All of the above.

I agree with all of the above. I helped out in a nurdery for a couple of weekends as a favor and we were repotting pansies. Some of the trays had gotten mixed up in the chaos and we weren't sure which ones went with which labels. She said "just stick then in, the customer doesn't usually care". I was
I did find as many "mixed variety" tags as I could, but there were a number that remained mis-labled.

We bought a hardy hibiscus from Lowes labelled "Perrenial- grows 6"- 48" ". Very helpful

I'm trying to remember where I first heard a rant against miscreant nurseries selling "whatever they had" as "whatever was popular".

I think it was "The Complete Book of Garden Magic", Roy E. Biles, originally 1945 or so.

But there are always honest mistakes too.

In the '60's, I read a book from 1925, London....talking about people leaving the cities and 'going back to the land'...lol...nothing changes.

Pliny the Elder complained about "kids now-a-days" having no respect for their elders.

He didn't know "how much longer this can go on" without Greek civilization collapsing around them. On the other hand, he was right: it did!

Smart dude, that one.....what would he say about us?

Hee hee, I've enjoyed getting caught up on all the comments on this thread. I'm with Team Latin whenever possible, although I do have moments of brain fade.....and I try not to confuse friends who know what a morning glory is, but have no idea what an Ipomoea purpurea is. Although when my idiot neighbor complains about me planting my innocuous little Ipomoeas, thinking they're those nasty invasive weeds Convolvulus arvensis, I tend to rain all over her tiny little head with Latin proper names.

You know, woofs...I'm beginning to think I wouldn't like that neighbor at all....lol.

Have I ever said *I* did? But her DH is an absolute sweetie, so I restrain myself.

lol....

re Pliny the Elder

>> Smart dude, that one.....what would he say about us?

I don't know: probably 'degenerate barbarians' would be his KINDEST comment. I would never break his heart by telling him that modern democracies and philosophers mostly consider themselves to be direct descendents of the Grecian Gold Age.

"Yeah, 'descendents', you got that about right ... descended as far as you could, and then started excavating a deeper hole! Call yourselves a civilization?? Sheeze!"

"How low can you go?"

I wish I knew who invented the phrase "race to the bottom".

Someone published a book of "letters home" from Civil War soldiers. I'm telling you (and you may be able to tell just from my usual spelling), that standards of literacy have gione WAY downhill since then.

I have another theory that, as a caveman or cavewoman, you had to be pretty smart just to survive. Maybe IQ has been declining steadily since then, since we no longer need it to survive and reproduce.

(Or maybe I'm just in a grumpy, cynical mood today ...)

Who was it that coined the phrase "marching morons?" (I'm ALWAYS grumpy and cynical )

>> (I'm ALWAYS grumpy and cynical )

You may be smart: with that philosophy, sometimes you will be favorably surprised. And seldom disapointed.

I'm late weighing in here on the Latin/common issue, but I do Latin mostly, too, except when, like Woofie, I have senior moments! I'd be happy if I could just get my gardening neighbor to label her plants even with the common names But she means well, bless her heart!

And if I could add my own rant, how long will it be before we degenerate to the point of becoming less than the animals we keep as pets? In my courtroom I already see so many instances of young people who mate and breed with no thought or intent to parent and it seems quite common now to become intimate at first meeting, which in many instances is the only meeting but results in yet another child who gets cast upon the system. I could go on and on, but I'll leave it at that. Grrrrrhhhh We've already become less than my cats, who at least cared for their young.

And, yes, I'm old and crotchety, too, mostly.

Hemophobic said:

And if I could add my own rant, how long will it be before we degenerate to the point of becoming less than the animals we keep as pets? In my courtroom I already see so many instances of young people who mate and breed with no thought or intent to parent and it seems quite common now to become intimate at first meeting, which in many instances is the only meeting but results in yet another child who gets cast upon the system. I could go on and on, but I'll leave it at that. Grrrrrhhhh We've already become less than my cats, who at least cared for their young.

And, yes, I'm old and crotchety, too, mostly.

I'm absolutely with you, Dave - scientific names ONLY, for my own purposes. I DO try not to be a snob about it when trying to figure out what plant someone is talking about with some common name I've never heard of or have heard too many times for too many different plants.... I have my "sermon" whittled down to:

"I use the botanical names to be sure I have the right plant. Several different plants can have the same common name."

And sometimes I add,
"Did you know that black-eyed-susan is also a vine?"
And that usually makes an impression.

Ok, you got me curious. What vine has the common name black-eyed-susan?

Sigh, I once had a visitor ask me what the difference was between my petunias and the morning glories.

Thunbergia.......