Comments on Helping Gardeners Grow: On knowing nature by name

I am happy to say that this post reminds me of my ...

2010-05-25T14:45:18.192-04:00

I am happy to say that this post reminds me of my daughter saying "magnolia" in her stroller as we walked our neighborhood. My granddaughter is now intent on learning the names of the flowers in my garden, and requested "a book with the names of all the flowers" which she received from me in her Easter basket.
Maybe someone need to invent a video game based on the names of garden plants!?

I had a very similar experience 25 years ago when ...

2010-05-23T11:40:45.235-04:00

I had a very similar experience 25 years ago when I sublet my house to a 40-something lawyer, who was meticulously tidy and kept my lovingly planted property looking beautiful even though she didn't know anything about gardening.
I called her in the first spring and happened to ask how the daffodils I'd planted in the fall were doing. She said, "I don't know the names of any plants. What color are they?" I am still marveling. How could anybody get through grade school and not know what a daffodil looked like? Like you, I hope that her experience tending my perennials awakened an interest in gardening. The punch line: her last name was Gardner!

I agree completely. Unfortunately, my husband was...

2010-05-22T19:37:27.484-04:00

I agree completely. Unfortunately, my husband was one such person. He's now a yard putzer and is slowly but surely learning his plants! It really does reflect the fact that a lot of urban people live primarily indoors, even if they like to go hiking. It's not the same as you and I, who lived outdoors every possible minute when growing up. I look back and thank my parents dearly for it.