Ah, "Because it's there," wasn't good enough?" I'm not sure there's any old enough for me, lol.

There is a definite lack of Karins though. You are going to have to hybridize your own. It's strange - there is no plain Karen either. They all have another name attached.

Diana in PA

Well "because it's there" works whilst you still have shelf space. after that, you have to get creative ;-)

i just asked a friend for Ma's white elephant. - seriously, if i am going to grow large ones like wrangler's boot stompin, tommie lou, tina's april fantasy and blue dragon (all were foisted on me by well meaning individuals), then i might as well go ahead and grow one i REALLY LIKE....

hybridizing project is ongoing... though i seem to keep misplacing my ***** seed pods "somewhere safe" obviously isn't, or i'd remember where it was.... i now got a cute tin can to put them in. hope that will leave them safe until i plant them a week later...

my first "official" named cross should be up soon: senk's snowy egret x the madam. love them both for very different reasons... so this could get interesting :-)

funny though, i was going to name them "froggy's" not "karin's" - but we are a few years away from that point yet ;-)

Karin

You're not telling me you're 15 are you? I know you're much younger than I am.. Or aren't you counting the year? I've heard Ma's White Elephant is nice but Ma's hates me.

Take it from one who knows. Never, ever put anything somewhere "safe." Put it in the middle of the floor.

Diana in PA

oh no, haven't been 15 in a while (haha, just realized i'm vintage)... ma's white elephant is just one i've been eyeing since i got my first named variety a year ago... suddenly, with all the other plants i am growing. "it's too big" just doesn't count for as much anymore... i would give up nearly all my pinks to make room for it, so there ya go.

the variety i was eyeing was "Bogeyman", Semidouble red-purple/thin darker edge. Variegated, plain, quilted. - sounds like i might like it too.

LOL at middle of the floor. or taped to the door.

Karin

Bogeyman looks pretty. Plus it's a semi mini so you can just hide it behind Ma's WE. I thought R. Scott looked familiar and that is the hybridizer of Frosted Whisper - wouldn't mind trying that one again. Oh, it's red-purple though - one of those that the photos make look more blue-violet. Still pretty but not the color I expected from the photo.

I hear you. I've tried to hang them and figure out how to attach them to the side of the window. If I hang them, I forget to water them.

We're all vintage or most of us. Doesn't that feel good? I suppose I'm lucky they haven't taken my suggestions on breaking up "vintage" into more than one category. I'd be in "So Vintage we're surprised it still exists" or something like that. The only older one would be "Just Taking up Space." (See the Original 10)

Diana in PA

As long as you aren't "obscure species", you're good ;)

Hanging, and window sills, good way to reduce a collection....

Karin

LOL! Mine have perfected (or failed to perfect) the high dive from the edge of the rack. I don't know what it says when the plants can't take it any more.

Diana in PA

That is a perfectly valid reason, then everyone will remember your b'day. 'Twas not that long ago that you, Karin had only NOIDS! I've heard don't put things in some place "safe," put them in some place "familiar." Hmm ... now, just where are those seed pods. You can always grow out those big babies for a club sale, since they have names.

Diana, you comments gave me a chuckle! Not even the original growers have many of the "vintage."

Some people enjoy, are amused by, or are not bothered by the unusual names. For myself, even if the plant itself is lovely, I don't care for the oddball names. A few years ago, it did not matter. But now that I am keeping labels, it matters! So, Optimara was clever to come up with names that people relate to.

Anyway, the names are not scientific, they are whimsical.

Joanne

"bogeyman" isn't near as bad as "imp's spotted infection" ;-) which is actually a cute little plant...

i guess some growers want to be novel. and there are only so many "pink frilly names" out there...

i'd probably dither about the name for years before registering anything... easiest would be "Karin's pink frilly trailer #1", "Karin's blue ruffled standard #77" etc... Heck, just skip the description and make it "K #33" - much less work to write on a label ;-)

i just looked at a photo of bogeyman (i had only the date and description when i decided i wanted it), it looks like little inca with variegation!!! totally what i would grow :-)

the other registrations from 1982 bloomlovers carries all seem to be pink and frilly, and none in october. so bogeyman wins twice :-)

haha Diana, are they jumping off in desperation? i have a few that might, if given a chance... anywhere must be better than the sunny window sill, slowly roasting away...

What happened to the Smurf Idea!?

Donna Brining has the loveliest plants, her own hybrids. She gives them lovely names, "Mother's Love," "Stardust."

I also love the Allegro series of names.

Or the guy who came up with all the Italian city names, was that "B-man?" I would have gotten the plants just for the names alone. I don't think they are easy to find anymore.

As for Rob's, .... "fuzzy navel "... is another one. The fastidious ladies from the white gloves and hats era would have been fainting behind their fluttering fans.

Ma Robinson comes up with nice names you are not embarrassed to say out loud.

I know I was complaining a while ago that every white plant created by the east coasters seemed to be named after snow. Violets have nothing to do with snow.

I like the Optimara Crystal names, violets are often sparkly.

Well, now that I am at it, the Silverglades names are nice.

Roses sometimes used to be named after glamourous female movie stars or distinguished statesmen. American Beauty was for a movie star, as an example.

The Dutch bulbs are named after royalty.

We don't have royalty in the U.S. so I guess we might name them after our pets. Or sometimes, pets are named after people. Joanne

i'd be worried about copyright issues with the name... smurfs and anything disney i'll stay well away from... not that i have enough money to be worth their trouble, but still, big companies can be weird about references to their "product"...

who knows, as i said, there are years to think about it... and if i fail to come up with good stuff in english, there are a few other languages available :-p

personally, i like the pixies, and the animal names like elephant or dodo bird, except it seems the names i like are taken (haha) and i wouldn't want to name something similar to an existing name. like rob's sarsaparilla and buckeye's (i once got a plant called "sarsaparilla", told it was a rob's and wondered how it could look so different from the description...)

how about Karin's glöck, spätzli, chriesi, sunne, ... :-)

(luck, little sparrow/darling, cherry, sun) hmm. me likes...

Karin

There are two sarsaparillas.

Joanne