Why I Name My Plants, and Why You Should Too!

Ever found yourself tenderly whispering encouragement to a potted friend? You're not alone in the green-thumbed confessions. Join me in an exploration of the whimsical yet heartwarming world of plant parenthood, where naming our leafy companions is an act of love and connection. As I recount the tale of my own money tree's growth and the heartening story of Stephen's grandmother's Christmas cactus, we'll discover the intimate bonds that form when we christen our photosynthetic pals. It's not just about organization; it's about creating a dialogue with nature that nourishes our souls. So, dust off your plant labels and get ready to celebrate the stories that sprout from our verdant friends.

Don't let your journey through the foliage end here; let's cultivate a lush community of plant lovers together. By subscribing and engaging with us across various podcast platforms, you're watering the seeds of a conversation that extends beyond the confines of my garden oasis. Your stories, questions, and daily green inspirations are what help our digital garden flourish. Whether you're a seasoned botanist or a novice nurturing your first succulent, your experiences enrich us all. So, snap a photo, tag it with our community hashtag on Instagram, and share the podcast with your fellow flora aficionados. Let's root for each other and watch as our collective garden grows!

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/GrowingWithCarla
Full transcripts available on my website!

Transcript

Carla: 0:05

Hey there, welcome back to the garden. This is your host, Carla, and I'm really excited that you came back and are listening and spending more time with me. This is great, thank you. Today I wanted to talk about naming your plants and why you should name your plants, but first a little plant update.

Carla: 0:24

The biggest changes since last week on my plants are that I had to provide a support for my little money tree. I was given some seeds that I put into the container and watered and they literally burst forth. It's been about two weeks now and these babies are six, seven, eight inches tall, but they kept drooping everywhere. So I found a small dowel rod from my craft room and some zip ties and was able to provide it with some support so it stands straight up. Obviously, they're still very thin and very easily breakable. Unfortunately, a couple of the seeds got the stems got bent in supporting it. So I have one, two, three, four, five, six good stems I've had. I've only lost two and there's two more still sprouting out of the soil.

Carla: 1:24

There were so many seeds in this packet, but I'm looking forward to this. I have never had a money tree before. They're supposed to bring you good luck, especially in financial situations. But it's just a beautiful plant. I can't wait for it to grow and I am going to try and braid it, but it's definitely not ready to be braided yet. I'm going to wait until braid it, but it's definitely not ready to be braided yet. I'm going to wait until the stems start turning brown and that it's definitely more sturdy before doing that.

Carla: 1:56

I also got a new African violet. The one I have existing is beautiful. She's got bright pink flowers, so I got a dark purple flowered one to go along nicely with it. It'll go in the other African violet self-watering pot that I have. The previous plant in there died. It was from an old friend, so I'm just going to reuse that old pot. I'm going to add nutrients back into the soil before putting this one into that soil and then just watch it grow.

Carla: 2:29

And last, I have two new leaves on this Christmas cactus that I have. It originally came from Stephen's grandmother, who passed away a few years ago now, and this thing is just so happy. I get flowers from it at least every other month. It's wonderfully ridiculous. And so now, every time the flowers fall off, you get new leaves. So I'm really excited to see how it's growing.

Carla: 2:55

So those are my plant updates. For my friend's plant updates, Faye showed me their money tree. It is absolutely gorgeous. It is braided beautifully. I'm so excited to see what they do with that plant. And Sami, the pothos cutting that I had given to her are doing wonderful. I think she named him Pamela, which is a wonderful name, and she gives me updates frequently and I love hearing them. So if you have any updates about your plants, I would love to hear them. Tag me on Instagram. Let's go with hashtag plant update with the tag. That would be wonderful. I would love to hear how your green leafy babies are doing and if you have any new plants that you want to share, I would absolutely adore seeing them. I would absolutely adore seeing them.

