As a garden writer, I rely on the RHS Plant Finder to double check the spelling and “accepted names” of the plants I mention. But it doesn’t have to be purely pragmatic in use. It’s fun to see what comes up when you type in certain words (no, there aren’t any cultivars with “sex” in their name — I checked!). For example, I tried out a few holiday terms, and it came up with the following:
There’s Hemerocallis ‘Holiday Mood’ and Narcissus ‘December Bride.’ There are dahlia, dianthus and narcissus cultivars called ‘Santa Claus.’ Then there are the snow-related plant names: Amelanchier laevis ‘Snowflakes,’ Agapanthus ‘Snowball’ and Camellia japonica ‘Snowman’ to name a few.
There’s Buxus sinica var. insularis ‘Winter Beauty’ and Chamaecyparis obtusa ‘Winter Gold.’ There’s Callistemon pallidus ‘Father Christmas,’ and a whole slew of Christmas-themed dahlias: Dahlia ‘Christmas Carol,’ D. ‘Christmas Star,’ D. ‘Kenora Christmas,’ and D. ‘Snoho Christmas.’
There’s Brunnera macrophylla ‘Jack Frost’ and Heuchera ‘Jack Frost.’ There’s Galanthus ‘Icicle,’ Fuchsia ‘Igloo Maid,’ Begonia ‘Frosty Fairyland’ and Fuchsia ‘Jingle Bells.’
Fun, hey? Try your name. I think I might need to find room for Rosa ‘Andrea.’
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