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Post by Deleted on Jan 6, 2007 22:49:33 GMT
I have a real struggle trying to learn/remember plant names. I can't even remember the common names half the time let alone the latin ones  I really would like to learn some this year, especially the latin names as well at the common ones. Has anyone got any tips on remembering what's what or is it just a case of you will learn them............eventually ? Anyone got any good books they can recommend ? I've got an RHS encyclopaedia but I read it one day and can't remember a bloody thing the next !! FA x |
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Post by Chuckles on Jan 6, 2007 22:59:19 GMT
I really struggle too FA, I blame my age  ;D. Sometimes I can't remember the simplest of plant names and when it comes to the latin ones......not a cat in hells chance. I wish we could be plugged and wired up to that thing they used on the old TV programme Joe 90  Short memory Chuckles  |
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Post by Juliet on Jan 6, 2007 23:27:52 GMT
There's a proverb which is something like "I hear I forget, I see I remember, I do I understand" - obviously not quite apt 'cos you can see the RHS encyclopedia, but it was what I thought of when I saw your post, FA.
When I was planning our garden I started knowing virtually no plant names at all. A designer had given me a list of plants she suggested & I typed it up and added useful information about all the plants (& found several were completely unsuitable for my garden!), found photos of them (& discovered I loathed several more!) went through lots of gardening websites & books and added lots more plants I did like, and ended up with a chart about 5 pages long with names all in latin because the designer's original list was in latin, together with flower colour, eventual height, season of interest etc. I then did a plan of our garden, made lots of photocopies of it, and tried to decide what plant to put where. I spent ages pouring over those charts - and four years later I can still tell you the latin name of every plant in my garden (as well as exactly where it is - even though I've moved several!) - and quite a few of the others which were on the original list too, as well as most of the other information.
What I'm trying to say is - if you want to remember the names, don't just read about the plants, find photos of them, write notes about them, type up your notes & print them out, look at some websites and alter your notes & print them out again, etc etc - the info. is much more likely to go in if you are interacting with it than if you're just letting it wash over you.
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Post by sweetleaf on Jan 6, 2007 23:36:45 GMT
I really struggle too FA, I blame my age ;D. Sometimes I can't remember the simplest of plant names and when it comes to the latin ones......not a cat in hells chance. I wish we could be plugged and wired up to that thing they used on the old TV programme Joe 90 Short memory Chuckles I had joe 90 pj`s and wallpaper.........and unfortunately the glasses, not a good look ona girl! I have trouble with peoples names never mind plants so I keep a photo album, you know, the type with pockets and put labels in them, usually they have a pic but if not Ill find one and pop that in too. If I have a "moment" I can refer back to my memory aid! |
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Post by Chuckles on Jan 6, 2007 23:45:29 GMT
I had joe 90 pj`s and wallpaper.........and unfortunately the glasses, not a good look ona girl! I have trouble with peoples names never mind plants so I keep a photo album, you know, the type with pockets and put labels in them, usually they have a pic but if not Ill find one and pop that in too. If I have a "moment" I can refer back to my memory aid! PJ's, wallpaper and glasses  sorry sweetleaf that soooo tickled me. I'm bad with names too, comes from working with people who wore white coats with their names printed on them  Back on topic.......Your memory aid sounds like a mini version of Juliets idea of plant pics, notes etc etc......sounds like a good idea to me |
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Post by sleepysunday on Jan 7, 2007 0:05:45 GMT
Some bits of the latin names are descriptive, so are easy to remember Denticulata - tooth like - so you get primula denticulata (the petals look like teeth) Purpurea - purple Palmatum - shaped like a hand (palm) Pendula - hangs down Varigata - varigated Vulgaris - I always assume mean it's common like digitalis vulgaris (common foxglove) So , if you can remember an acer, and that it's leaf is shaped like a hand you can work out Acer Palmatum atropurpureum (dunno what the atro is though) A willow is a Salix. I have a Salix Pendula PurpureaAn American Purple Weeping Willow A variagated dogwood is Cornus varigataDoes that help? |
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Post by sweetleaf on Jan 7, 2007 0:30:52 GMT
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Post by andy on Jan 7, 2007 9:07:32 GMT
If there was such a thing......Cornus alba elegentissima is the varigated dogwood. Alba referring to the white flowers.