Carla: 3:50

So let's get into why we name things. As a human being, the biggest reason that we name things is to have a control over it. Now, that sounds really awful, but I don't mean it in the way that like we're going to be directing it and telling it what to do. No, we name things because it prevents confusion, like carlos pothos versus sammy's pothos. It allows us to classify them. So I'm talking more specifically about their scientific names used for biological identification and organization, mostly in the scientific space. So if you want to get into the nitty-gritty of this, is a Kenyan African violet versus a different kind of African violet?

Carla: 4:34

It also allows us to share how an item or an object or a person or a thing fits into our world. So when I'm talking about my Christmas cactus, it's her name is Vivian, because it came from Steven's grandmother who passed away. So now every time I take care of that plant, I'm also thinking about her and what a wonderful woman she was. So having named things also allows us to show an appreciation for things. For things. It allows us to single out a particular item or object or person or thing or animal and show just how we can praise it like beautiful, gorgeous, fluffy, any other kind of adjectives or adverbs we can use to describe something.

Carla: 5:24

But the biggest thing about why we name our plants and other objects in general is because human beings are a social species. We love making connections, showing how things work together or how they're separate and why they can't work together. Naming things also allows us to personify, like my crispy wave plant droops dramatically like a drama queen, or my dalmatian Bedivere. He will whine like a big baby when he's not getting his way. These are things that are not normally associated with that object, but it's putting a human spin on them and in our mind. A human spin on them and in our mind, allowing them to have a life more than what they actually do, which is fun and wonderful.

Carla: 6:16

So now this goes into why I like to name my plants the way that I do. I like to name my plants after the people who are close in my life. Whether they live nearby me or far away doesn't matter. So, like I have three orchids, one is named after my mother, one is named after Stephen's mom and one is named after my best friend who passed away when I was in high school, and I will take care of these plants when I'm not able to talk to them directly, and it allows me to kind of communicate with them a little bit and see how they're doing. And then, by creating that connection with the name to the plant, if the plant is showing signs of distress or needs that are not being met, then I can take care of that plant and send energy to that person as well to help them do better or feel better or whatever may be ailing them. Now, I know that it doesn't have an actual direct connection, but sometimes we like to send energy out into the world this way and this is why I name my plants the way that I do.

Carla: 7:37

So I have on the Greg app it shows like I have 18 plants right now. Not all of them are named this way. Like two of them I have cypher and trefor. Like my pothos is named trefor and my aloe plant is named cypher because I love Castlevania. And the new African violet that I picked up recently her name is Daphne because when I went to add her to the Greg app it'll autofill in a name. So, like the first name off shirt offered was Peter Parker and I'm like no, so I did the randomized button and it's like, oh, daphne. And then Steven was like the only Daphne's I ever known are wearing purple, which is the Scooby-Doo Daphne and the Daphne from Bridgerton. Both characters always wore purple, so I thought that was hilarious. I'm like, yeah, it's Daphne. My other African violet with the pink flowers I actually named Keola after my other friend, keola. He is amazing and that plant is just gorgeous. And Keola he works out with me at CrossFit, so he, he also is gorgeous, so that's how I name my plants.

Carla: 8:46

What are some of the ways that you name your plants? I would love to hear about them. It'd be really cool to see what kind of names you've come up with and why you selected those names. I hope you enjoyed this episode. I know it's a shorter one, but that's okay. We're just here to have fun. So let me know what you guys think.

Carla: 9:05

If you like this episode, please subscribe on your favorite podcast platform. Go ahead and reach out to me if you have any questions or comments or just anything you want to share. There's a send me a message link in my link tree, which is in the show notes, or you can tag me on Instagram. I'm always looking out there and I'm working on adding more photos of my plants throughout the week as well on there. So if you enjoyed this episode, please go ahead and share it with somebody as well Anybody you love, you like, or even those you just tolerate, that also enjoy plants. I would greatly appreciate that. So, all right, everyone be safe, make wise choices. And thanks for spending time with me. Again, I really appreciate it.