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Botanical names

Hello to all the members of this marvelous seed list.  Almost as good as
the Chiltern's list or the NARGS list or the B & T World Seed list ...
This group is fortunately comprised of a broad diversity of seedaholics
from those who were fortunate to grow up with this fascination and those of
us who are just now hearing the seductive music.  I am of the latter
category and so speak with the voice of a novice.  I write a book called
"The Northwest Gardeners' Resource Directory" which I have revised annually
for eight years, originally a volunteer effort--a combination of being new
to gardening and new to Washington State and anxious to pass along all the
great resources that existed only as a labyrinth of mouth to mouth hot
tips.  As a new interest beckoned I spent the year researching and learning
and passed my findings on through the book--now 18 chapters and 352 pages.
One of those chapters is "Seed Sources".  My innocent early investigations
have led to welcome addiction--and the addition of a greenhouse and a
greatly expanded palette of horticultural interest.  
	I don't know why it is, but there is a great deal of insecurity and fear
in the gardening community.  Fear of mispronouncing Latin names, the
insecurity of disapproval for a garden not well maintained or perfectly
designed, the jealousy of another's accomplishments matched against our own
failures.  With only a few years under my belt I can say with conviction
that there are those who come to this complex world with inane talent, like
those who come to music or languages with those gifts.  But even those who
have a leg up because the words roll easily off their tongues and they have
miraculous memories for co pius botanical details hone their skills through
the simple act of practice.  For those of us for whom all of this does not
come naturally, we must resign ourselves to perhaps never been a virtuoso,
but, then most of us do this for pleasure, not performance (even though our
personal expectations are high and shun disapproval).  One of the greatest
gifts a more experienced gardener can give a novice is the assurance that
they are not being judged and that the very fact they are trying to learn
is laudable.  I feel that way, so far, about this group.  I hope more and
more postings will entail this spirit of encouragement and sharing.  Maybe
those are characteristics that lead a lot of us to growing from seed in the
first place.
Cheers, 
Stephanie Feeney

BTW, a thoughtful feature of the publication of the American Horticultural
Society, "The American Gardener" (was "The American Horticulturist") is a
full page, at the back cover, on pronunciation of the Latin names they have
used in their articles.  If you don't know this wonderful bi-monthly
magazine check it out at your local newsstand or have a peek at your library.
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