There's also....
Aurea.....golden (au is chemical symbol for gold)
Argentia.....silver (ag is chemical symbol for silver)
aureomarginata.....golden margin
Nigra.....black
Tricolor....3 colours
Hybrida.....a hybrid
Fragrans/fragrantissima.....scented
lyrata....lyre like leaf
alba....white
rubra....ruby coloured
coccinea....red
repens....creeping
Plus anything ending in "ii" is usually named after someone....eg Davidii, Walisii, Jamesonii, Greyii, Henrii and Darwinii.
I think Andy that if you just try to familiarise yourself with one or two a week.....set up a small plant ident and use the same plants each week except one or two which should be new to you.
When i was at horticulture college for 4 years, our lecturers really rammed the plant idents down our throats.....20 plants a week and we were expected to know them all by the next week and it really helped.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 7, 2007 12:03:20 GMT
Wow, some of these ideas and info are brilliant. I love Juliet's idea of writing it down, with the common and latin names and putting a picture and info about it in a book of some kind. I know when I did the training course to be a Tax Inspector (a year of hell, let me tell you !), I could read the coursework all day and not remember a thing but if I read it and then wrote it down in my own note form it would sink in. Sounds like something that might work for me so I';ll give it a go.
I could start by identifying all the plants in my own garden and producing a plan of where everything is. That would certainly be a good start !
Cheers everyone
FA x
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Post by Susie Snowdrop on Jan 7, 2007 12:10:05 GMT
With working in a nursery I now find it quite easy to remember plant names.
It's much better if you can actually SEE the plant ...................get yourself down to your local garden centre and wander about looking at labels and plants. Spend as long as you like!
S x
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Post by isabella on Jan 7, 2007 12:15:13 GMT
I do agree,Susie. If you see the plant and maybe handle it the name is much more likely to be remembered.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 7, 2007 12:15:17 GMT
Yeah - I do that anyway Susie but I can look at them all day and as soon as I'm in the car on the way home, I can't remember what any of them are !
FA x
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Post by andy on Jan 7, 2007 12:43:01 GMT
The other way is to specialise in a certain group of plants for a few months, then move on to another group.
For example, now would be an ideal time to learn bulbs, then on to alpines, then shrubs, then herbaceous, then trees etc.
Even though i have a good basic knowledge of plant names, i do try to specialise in certain plants. A few years ago, it was ferns that i was into, then alpines, and now, it's more exotic stuff.
I do confess that i know reletively few herbaceous plants.....probably because i've never really grown them in my garden or at work (and i'm not really a lover of them either !!!)
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Post by Margi on Jan 9, 2007 22:04:30 GMT
Andy - you need a Little Black Book!!! It's called 'Plant Names Simplified' and it's by Arthur Johnson, and it's freely available on Amazon etc for £7.25 new or from £2 used... What you do is every time you find a Latin name you look it up, and eventually they start to sink in... I'm lucky enough to be obsessive about it, and find lots of them stick, but even my friends at college who struggle with them find this book amazingly helpful and interesting! It's not a coffee table book by any means, but it does fit in your garden centre coat pocket... And if there are any specific ones you can't find let me know and I'll look them up in one of my other (several) horticultural nomenclature books!!!
Margi x
Margi x
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Post by Deleted on Jan 9, 2007 22:20:16 GMT
Ooh, thanks Margi. I'll see if I can get one of them !
FA x
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Post by Jonah on Jan 9, 2007 23:12:07 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jan 9, 2007 23:57:16 GMT
Would I be right in saying that plants have their surname first, their first name second and their middle name last - well if you understood that you are a better man or woman than me LOL ;D
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Post by mickthecactus on Jan 10, 2007 8:28:19 GMT
I think Sleepy has a good point insofar as if you get to know a bit of basic Latin you are halfway there.
I think it helps that I started young with the cacti and have no problem with remembering the names. I also remember everything to do with work. I forget everything Mrs Cactus tells me (or says that she tells me).
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I really would like to learn some this year, especially the latin names as well at the common ones. 
;D. Sometimes I can't remember the simplest of plant names and when it comes to the latin ones......not a cat in hells chance. 
