And they aren’t so difficult to understand once you remember many words we use everyday come from Latin. I was pleasantly surprised how many I had guessed correctly, such as Cymbalaria muralis (“growing on walls”), and the information hidden within these words delivers excellent guidelines for planting… if a plant is from Buenos Aries it will like heat and sunshine, right? I learned that a tomato Solanum lycopersicon is from the Greek lyco "wolf" and persicon "peach" so a tomato is a wolfpeach, but here the genus name Solanum was ignored. and they and their garden will benefit from understanding the wealth of information that has hitherto lain hidden within the mysterious world of Latin names. If you enjoy learning the meanings and histories of names, you will find Latin for Gardeners to be a diverting and useful book.

There are fascinating stories over here, too, and some of the early botanists in Texas were, like Kolkwitz, German. Now that plant names are no longer nonsense syllables to memorize, I have no trouble remembering them. of a durian ice-cream, but I do have this book, its very useful and interesting, the botanical illustrations are really lovely too. Each name is clearly defined and accompanied by a pronunciation guide, and the pages are filled with attractive botanical illustrations.So where a plant has the word orientalis as part of its Latin name you’ll recognise it’s something to do with the orient or east. These shows exhibit the best in horticulture by providing show gardens, floral marques and expert advice. At the same time, could we have a comprehensive alphabetical list that includes not only the plants he mentions but also other items? The book also features of number of plants and botanists with short, informative and interesting articles. Parker’s Little Book of Latin is not intended to be a dictionary with a comprehensive alphabetical index.

It's going to take some time to properly enjoy it, and it's also one that I will keep by my chair to refer to often. On the other hand, you might expect a plant with the epithet melliodorus ( Eucalyptus melliodorus) to be foul-smelling, but actually its name means it has the scent of honey. It allows us to find our way around nurseries; it sorts out confusions when two plants have the same English name; and it gives us all kinds of information about how big or small a plant will grow, what shape or colour it will develop, and what habitat it prefers.Evolved over many centuries and often thought to belong to the rarefied world of scholars and scientists, this invented language is in fact a very useful tool for everyday gardening.

Individual plants are also profiled throughout, showing how their names can illuminate their hidden histories. The Royal Horticultural Society is one of the world’s leading horticultural organizations and the UK's leading gardening charity dedicated to advancing horticulture and promoting gardening.

However, I didn't know what the Latin names were based on so this book was fascinating in learning those details. Her previous titles include How to Read Gardens and The Shaker Book of the Garden, and she regularly contributes to Gardens Illustrated and Hortus magazine. He feels that ordinary gardeners can enjoy unravelling ‘meanings’ through their historical background. Vital to the protection of plants, gardens and green spaces for future generations, the RHS helps over two million school children get into gardening and supports more than 1,700 communities to create their own gardens, encouraging people to grow their own food.

This beautifully illustrated guide unlocks the mysteries of botanical Latin explaining what plant names mean and the descriptive clues they conceal. I imagine that the illustrations must be wonderful but they wouldn't be much of a joy when reading it on your Kindle. It is rewarding to figure out the meaning of a plant name – it also really helps me to remember plant names! I enjoyed going through this book, but it didn’t have many of the Latin names for the plants I grow.Behind the Name' feature boxes further increase the book's practical value, and a wide range of botanical watercolours ensure that it is beautiful as well as functional. This amount includes seller specified domestic postage charges as well as applicable international postage, dispatch, and other fees.