Why don't people use the word "beguiling" more often in describing plants and flowers?
Beguiling perfectly describes many flowers that enchant and charm us, lure us in to planting them in our gardens. Then they break our gardening hearts. Where did we go wrong? Why did we fall victim to the charms and enchantments of these plants, again?
We know these plants are thugs ready to take over, or maybe they are wimps that will never survive in our gardens. We think they are cute, and in our gardens we'll manage them.
Perhaps "beguiler" should be included in some botanical names, just to warn us. Viola beguiler. Rosa beguiler. Hemerocallis beguiler. Plant beguiler.
The species name would clue us in, at least, to the potential to be charmed by some plant or another. We would still fall for the plant, be beguiled by it, but at least we would have been warned.
Beguiling plants... one of a thousand random thoughts of gardening scattered through every day.
That is a marvelous word...I may start using it, too.
ReplyDeleteA good word indeed! And I love the idea of a thousand thoughts of gardening scattered through the day.
ReplyDeleteYou are really very creative, and i guess it will really be nice for some plants, if not as a species maybe as a variant. That goes very well too with our tropical plants, if only i have the chance to breed orchids i will have a Vanda sanderiana 'Beguiler' Hoya beguiler, haha! Do you think Dr Hortfreud will agree with that? (Oh i wish we can also italicize in the comments)
ReplyDeleteGreat post, I have hundreds of bromeliad 'Beguilers'
ReplyDeleteFunny, interesting post, Carol. I guess the power of a plant to beguile depends on the hardness or softness of the heart of the gardener. I have murdered so many plants I now know which will survive the tough regime in my garden, so I mostly show them mercy, and don't give in to their beguiling ways. But then, I am human and some are very very beguiling ...
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