#11 The Hartford Flower Show and Botanical Latin
The Hartford Flower Show is right around the corner. In our last blog we told you that the madman was going around asking “Who wants to go to the Flower Show?” He says the replies have changed from “I do. I do” to “Pick me. Pick me.” And a selection of plants have appeared on the kitchen table with little tags each containing Latin-looking words. Next to the plants sits a paper entitled “Horticulture Division – Chestnuts in Bloom”; the same document he spent a fair amount of time reviewing from his comfy chair.
Our Introduction to the Flower Show
To the uninitiated this paper makes no sense. But the madman knows that this is an extremely important piece of paper – it contains the classifications for the Standard Flower Show that is a key part of the Hartford Flower & Garden Show. For years we drove to Hartford in the middle of winter to get a feeling of spring. It made the madman happy; this was even better than the end of the Persephone period.
The acres of landscape displays boggled his mind and created fodder for his imagination. One year we encountered a building with a living roof – today we have a folly with a living roof. One year we saw pots buried in the sand – today we have a cactus garden full of pots buried in the sand. One year we saw a tree house – yes, now we have one. One year we saw a solar greenhouse – yep, you get it.
So Many Things to See
The Flower & Garden Show is much more than pretty landscape displays. There is something for every taste on display. If it has to do with gardening, landscaping or outdoor living, it is on display – tool, services, equipment, buildings, outdoor furniture, garden ornaments, plants, seeds, bulbs, advice, even free soil testing…the list goes on.
Apart from the main exhibit hall there are seminars given by some well-known figures in the horticultural world. Given over the course of four days, the topics cover a range subject areas, all having to do with gardening in our area.
Standard Flower Show
What really drives the madman to attend this flower show is the Federated Garden Clubs of Connecticut Standard Flower Show. As we have mentioned before, the madman is a collector of plants. At the beginning he just acquired plants that suited his fancy – if he liked it he bought it with no regard to name. To him a plant that didn’t require a lot of water and had prickers was a cactus. We have a lot of those – generally named “assorted succulent” by the seller.
Euphorbia Masqueraded as a Cactus
One year as we were walking through the horticulture exhibits, he noticed a familiar looking plant. “Hey, that looks like my pencil cactus. It’s not a cactus after all – it is a Euphorbia, Euphorbia tiricalli to be exact.” Wow! Who knew!?
Then, in 2011 we took the Master Gardener Program through UConn Extension Service. The madman’s eyes lit up during the Botany lecture. All plants have a name, and the naming of plants is a complicated process. From College Biology the madman knew basic taxonomy (Kingdom, Phyllum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species). This is easily remembered because King Philip Came Over For Ginger Snaps. But knowing this is just a start.
Getting All Plants in Order
As you all know, plants are extremely diverse, yet the scientific world demands order. This has been going on for centuries. Pliny the Elder (23 AD-79 AD) published his Naturalis historia in 77 AD. A voluminous work covering all of natural science as it was known. More than a few volumes were devoted to the plant kingdom. Although he did not always distinguish between fact, opinion and speculation (sounds like the madman’s favorite saying – “never let the truth get in the way of a good story”), his work was considered a primary source of scientific information up to the middle Ages.
Botanical Latin Takes Over
Then along came Carl Linnaeus, the father of modern taxonomy. Carl didn’t like the long and confusing names assigned to plants and other things. He sought an easier way to classify them. He developed the binomial system using Genus and Species in Latin form since Latin was the language of scientists at the time. This system of classification is what we use today.
Dr. John Watson at your Service
This was all explained by the madman during a Master Gardener Class loosely based on a Sherlock Holmes story by A. Conan Doyle, “The Musgrave Ritual.” In it, the madman played Dr. John Watson and gave the following monologue.
“You use Latin names, not to impress the client with your vast knowledge (although there is something to be said for that), but to eliminate the confusion of common names – you see totally different plants may have like names.
