I was recently over at Donald's Organic Texas Garden Blog and he had some beautiful photos of a type of flower that he grew.
(Actually ALL of his photos are beautiful, please visit his blog for inspiration).
It is called a Zinnia, and is probably familiar to many of you from the South as it is a pretty ubiquitous flower down this way.
Here are some examples I found online of what a Zinnia looks like. As you can see, they come in many color combinations.
Here are some examples I found online of what a Zinnia looks like. As you can see, they come in many color combinations.
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| Zinnia Flowers |
Seeing his posting reminded me of something from when I was younger. My Grandmother used to plant flower seeds by the thousands every season. She loved her flowers. And her favorite was one she called her "ZINNY'S". Even her neighbors called them Zinny's. I was probably in my 30's before I discovered that the flower she was talking about was actually called a Zinnia.
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| More Zinnia Flowers |
So that got me to wondering, now that I have a blog and can ask an assortment of people, I will ask:
Are there other flowers or plants out there that have one name "officially" but are called something else by you or members of your family? Or did you grow up thinking one plant was called one thing and found out later it was actually called something else?
I can't wait to be able to say I have my own "zinny's" sometime next year.
My Aunt had Sunflowers and she called them "Sunnys" . I grew up thinking that's what they were called.
ReplyDeleteI've heard Impatiens called "busy lizzies" and Oenetheras called "sundrops". I'm sure there are hundreds of examples out there.
ReplyDeleteSue - I love that name, "busy lizzies". Too cool. Haven't hear of 'sundrops' but that's pretty neat as well. I love how plants can have scientific names, then common names, and then fun nicknames!
ReplyDeleteAnon - "Sunnys" is pretty fun too! Thanks for sharing!!
I don't every hear impatiens called sultanas any more, but that's what they were when I was growing up. Seems that was the original name for the flower.
ReplyDeleteDiane - "Sultanas"? Wow, I've never heard that before. Honestly, I kind of like that name! I love hearing these things. Thanks for that info!
ReplyDeleteI've also heard zinnias called "old maids". Cleome is sometimes called spider flower, not to be confused with spider lilly which is also called naked ladies. I love the common names, but it is easy to see why proper names help to alleviate confusion!
ReplyDeleteAnon - Old Maids? I always thought that was the unpopped popcorn in the bottom of the bucket, ha. Spider Flowers? Naked Ladies? Oh my, it DOES get confusing huh? Thanks for sharing!!!
ReplyDeleteMy sister and I moved into our home in August of 2008. There was just a few things growing in the front of the house with lots of landscape fabric and mulch. The next spring I cleaned out all of the mulch, etc... I then had a nice clean slate for a large flower garden. I noticed one day that there was a strange plant growing on the front of the flower bed. I usually know my annuals but I had never seen this plant before. It must have been dropped there by a bird. I let it grow and it got 4 feet tall and about 4 feet wide. I called it snow on the mountain. The next year it had seeded all over the flower bed. Since it was so tall I put the plants in the back of the flower bed. I finally did some researching on the Internet and found out that my Snow on the Mountain is "Sedum Frosty Morn". It grows in about any condition of soil. I love it. I dont have to reseed because it comes up on its own... I still call it Snow on the Mountain because that is what it looks like. :)
ReplyDeleteI LOVE that story! Thank you! And I'm sorry, "Snow on the Mountain" is a much prettier and cool name than "Sedum Frosty Morn", ha. I'm going to have to try growing some of that too, sounds like a nice flower!
DeleteThe yellow pitcher plant which is getting rare now but used to be common in bogs in the south was called hin and bitties by the oldtimers. If you look closly at the flower, its pistal looks like a umbrella and represents the hen, and the pettals druping down between the five points of the pistal are the bitties. My dad who recently died at age 87 always refered to lilypads as "bonnets". I have never heard anyone else call them that, but he had a pet name for everything. He used to order chicken livers and gizzards at the local chicken joint lizards and gizzards. The folks who normally served him would know what he was talking about. Sometimes they would have a new employee who would look at him as if he was from Mars when he would order that way. Back when I was a teenager these were moments when I would want to try to pretend that I have never seen that man before in my life. Of cours that never worked.
ReplyDeleteHello and welcome! "Hen and bitties"? I love that! How cool...and I do vaguely remember a plant, in wet swampy areas, that looked like that.
DeleteFirst, I'm sorry for your loss, I've lost both my parents as well but I have to say it's so funny you what you said about the lizards and gizzards. Do you know my Dad used to say the exact same thing! Maybe it's one of those "southern Dad sayings".
Thanks for stopping by!! Don't be a stranger!
My mom loved peonies.... but she called them pineys! Took me a long time to be able to spell it correctly!
ReplyDeleteI like that name too. Pineys. I think the names we come up with are better than the "real" names don't you? Thanks for the comment, that means a lot! :-)
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