they don't all indulge in it :)
I'm a moderator of a mailing list dealing with cacti and succulents, and we get everything from absolute beginners to old vets, and we try hard to encourage the newbies, so I know you have to try to make them interested enough, and present info in an accessible enough way, to get them to dig in enough to move on the next level. Of course you can grow beautiful plants and love them dearly without any technical 'knowledge' or vocabulary at all, it just becomes necessary when you want to *talk* about them, look them up, find them in catalogues, etc.. Luckily these days, there are tons of images of plants online, with varying sorts of text accompanying them; we often recommend people start simply googling a plant of interest---vernacular name if that's what they have to start with, follow the image trail, pick up scientific names, keep going........... Cohan West Central Alberta, Canada, Zone 2-3 record temps from 10-20 miles away: min -45C/-49F;max 34C/93F http://picasaweb.google.com/cactuscactus On Mon, Jan 10, 2011 at 1:59 PM, [email protected] <[email protected]>wrote: > > Cohan, > > > The Saussurea collected in the Himalayan Mountains? That's easy, > "Himalayan Sawwort"! By the way, I don't have that species in my garden. I > have Saussurea weberi (Weber's Sawwort), a local native species. > > > From recent correspondence with you, I know you are a serious, > knowledgeable and very informed gardener/botanist and I DO appreciate your > exasperation with common names, such as Pincushion Cactus, being applied to > many distinct species. If I were conversing in the garden with you, I would > be speaking botanical Latin exclusively, and you and I would certainly > understand each other. > > > However, a casual gardener or an out-of-state tourist on his or her first > Colorado wildflower hike would be thrilled to learn the common name "Indian > Paintbrush" for Castilleja miniata, even if he/she later applied it to Rosy > Paintbrush (Castilleja rhexifolia) or the desert red paintbrush (Castilleja > chromosa). At least he/she would be identifying a "paintbrush" and that's a > start. To most folks just becoming familiar with native wildflowers and > cultivated species, the exact species isn't important. They just want to > differentiate a paintbrush from, say, a columbine. Later, if it turns out > that plants become a hobby or evolve into a passion, those early lessons and > common names will open doors to more in-depth study. > > > I speak from experience because 35 years ago I was that person who learned > the difference between a paintbrush and a columbine and it was an old > (72-year-old), patient gentleman in the Colorado Mountain Club (a hiking > club) who taught me the names of two or three wildflowers every time I > happened to hike with him. He had a vast knowledge of our native species, > including knowing not only their respective botanical names but also the > origin of many of them or what they meant. However, he knew (as I now also > know) that, no matter how enthusiastic and passionate YOU may be about > plants, you will discourage novices if you "give them the whole load of > hay"! > > > Sam, the old gentleman, gave me just enough information to pique my > interest. In the evenings, after work, and in the mornings, at the > breakfast table, I studied my first pictorial wildflower guide book, > memorizing the photos and the names of each species. It's a lot like > learning to read. When you first open a primer, you can't make sense of > most words. Maybe the small words, like "the" or "and" look familiar. As > time passes, you build on those little words. In just a couple of years of > adding more and more words, you can read and understand thousands of words. > It's the same way with learning plant names -- start with just a few, add > a few more each year and soon you are able to add dozens and then a hundred > in just one year. > > > Old Sam long ago passed away but his legacy and his patient teaching lives > on in me and I hope I will be able to pass on those qualities to someone > from a younger generation before my time, like old Sam's, is done. > > > Jane Hendrix > Mountain View Experimental Gardens > Peak 7 Area - Breckenridge, Colorado U.S.A. > Elevation: 10,000 feet > USDA Zone 4 > Website: http://www.picturetrail.com/hendrix > > > --
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