As example might be a newly-wed couple has just purchased a home and the husband wishes to plant apple trees while his missus wants to have cedar plants to hide an unsightly foundation. The husband fears the word cedar because he remembers for a long-ago science lecture that apples and cedars do not mix for some forgotten reason.
The couple, on the verge of divorce, comes seeking the counsel of the Master Gardener. Will there be no apple trees, or will there be a less-than-aesthetic foundation? Or worse yet, will this end in divorce court. The choice is yours.
When is a Cedar Not a Cedar?
There are totally different plants that all go by the common name cedar. There is the Eastern Red Cedar, Juniperus virginiana; Western Red Cedar, Thuja plicata; Atlantic White Cedar, Chamaecyparis thyoides; Incense Cedar, Calcocedrus decurrens and Atlas Cedar, Cedrus atlantica.
Each unrelated plant has its own set of diseases and insects, but the Master Gardener knows that if a person has expectations of fresh picked apples, he does not want Juniperus virginiana nearby because of the infamous Cedar Apple Rust, Gymnosporangium juniper-virginianae.”
“Unspecified Succulent” Doesn’t Cut it Anymore
After years of collecting “unspecified succulents” the madman realized the importance of knowing the Latin name for his all plants. He also learned that if he wanted to show his plants at the Hartford Flower Show he needed to know the Latin name so he could present it to the judges.
Thus we entered the world of Botanical Latin. Sorry you Classical Latin Scholars, Botanical Latin draws words from a variety of sources. It is important in the world of plants to use the botanical name (genus and species), not the common name which can vary from place to place.
Knowing the Latin name is really knowing your plant; and knowing your plant gives you a good clue about its growing needs. The people who named plants used a variety of methods to determine the name- some were named for the collector – Kalmia latifolia (Mountain laurel) was named for Peter Kalm who discovered the plant. Some were named for the color of the leaf, flower stem or bark of the plant – Quercus rubra is red oak while Quercus alba is white oak. Some were named for the place the plant was found – Lonicera japonica (Japanese honeysuckle). There are a lot of other factors that determine the names of plants, just know that there is no standard.
Technology is Changing Taxonomy
Also know that taxonomists meet roughly every seven years, and when this happens names and classifications can get changed. Early classifications relied on visual inspection; now things are done by DNA which shows some surprising relationships.
The Names Have to be Right
But back to the madman and his current Latin needs. He’s planning to enter several plants in the show. To enter a plant in the Flower Show, an exhibitor needs to know the classification so it can be entered into the correct section. You can’t put a cactus in with an arboreal or you and your cactus will find yourselves out on the street. And, within the section, you need to know what class your plant belongs in-you don’t want your Agaves with your Euphorbias.
The Plants have to be Perfect
After checking each plant’s pedigree, the madman is carefully grooming each specimen for the upcoming road trip. Each plant must represent its genus and species with aplomb. Pots are cleaned, dead leaves are removed, rough soil surfaces are carefully covered with small stones and each plant is inspected daily for the appearance of any pests – they are not welcome at the show.
By Feb. 15 he must email a list of his intended entries to the chairman of the horticulture entries. On Feb. 19 he brings his plants to the Hartford Convention Center for check in. A group from the Federated Garden Clubs of Connecticut will be on hand to inspect each plant and place it in the correct section for judging.
The Madman Waits for Results
Previously the madman would pace nervously until the show opened on Thursday. Sometime before noon he would get a text from fellow Master Gardener Chantal Foster telling him if he received a ribbon or not.
This year will be a little different. He won’t be pacing at home. He will actually be at the Flower Show. We will spend time at the Maine Garden Products booth answering questions about how we use their products. Stop by if you have a gardening question or if you have questions about how a solar greenhouse can make your life as a gardener easier. We would love to see you. Bring some cocoa if you like.
But, at the moment, the madman has to review the spelling on his Latin names and our cocoa is ready.
