.... Chatty Gabby Garrulous Talkative Voluble...

Hi

A loquacious person talks a lot, often about stuff that only they think is interesting. You can also call them chatty or gabby, but either way, they're loquacious. Whenever you see the Latin loqu-, you can be sure that the word has something to do with "talking." So a loquacious person is a person who talks a lot, and often too much. Sitting next to a loquacious person at a dinner party can make dinner a real drag. Of course, if you've got nothing to say, a loquacious person might make a good dinner companion, because they'll do all the talking. All you will have to do is smile and eat.

Now on that same note of Latin origins, while I was away Chris wrote this really cool piece on the proper names of plants and it's not really that hard.  In fact many of the species names are words that we already know, like Aurea  for Gold,  Alba being white and Japonica from Japan and it means that when you talk about a plant then you mean just that plant, not like common names where the same common name is used for many different plants.

What's in a Name?

This month it is Happy Birthday to my favourite Horticultural hero Carl Linnaeus who was born in Sweden just over 300 years ago on May 23rd 1707. It is only fitting that we celebrate the life of this amazing man and his scientific system of naming plants (and all living things). Right about now I can hear the groans about those awful unpronounceable Latin names that Horticulturists use just to keep the gardening public confused. Not so. There could nothing further from the truth.

Linnaeus's system appears complex yet with just a little insight and study it is also very simple.  It is used and can be understood by every Botanist and Horticulturist world wide. Do you know of any other international system that is universally successful? No matter where you go an Actinidia chinensis will always be an Actinidia chinensis but here in New Zealand it is a Kiwifruit or a Zespri and in other parts of the world despite our best marketing efforts it is still a Chinese Gooseberry.

To give you a quick understanding of how plant names work: - Quercus ilex is an evergreen Oak with leaves that look a little bit like an Ilex (Holly). Hydrangea quercifolia is a Hydrangea that has leaves similar to an Oak and is commonly known as Oak Leaved Hydrangea. Camellias are named after George Camellus and are in the Theaceae family. So you can see where our favourite ‘cuppa got its name from as all Tea is produced from Camellia sinensis leaves.

Below are just a few Latin plant names and their meanings to show you that they aren't really all that frightening and in fact the names do make some kind of sense:-

 

Chinensis            From China

Dentata             Toothed i.e. like dentures

Fragrantissimus   Very fragrant

Grandiflora         Large flowers

Japonica            From Japan

Macrophylla                Large leaves

Microphylla         Small leaves

Plumosa             Feathery foliage i.e. plume like

Robusta             Very robust and hardy

Siphilitica           Medicinal properties that will treat disease!

Spinosum           Spiny

 

So don't be afraid of finding out and attempting to pronounce the Latin name of your favourite plants - you'll know at the very least you will be speaking an International language that continues to be as viable today as it was  300 years ago!  Happy Birthday Mr Linnaeus.

Where would we all be without our Mums

Its Mothers day,  Sunday the 12th. A special day to acknowledge and recognize all the xtras that mothers just do and I'm no different. It was only just the other week that my Mum sat down in our office, ripping up those 10000 rose labels ready for the new seasons stock to come in, just to help us out.  To all you mothers out there I wish you happy Mothers day and hope that you all have a fabulous one. Its forecast to be a fine day so enjoy.

GARLIC:  The shortest day is looming again and that means that its time to be thinking Garlic and strawberries. Garlic in presently is of either the Elephant type, large fleshy and yet a milder flavour and of course the classic Printanor which is a good mainstay Garlic to plant. Plant approx the shortest day and harvest around the longest day.

Strawberries, The best time to plant these luscious fruits is in the Winter. This means that they are well established before spring and that will mean lots of fruit when the weather gets warm and we all love freshly picked strawbs to eat. Normally we do plants in bundles of ten or twenty five and these are due in June. click the link to pre order.

Roses $8.00  all last years stock.  Its nearly time for the big pot and that means all the roses left have to go so we have reduced these to just $8.00. Now it's mostly ones and twos of things but I did notice that there were quite a few of Hayley Westenra which is a bit of a good one. Its a pretty rose in shades of  apricot, cream and peach and a healthy doer. Also a few burgundy iceberg but be in quick, otherwise next seasons won't be far way now.

Lilacs or Syringas if I have managed to convince anyone to use their Latin name. These are new seasons stock in and you can check them out here on this link.

Tea trees or Leptospermums. Angela found these awesome busy plants that would normally be $19.99 now just $14.99. These Tea trees are the smaller growing kind ( nana in their name means smaller or dwarf)  and great for being a shrub in the garden. Wiri Kerry or nana Tui

Feijoas, we have had masses of fruit off our plants this year,  Dad has bottled some for us and fronted up at our place with an Apple and Feijoa crumble which was really nice,  he has a new recipe for the crumble topping which tasted delicious. We have cutting grown plants from $6.99 each. Ideal for hedging or just growing on into a large shrub.

Mum in a Million , this new seasons rose is here in stock now if you want one for Mothers day, we can't send these out in time now but if you are local then there are some here to grab one on Saturday for Sunday. It really is a stunning rose pretty in pink and with a great fragrance.

Think that is enough from me this week and next week will continue with the rose story and bring you one of my favourite groups the Tea's.  Dad wrote out the recipe for the crumble so will get that up on line as well

Have a great weekend and Mothers day