Reference book for explanations for *common* names for plants
8 years ago
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- 8 years ago
- 8 years ago
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Recommendations for vegetable gardening reference book
Comments (11)I have a shelf full of gardening books, Eliot Coleman, Ed Smith, and others. I'm sorry to say that although all these books have useful information, they also all contain erroneous information. I have not found one source of information that is authoritative and current. I suppose it's the currency of the information that's the issue. You'd think that after how-many thousands of years of farming and gardening, we'd have learned something. But they are still finding out some very important lessons that have not yet made it into consumer-level print. For example, the information about mycorrhizal relationships, and how to nurture them is still mostly found on-line. If I had to pick one, I'd go with one of Eliot Coleman's latest books. But this forum is one of the best sources of information and ideas. Check out posts by loid (pt03), borderbarb, dan_staley, cyrus_gardener, digdirt. I'll have to check John Jeavon's book from the library....See MoreCommon wrong 'common' names.
Comments (20)Gottagarden, the exact same thing happened to me. I ended up with those orange daylilies too(Hemerocallis). That was my first introduction to "common" names from people who are not really into gardening. I try and use the latin if it's pronouncable (and that's a big IF on some of those honkers) or appropriate to the situation. For instance I certainly wouldn't ask the clerk at Walmart where the Hemerocallis are. Pointless. Funny about prejudice though. I once asked a friend of mine why she didn't use the latin to talk about some of her plants when she knew what it was. She replied that the rest of her friends would think she was trying to be uppity. So now I realize that there are people out there who garden who don't want to know more then they already know and consider it snobbish to use a name they are not familiar with. I like to learn the latin if possible and how to pronounce it. But I guess there are two different ways to see things even in gardening...One of the strangest common name mix ups was when I lived in Indiana. I was told that some people refer to Bell Green Peppers as Green Mangos. Now that would be confusing....See MoreConifer Reference Books
Comments (7)but none of them discuss older varieties ==>> if you mean older CULTIVARS ... good luck with that ... i would suggest the web is the way to go in that regard ... there are picture books.. like van hoey's 2 volumes ... but DISCUSSIONS .. other than in the most general terms .... are sorely lacking ... now.. if you are a green tree nut.. like resin.. then he will know all the books.. about all the species and their multitude of variations ... but dont expect him to give you guidance on those foo foo off-color and variegated trees.. lol ... am i right michael??? give us an example of what you want historical info on.. so we know precisely.. what you are looking for .... ken Here is a link that might be useful: look at it.. its cover has a green tree on it ... took me only 18 google pages to come up with a pic [i didnt say i did it efficiently.. lol] .... but its only 11$ used ... but nearly doubled for shipping and God knows what to ship it from GB .... .....See MoreCommon wrong 'common' names
Comments (6)Just had another one of these moments today. Someone stopped me today because she heard I was a botanist and wanted to know why her red maple was growing so slowly. I asked if the leaves were turning yellow (thinking it might be chlorosis from growing on alkaline soil). She said no, the leaves are red. At that point I figured it was a Japanese maple and told her it was probably just naturally slow growing. Then she wanted to know how long before she could sit under it for shade, and I said that if it was a Japanese maple then it might not ever get that big. "No", she replied, "what I have is a red maple". When I suggested possibly planting a red-leaf Norway spruce if shade was what she desired she said "I already have a red maple" and walked away....See MoreRelated Professionals
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