Wow, Jane! That's a lot of catalogues! :)) I think the key in your learning curve was that you really* wanted *to know more, and that's the part you can't guarantee to teach anyone: that spark of passion! You can show your passion, and make things as interesting and accessible as possible, so if that spark is there, it has something to ignite.
Even if you don't end up having many really impassioned gardeners in your area, it sounds like you have done a lot to promote understanding and appreciation of the wildflowers/plants of your area as well as gardening in your unusual situation--job well done :)) I have to say, I have never worried too much about *pronunciation* (settling for vague remembrance of basic latin letter sounds, mostly..)of botanical names, but that's probably because I have never done much *speaking* about them: in my early days, plant communication was via 'Round Robins' sent through the mail (!) and much more recently, internet. I had a brief and enjoyable spell in a cactus and succulent club when I lived in Toronto, as well as occasional visits to orchid or c+s shows while I lived in cities. For the rest, the long relationship between those contentious binomials and me has been mostly a written one! Cohan west central alberta, canada heading for a sunny high of -21C today with a low of -32C tonight, then possible snow again for the next 4 days, but no amounts Jane would recognise as snow ;) Hi, Cohan, > > > Your comment about needing to know the botanical name rather than the > vernacular name if you want to look them up or find them in catalogs jogged > my memory. The second situation is what pushed me into learning the > botanical names. > > > When I started really delving into high-altitude gardening, there were no > library books anywhere on the subject and no experts to guide me and, > especially, no Internet to query. But there were numerous free plant and > seed catalogs available for the price of a post card. I sent off 175 post > cards and received 147 catalogs! I read each catalog from cover to cover. > Some read like a horticultural guide; others simply listed what was for > sale. Most had their plants or seeds listed alphabetically by BOTANICAL > NAME! Oh, dear, this was a problem for me. Even if I found a familiar > species when photos were included, I wasn't sure, because common names > usually were omitted. > > > One catalog included a pronunciation guide to each botanical name listed. > I started there. Then I found an old 1940's vintage Taylor's Encyclopedia > of Gardening in the reference section of our library. It had a > pronunciation guide for most of the genera (but not the species). I was not > permitted to check out a reference book so I wrote down names of species I > thought might grow in Breckenridge, took them to the library, sat at the > table and carefully copied the syllabification and stress marks for each > species. Then I brought home that information and practiced pronouncing > those names aloud until I could do it without looking at my paper. I > learned about a dozen or so additional ones each time I returned to the > library (which is a 20-miles round trip from where I live). Having no > contact with other gardeners or horticulturists and no Internet to search, I > had no way of knowing what books might be out there that could help me. > > > A few years later, on a winter camping trip to southern Arizona, we stopped > at used book store and there was Stearn's Botanical Latin. I thought I had > "died and gone to Heaven"!!! I snapped it up quickly (from the coating of > dust on that book, I was not in danger of losing it to another shopper) and > read it from cover to cover. This opened up the world of botanical > nomenclature to me. > > > If you would converse with me verbally, some of my pronunciations may sound > strange to you because I have not HEARD most of the names spoken by > knowledgeable people. It's like learning a foreign language from books and > knowing it perfectly but not being understood very well by native speakers. > > > However, when it comes to correctly spelling the Latin/Greek names, I have > no problem because I inherited a photographic memory from my father. > > > Now that I have a facility with botanical nomenclature, I love it! I think > there are two major impediments to learning this naming system for novice > gardeners. The first is obvious -- the usually long names with extra > letters that are not common in American English vocabulary. The second is > no immediate guide to pronunciation of each separate genus and species. > Stearn's Botanical Latin is a great reference but it is a tome, and most > "newbies" would not want to spend their precious and limited free time > perusing it. > > > I saved all the catalogs that included syllabification of the species > names. When I write articles or brochures that introduce novice gardeners > to various aspects of mountain gardening, in the style of those catalogs, I > will include in parenthesis the pronunciation of the botanical names of the > species I may recommend (along with their most-used common name). > > Acquiring knowledge in a new and complex field like > gardening/horticulture/botany can be a slow and lengthy process for many > people, once they are on their own, away from the structure and discipline > of a classroom setting. However, sometimes the pressure to meet certain > academic objectives in a finite period time causes the classroom student, by > necessity, to skip over the details of certain subjects and just absorb the > "meat" of the concept in order to pass a test. > > > I, myself, prefer a slow, relaxed learning process with down time in > between doses of new information to think about what I have read, how to > apply and the time to seek additional information from other sources before > proceeding to another facet of this study. Since I'm retired, I can and do > indulge in this luxury. However, I know most people have very busy, > demanding lives and can't devote that amount of time to what is an > "optional" activity for them. So I do the "leg work". I read, analyze and > then rewrite what I think will be helpful to a novice gardener in a concise, > easy-to-understand form and always include my full contact information, > encouraging folks to ask me questions. > > > It may take years or decades before a visitor to my gardens decides to > become keenly involved in gardening. I may not even live long enough to see > that happen. But I'm hopeful that in some small way I will have encourages > at least one person to go down that gardening path. > > > 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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