I am just getting ready to set off once again on some more garden visits this month. Sissinghurst, Leeds Castle and wonderful Penshurst Place on the itinerary this time so watch out for our garden visits features in the next few weeks.

The flower show season is now winding down and we are already turning our thoughts to tidying up the garden for winter. The seasons seem to pass very quickly and in the UK it seems some years as thought they have all merged into one. Our winters seem to get longer and the summer season seems so short.

I was interested in the unusual news item today regarding a case of Legionnaire’s disease caught from garden compost. The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) has issued warnings about the risk of contracting Legionnaire’s if you handle compost but they also point out that the risk is thought to be very low. Apparently bags of compost will now carry warnings. The advice is to use gloves when you handle compost and avoid potting-up in confined spaces.

One of the highlights of the autumn season is the Harrogate Autumn Flower Show, which runs from Friday 17th to Sunday 19th September. I have many pleasant memories of autumn shows at Harrogate particularly the row upon row of splendid dahlias and wonderful vegetables, not to mention the largest onion competition. Information on the show and tickets available from www.flowershow.org.uk
 

An interesting spat seems to have broken out between the ‘beloved’ and mild-mannered Alan Titchmarsh and the president of the RHS. Apparently, Elizabeth Banks, the RHS President, had commented that the BBC’s coverage of the Chelsea Flower Show and Gardeners’ World had “dumbed down” and become “patronising” to viewers. Were the BBC scared of plant names? Frightened of being “snobby”?

The comments so outraged our lovely Mr Titchmarsh that he issued a riposte in his Gardeners’ World magazine column: “Recently the ‘dumbing down’ arrow was loaded into the bow of righteous indignation and fired in the direction of Gardeners’ World and the BBC’s Chelsea Flower Show coverage by the president of the Royal Horticultural Society,” he said. “If I tell you that Metasequoia glyptostroboides was discovered in China in 1948, does that make me a better gardener than if I say that the dawn redwood was discovered in the year that Prince Charles was born? Of course not.”

Alan goes on to point out that what matters is the reliability of the information purveyed – and that the full Latin name of every plant shown is almost always given in the form of a caption. He continues:  “I cannot believe that elitism and exclusivity in the gardening world is the way forward – quite the opposite.” Well said  our Alan.

Gardening should be fun, we do not need to feel inferior because we cannot use the proper Latin names for plants. To do so in a populist TV programme will definitely put people off – I know it does me.

However, that said, I have a lovely little book “Plant Names Simplified” which gives not only  Latin plant names but their pronunciation and derivation/meaning. In the Preface to this useful little book (written by A.T. Johnson and H.A. Smith) –the authors explain that the glossary has been prepared to offer the reader a simple translation and pronunciation of the names of such plants, trees and shrubs as are commonly grown in the average garden: “ As they stand, such names are to most of us something more than an awkward obstacle barring the way to any real intimacy with the elements of botany. They are a direct hindrance to our progress as gardeners and tend to complicate rather than to elucidate the difficulties of a vast and absorbing subject.” So its not just Alan then.

I have a friend who can roll out Latin plant names in the same way I can order a gin and tonic. I have to admit that I am more than a little jealous! Latin plays an important role in the classification of the natural world no more so than with plants.

So the way forward, I would have thought, was to tread a careful path between the use of the Latin name and the common one. Stimulate the interest and Latin will become less of a mystery and more meaningful in identifying your plants.

I have another little book “The Enthusiasts Book of Gardening Latin” (given to me by that same friend – I think she wanted to do something about  my pitiful attempts at pronunciation and understanding when we tour gardens).  Like “Plant Names Simplified” it lifts the veil on those strange sounding names so that you begin to fully understand why we use Latin. So now if I see a label with ‘albifrons’ as part of the name I know it means “has white fronds”.  In fact it can be quite fun.

Well that’s my rant for this week . Enjoy the Indian summer – it probably won’t last!!