Why Latin plant names are a load of 💩
Hi darling, I’m Kendall, a horticultural therapist. Here on my Substack, I share tips on how to use your garden to grow your personal power in a world that tries to keep women stuck, exhausted & burnt out. Come grab your trowel and join the rebellion, we’ve got a patriarchy to dismantle.
Welcome to the Seed, the place where you’ll learn to resource yourself in the garden using 5 minute mindful gardening activities so that you can unlock more joy in your life.
And that’s coming from someone who got an A in her Latin GCSE. Although if i’m really honest I spent more time learning about Quintus and his dog than anything of actual value!
I know the plant purists on the internet are gonna come at me from what i’m about to say, but i’m not writing for them am I? I’m writing for you, someone who wants to grow some plants, create a gorgeous soothing outdoor space and use tending to it, as a tool in your wellbeing toolkit.
So let’s get to it shall we.
They’re elitist
Yep I said it. They create an us and them vibe. Those in the know vs those plebs who don’t know enough. It’s giving me ‘you can’t sit with us’ vibes. I know I certainly felt like this when I was learning to garden. You hear others wanging on, on the internet about gardening being for everybody and then in the next breath spouting latin plant names like it’s a badge of honour.
‘‘Yeah ok Sam, we know you’ve got your RHS level 2 qualification you don’t need to list 567 latin plant names in a minute to prove it.’’
Full disclosure, I don’t have an RHS quali FYI, because I don’t believe I need it to teach people how to use their gardens as a therapeutic tool. But that is a topic for discussion another time. Probably next month’s opinion article.
I get it, Latin plant names have their place when you’re needing to distinguish between specific types of plants. But does the average gardener need to know them? Absolutely not. And they definitely shouldn’t be wielded like some kind of tool to make others feel small. Which leads me nicely to my next point.
They put people off
People work with me because the current gardening media has them thinking they don’t know enough to be able to garden. And I believe a big reason is the use of Latin plant names at every juncture.
No one wants to struggle to remember the name of something (honestly who has the brain space). And then once you wrench it from the depths of your mind you struggle to pronounce the bloody thing anyway.
I try, in my membership the Seed, my articles and with my 1:1 clients to use common plant names as they feel like a warm hug as opposed to another overcomplicated pompous sounding name to remember.
There are enough barriers to gardening for the modern time-poor woman. We don’t need words to be another one.
And as an aside (because you know I love a tangent) if you’re reading this and thinking ‘Shit thats me, I spout latin plant names all the time’. Know that you are enough, just as you are and you don’t need to prove your brilliance every second of every day by reeling off Latin Plant names, because you already are brilliant.
The common names are more fun
Love-in-a-mist VS Nigella damascena
Sweet peas VS Lathyrus odoratus
Sweet Rocket VS Hesperis matronalis
You tell me which rolls off the tongue better?
I’m all about supporting you to find more joy in your garden and what can be more joyful than these gorgeous names. When I read them my brain goes
‘I want to find Love-in-a-mist’ AND ‘Hell yes to a sweet rocket, that sounds bloody lovely’.
Anything to get the shit show of THAT all female rocket related PR stunt out of my mind.
So lets normalise using the common names, and truly make gardening inclusive.
You don’t need to know all the latin plant names to consider yourself a gardener.
In fact, if you’d like to come and join a gardening community where you can learn to garden without judgement, a place where you can share your wins and your struggles and call everything by its common name without feeling like a failure, then come and join the Seed as a paid member.
I wanna know, do overcomplicated latin plant names get in the way of you being able to get started in your garden? Do they make you feel like you don’t know enough to even begin?
Come and let me know in the comments.
Brand new to gardening?
The Great Garden Rebellion is the 5 foundational steps you need to start a garden as a busy women trying to juggle all the things, who knows more time in Nature is what she needs right now.
I started following you because I loved the way you made gardening doable in small bites for busy people. I am however getting increasingly irritated by the victim talk, and constant reference to the ‘patriarchy’. Society isn’t out to get us - we do the damage to ourselves for the most part - all by ourselves. I’m willing to challenge myself, but I didn’t sign up to buy into this self-pitying talk…
I can never remember the names of anything 🙈 even the common names! It makes it really hard figuring out what to plant. I have to Google or PlantSnap everything then all I get is Latin names that confuse me even more!