Memorising the Latin names of plants

Or just enjoy the plants,Diane! Obviously you need to know their names to be able to look up how to care for them....but I have plants who's names I forget from time to time but I don't worry too much, these days! I keep all my labels in a shoe box in potting shed so can always plough through that if need one for reference!

I agree,Ptg..I sometimes forget even the simplest of names.or wonder what this or that is,growing in the garden,if I've replanted something...always telling myself I won't forget :o) but when it flowers or shows more new foliage,it usually comes back to mind..if not,tough! as long as I like it,and it's growing ok ,I don't worry about it..just enjoy :o) I also have a jumble of labels in a box..to stir the memory...sometimes !

Must get the box, instead of leaving G.C. jazzy labels lying around. Memory loss is a problem with us older ones though, and I like to keep my brain working. So memorising plant names, and checking to see if I have remembered them is a boost to the moral.
I am averaging 9.86 correct answers per night on Eggheads, which is not too good, I just mark my list if I get the right answer, dont worry about wrong ones, or questions I cant answer. Sometimes I get the answer before the options come up on the screen. I get a great thrill when this happens.
People notice if I cant remember a name or something, which is demoralising.
Keeping the brain active is important, in later life.

You're not doing too badly then!!!!

I did a year at college doing the N C H after being made redundant, one part of the course I was good at (suprised me!)
and that was plant identification, the first week we were given 10 pieces of plant,bark, flower leaf or such, and the latin name of each we had to learn them......and how to spell them......A point lost for each spelling mistake......the next week five new ones and the 10 to identify, 5 the next week and so on with ten of the ever increasind specimens which as time went on changed shape, we can recognise sticky buds in the winter but. Beech, birch, lime?..... prunus or malus?

We spent our spare time each week walking the lovely college gardens testing each other....I found it such fun....which as I say suprised me.

Some I have forgotten, but who could forget the humble Ash? Fraxinus excelsior
Or the horse chestnut....Aesculus hippocastanum
Or my very favorite Metasequoia glyptostroboides.....dawn redwood

But I forget where my glasses are......

its important for the youngsters too with all their exams. I also have a large box of labels of plants, past and present. What is really annoying is when the RHS then re-name plants due to the genetics work.

Very annoying Seaburn. Is that where argyranthemum came from....what had the used to be? Chrysanthemums?

I rarely remember the latin names Diane and find it almost impossible to spell them or even pronounce some of them if the truth be told, my daughter and I entertain ourselves sometimes trying out the pronunciation when we are browsing the RHS A-Z of plants, I do like to record it in when adding a plant to my garden page, have to admit that when I first joined Goy I was very often flummoxed by some of the names mentioned, then found out that I was already the proud possessor of many of said plants but only knew the common name, obviously after all these years I do now recognize lots more when one is mentioned on a blog but would never automatically use a latin name, I can remember in the early days being very entertained one night by a right dingdong going back and forth on Goy because a certain member wanted Latin names used all the time, I also have my collection of labels, some are even stuck properly in my garden book, but I'm afraid that hasn't been updated since I joined Goy, LOL...
You do yourself proud Diane and are an inspiration to others, if I have a memory loss I say its my blonde moment even though I'm a brunette or wearing my Worzel head, I know what you mean though and it can be upsetting....

As a novice gardener I found the common and latin names sooooo confusing, and determined to learn just the common names. Then of course I found many plants had more than one common name, and some shared a name so Latin names were useful after all!!!
As time passes by it becomes more difficult to recall names .... thank goodness we have GoY for plant names, pity there isn't a similar site for people's names!! :-)

Yes, that would be very useful, ha ha.Take a pic of someone and your computer tells you their name!!!!!