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Re: Using botanical and common names

OK...I get to spend my 2 cents (American) here, too...

Too often I have customers that come asking for a plant by it's common
name.  Quite often, I have to look up the common name to see what the
plant is.  But that's another story I'll explain in a minute.
Anyway, so I find the common name, we traipse all the way across the
nursery (since we don't point and say "It's on the 6 row over, now, Go
Fetch".  Anyway, once we get there, the customer says, "no, that's not
it.  The leaves are wider, rounder, hairy, flatter, etc; etc.".  So, off
we go to another area of the nursery.  Seeing that we have nearly 2,000
varieties of plants, this can be very time consuming.

Picture this...."I want a lobelia."  OK, we have lobelia siphilitica
outside on the north side raised beds.  Lobelia cardinalis in the shade
section, also on the south side in the sun.  Lobelia richardii is inside
in the premium basket stuffers area, and the lobelia for bedding is in
the bedding section.  Get the picture?

The reason I MAKE myself use the botanical name, is that it is a foreign
language, which if it isn't practised, it is forgotten.  And for me to
find the best in unusual plants for my customers, I HAVE to be fluent in
it.
I even tried to make my employees write the botanicals on the invoices. 
It didn't work, and I believe in choosing the battles to pick.  But hey,
if you're looking at a invoice and it says 'Angel's Tears', what the
heck is it?  Did you guess Fuchsia?  I was totally stumped, and if a
customer had asked for it, I'd have said I didn't know if we had it or
not.  Meantime, I had to wait for the next workday for the employee to
clarify it for me.

To see the possibilities of it, ask one of my employees for a primrose. 
She'll show you  20 different kinds, NONE of which you will EVER see at
WalMorgue.

Intimidation is never the root of using botanical names.  And if I end
up perusing computer sites that use common names only, I don't frequent
them.  The reason is that the info offered by people that use ONLY
common names is usually less helpful to me than that used by people who
know the botanical names.  And that is the reason most of us are
here....the knowledge that this site offers is better than Yardener
sites...this is a GARDENER site.  That is the difference...Yardeners vs
Gardeners.  And if you are Yardener, you have no interest in what we are
discussing here and promptly unsubscribe.  This site is simply too
in-depth for people who don't have a passion for plants. 
-- 
The Greenhouse Nursery
81 S. Bagley Creek Road & Hwy 101
Port Angeles, WA  98362
(360) 417-2664
Zone 8
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