As a girl, one of the favourite books of Katherine, now Duchess of Cambridge, was Anne of Green Gables. Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery was a keen gardener herself – and an observant one. Not only did she record many garden and wild plants in her novels about the feisty redheaded orphan from Prince Edward Island, but also local associations.
So does the Duchess of Cambridge give personal name her houseplants? Anne Shirley called her apple-scented pelargonium ‘Bonny,’ thus preserving a Canadian tradition that continues to this day.
And why not? People who care for their plants frequently humanize them. Some, like a certain other royal figure, even talk to them – or otherwise. W.C. Fields threatened his roses with violence, demanding “Bloom, damn you, bloom!”
History does not record if this latter approach met with success, although we do know that Fields favoured a libation labelled ‘Four Roses.’
We also know of a very keen gardener who has a large Boston fern that is referred to as ‘Trevor the Triffid’ thanks to the somewhat suggestive trailing stolons. Science-fiction fans will rejoice at the commemoration of The Day of the Triffids, a somber tale concerning the hazards of horticultural manipulation. The same plant lover may be taking it a trifle far, however, with ‘Olivia’ the Clivia, ‘Eunice’ the Eucomis and even ‘Sparticus the Gladiolus.’ Fair as fair though, all are flourishing.
The truth is that people who care for their horticultural guests appreciate them to an extent that elsewhere might be labelled anthropomorphic. In this case, perhaps ‘phytopomorphic.’
Wes Porter is a horticultural consultant and writer based in Toronto. Wes has over 40 years of experience in both temperate and tropical horticulture from three continents.
