So here's another story about dumb names, but about food. It really made an impression on me, I guess, because I still remember the title of a humorous newspaper opinion column from the late 1970s - early 80s: "Only a Yumbo Dribbles Fribble, Nutty Buddy."

The columnist was a middle aged guy with a reputation as an intellectual in the field of syndicated political commentary, not known for writing comic pieces. But this article was not about politics.

The writer chronicles his attempt to order some sort of grilled ham and cheese sandwich at one of the major fast food chains. However, this sandwich had been named Yumbo and he refused to utter words to the effect of, "I want a Yumbo." But the clerk, a teenager, would not fill his order when he asked for the ham and cheese, and kept insisting, "Do you want the Yumbo?" And he kept asking for "ham and cheese." In the end, he walked out without any food and went elsewhere.

I seem to have an inordinate number of irises with 'Devil' in their names, not because I am particularly fond of the term, but because some hybridisers seem to think it fits very dark irises, which I do like.
I do not remember ever being offended by a plant name, but I often get a good chuckle out of names like Baboon Bottom. Guess that shows my mental age! ...and I would get Cow Patty just for the name (I live in the country) and also because I like brown irises.

The word "devil" has no special meaning to me, but I too have noticed that dark iris are often named that way. So when I see it on a list, I check it out because I too love dark iris. There is however a gorgeous blue iris called "Devil's Lake" that brings up a line from a song I love from my young days by Cat Stevens, tit;ed "The Wind" which contains the lyric:
-
I listen to my words but they fall far below
I let my music take me where my heart wants to go
I swam upon the Devil's lake
But never, never, never, never
I'll never make the same mistake
No, never, never, never
--
As it turns out, there are places in several states called "Devil's Lake."

Here is the iris

IrisLilli said: I seem to have an inordinate number of irises with 'Devil' in their names, not because I am particularly fond of the term, but because some hybridisers seem to think it fits very dark irises, which I do like.
I do not remember ever being offended by a plant name, but I often get a good chuckle out of names like Baboon Bottom. Guess that shows my mental age! ...and I would get Cow Patty just for the name (I live in the country) and also because I like brown irises.

So, I had a realization as I was walking around the iris garden: that it was actually an art collection.

These iris have been painstakingly created by artists, for the sole purpose of ever increasing the beauty of the flowers: the colors, the forms. And like other works of art, they affect our emotions, focus our attention on things beyond the minutiae that comprise so much of daily life. Making the world more beautiful, if only for a few fleeting weeks each year, is their only purpose. And they must succeed admirably, at least for those of us here. The amount of work and expense involved with this is considerable, when taken to the degree to which folks on this forum do. I still can't comprehend how those of you with many hundreds of iris are able to do the work to maintain them, my 120+ are quite the task - never mind 300 or 800! The weeding FFS!

Okay for the last time, Trumped is named for card games. In Euchre you try to trump the other team's card. It has NO political meaning whatsoever (thank heavens). It is a beautiful iris NOT named for a person.

As for Cow Patty. Burseen loves unusual names for his iris, and being a Texan I am guessing someone remarked that it has the color of a cow patty. Though he could also know a rancher named Patty. So just take it or leave it but you miss out on a darn fine iris if you can't get past the name.

It is the color of a Cow party and I love it because I love brown Irises!!!

GreenIris said: It is the color of a Cow party

Not sure I want to be invited to that party!

'Trumped' is beautiful, and I'm glad to have it in my garden.

'Cow Patty', well... You make a good point about the name (it might even be a 2-for-1 word play), but I'm not into brown flowers. To each his/her own.

Great topic and pics. Don't get me started on the names of vehicles! 😂

There is an iris that I love that for some reason has not been very popular and now that it's ten years old or so, is becoming hard to find (now that Napa Iris is closed). It is very beautiful, ethereal, and doesn't really convey itself well in photographs. But I have a theory that it might have been more popular if it had a name that was more exciting than "Stan Coates" (named after a friend of the Painters), Had it been called "Fairy Hill" or "Summer Eve" etc it might have gotten more attention.

Maybe. When you say this is Stan Coates I know exactly which iris you have. It was popular with people here on the forum a few years back.

