Hello from Dorset

I don't usually bother with "hello" posts but I thought it rude not to here .
I'm new-ish to gardening, with about 5 years experience, getting more & more in to each year. I just wish I could remember some plant names once in a while! The common name is usually hard enough, let alone the funky Latin ones!

I hope it's OK, but I may be uploading a few pictures from time to time, with the text "what is it?"

 

Welcome @M.McL! "New-ish" here too and have only been serious about gardening for the last couple of years. Yeah, those Latin names can be hard to master but you can be confident that even someone on the other side of the planet will know exactly which plant you mean when using them.

As for plant identification, we have a whole area of this forum devoted to it, I certainly can't claim to be anywhere as good at it as some here, but it's great fun, I love the challenge of trying to figure out what plant I'm looking at in a photo, especially when I'm entirely unfamiliar with it.

So post away and enjoy being a member my friend, we're all here to learn and share!

Nick

 

Hi @M.McL ,



Welcome to Gardeners Corner

Looking forward to seeing your posts (and plants ) . There are a few of us on here who love identifying plants, flowers etc.

 

Welcome.

 

Welcome to GC, @M.McL

 

Welcome to GC . Lots of experienced people to help you with your gardening questions but I'm not one of them . Look forward to your piccies

 

Welcome to Gardeners Corner M.McL. When I joined GC my plant knowledge was very weak but I've learnt a lot especially from the Identification forum.

 

You certainly are not the only person to have doubts about plant names. For the beginner or there abouts. You perhaps see a packet of seeds, or a plant, even a picture in a book. You say to yourself, 'I'd like to grow that'. So you simply follow the sowing instructions etc. Just to remind yourself, you write out a plant label to remind yourself. So the label reads.Forget me not. You can now begin getting to know more. On the reverse of the label you can write the botanical name. Myosotis.

If you sow several packets of seed, then following the labelling, you can from time to time, simply turn the labels around and soon get to know the names.
Data of plant names, can tell us so much about the plant, in few words. Firstly the plant name. Then often a short detail of the plant, perhaps it's colour. Type of flower. Then quite often the name of the person who introduced that plant/species to the market.

So a plant may have -lutea (yellow) alba (white) red (rubra) and so on. Many plants have names like, wardii, forest (ii) banksia etc. Such endings identify the plant hunter who originally discovered the plants and sent seed home from places like China.

As I love plants, botany etc and research. I make use of these extra pieces of information. Perhaps I am at heart, still that kid who having watched Saturday morning pictures, was now the cowboy hero or whatever. So, books enable me to read up on some of these plant hunters. Believe me. Sometimes it's hard to put the book down. Then getting myself a map of the area, I will endeavour to mark the course say that Frank Kingdom Ward (wardii) traversed.

This to me and many others really makes gardening, horticulture come alive. Of course there are so many plant/gardening clubs/societies around. If the fancy takes us, then it can be worthwhile joining. To whatever level a person's new found interest (gardening) takes you. Enjoy.