Let's talk about plants

Harking back to my original Redon detre of DIY,Cheat,Steal I thought it was hightime that I kept to my original mission statement.  I firmly believe that knowledge should be shared. You've bought a plant at the garden centre only to find a few weeks later you've killed it.  Did you read the label ? better still did you understand it. 

Plant unlike people need labels it tells us all we need to increase their chances of survival.

Let's begin 

We shall take good ole garden sage as an example

      Common Name - Garden Sage

      Latin Name- Salvia officinalis

 

Oz:"Did I mention I didn't take Latin?"

Willow:"Y-you don't have to understand. You just have to say. I hope"

       -Willow Rosenberg and Oz.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer -                                 

The common name in this case Garden Sage is pretty self explanatory it is the name given for that particular plant however due to collequial differences this can prove confusing for example rocket and arugula both exactly the same plant but have different names. For this very reason a system is used in which plants can be it any where in the world regardless of language, it gives each plant a unique identity this is called the binomial name or scientific name, It is written in Latin or using latinised grammar which is used as the "universal language" which is why it's also called the Latin name. The scientific classification can be grouped into two basic groups Genus and Species in the case of commercially grown plants the Cultivar.

Genus is group of one or more plants that share a wide range of characteristics 

names are printed with an initial capital letter.

 Species is a group of plants capable of breeding together to produce offspring, 

they have distinct differences such as color, size.

Cultivar is a selected or artificially raised variation of the species. for the plant breeders specifications.

So in the case of Garden Sage-Salvia offinicialis. The genus is Salvia and the species is offinicialis. Incidentally the Latin will often provide a unique insight into the plant Salvia in Latin means "to heal" "to save" where offinicialis means of or belonging to an officina the storeroom of a monastery, where medicines were kept both give reference to sage being used as a medicinal herb.

Annual, Biennial , Perennial

"whatcha talkin bout willis"

Annual, Biennial , Perennial, 

This is essentially the plants shelf life other factors can effect this of course such as soil type , weather , neglect, pest and diseases.

Annual is a plant which germinates flowers and dies within a year. 

Such as basil

Additionally to this you also have different types on annuals.

Hardy will withstand frost. Such as  sunflower.

Half-hardy will withstand temps of 0 degrees C. Such as Cosmos

Tender will withstands temps of 5 degrees C. Such as Basil.

 

Biennial is plant which flowers in its second year. Such as foxglove

Perennial is a plant which lives for more than 2 years. E.g. Bay Tree

There are also different types of perennials 

Tender will not tolerate cold temperatures needs to be grown under cover. Such as passion flower

Hardy will stay in the ground all year round. Such as lupine.

Half-hardy will not survive winter needs to be brought inside. Such as  Pelargonium

Herbaceous die to root stock in winter to re grow in spring. Such as hosta

Woody has woody rather than fleshy 

stems.

Then you have 

Evergreen, Semi-evergreen and Deciduous.

Evergreen is a plant which retains its leaves all year round. eg bay

Semi evergreen is a plant which will retain its leaves all year round unless its overly cold. eg Abelia x grandiflora.

Deciduous is a plant which goes dormant in the winter and will lose its leaves every year. eg Acer Campestre.

There you go boys and girls hope you learnt something