So many TB iris are being introduced that popularity comes and goes quickly and vendors don't have as much space to keep on the older varieties (and by older I include those that were introduced only five years or so ago).

Kei77 said: Wench, serving wench, Horny Lorri, Street Walker, Slavegirl, Gigolette, and Fire in the hole will be happy to share the space with your Dominatrix.

Maybe that flower bed can be called the red district!

Please don't ban me

I don't understand how Fire in the Hole belongs in that group. It's a mining term that is yelled out when an explosion is imminent. (And I think it is a very good name for an iris.)

For sure that's true. Some folks don't even grow their own older intros. In the case of Stan Coates, it seems very special to me. There are people buying older iris all the time. For example, Blyth's Lord of Mayfair from 2010 just sold for $32, 23.50, and 16.50 on ebay. It's hard to find, and people really, really want it.

Lestv said: Maybe. When you say this is Stan Coates I know exactly which iris you have. It was popular with people here on the forum a few years back.

So many TB iris are being introduced that popularity comes and goes quickly and vendors don't have as much space to keep on the older varieties (and by older I include those that were introduced only five years or so ago).

Well, speaking of naming plants...

My own personal impression is that I generally do not care to have plants named for real people, who I personally do not know, where the plant name includes their last name. I don't care how famous that person is. I know that it is meant as an honor and all that, but I just don't care for it.

This doesn't mean that I don't have exceptions to the rule, but there is generally a good reason for the exception.

Thus, in my garden I have:


...for color contrast, tall stalks, and its wonderful "spicy" carnation-like fragrance.


I'm not much for poetry (unlike DH), but I like Frost's poetry, and he taught for a while at DD's alma mater (there is a statue of him on campus, and there used to be a portrait of him in the library there), so there is some personal meaning there.

Plants that carry names for fictional people (or animals), on the other hand, I am entirely fine with.


(I used to have this (eaten) and would like to reacquire it, but it's an example.)

The best explanation that I can come up with for this, is that I like the garden to be a "romantic" place, and also (in areas) a charming themed place. So plants named with a first name, or a first-and-middle name combination, or a first name and some attribute, work just fine, I think for "romance".


First and middle name... romantic.


First name and an attribute (in this case, iirc, the named person liked the "eye" on the bloom). (I don't have this plant, I just remember the name and thought it was a nice solution to partly naming a plant for someone.)

Themes can run the gamut. We have an extensive science fiction and fantasy library, so a lot of our plants have some relationship to that theme. DH very much likes poetry, so I have some plants pertaining to that. We are also a family of gamers (the games vary), so that factors into there also. And I like the Sierras, so some plants are chosen for that purpose.


A triffid is a science fiction menance.


The iris was named after the movie, which was in turn based on a science fiction novel (with a different name, which escapes me at the moment).


A beautiful iris, partly bought in fond memory of pinochle games played with DH's parents. (My parents also played pinochle, but they never taught me. )


Because we are all game players (and that is how I met DH).


I generally do not like brown-ish plants, but this isn't, quite, and I purchased it as a memorial of hiking in the East Sierra.

All of the above leaves me with a potential quandary. I have/had the intention of naming some daylilies (or irises) after certain family members, and dogs, but I haven't yet come up with anything that I consider registration-worthy (apart from maybe one old red daylily seedling), and I am running out of time there. Naming a plant for a dog is not an issue... just combine the dog's name with some attribute of the dog. For people, I'd run smack up against my "no last name" thing. So do I name a plant for my sister, using her full name, her first-and-last name, or (my preference) her first and middle name?

Marilyn, thank you for that long thread. I am really enjoying reading what everyone has been saying on this thread! One dumb comment! Who knew?

I have Stan Coates. It is an amzing blue iris. However, I do not buy irises or plants for their names. I just buy them because I like them.

Sometimes I get lucky with a trade, as this was shared with me by a generous member here.

For irises named for persons, one has to have their permission.

True for daylilies also, UNLESS the person is a family member.

Thanks for the acorn @Gailbeth !

Thanks for the acorns @evelyninthegarden