tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2891478286629018612.post7016868982047300945..comments2024-03-14T14:32:56.802-05:00Comments on Garden Musings: Gendered PlantsProfessorRoushhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17827625019371233145noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2891478286629018612.post-83609665624918337312013-05-10T14:32:59.724-05:002013-05-10T14:32:59.724-05:00Interesting. I just read this piece on gender via ...Interesting. I just read this piece on gender via search for specs of a certain rose. I always get sidetracked...<br /><br />I don't think about my roses (some 40+), or any plants for that matter, in gendered terms. It never crossed my mind. My native tongue uses grammatical gender, but anthropomorphizing plants has more to do with socialization and culture than with grammar. In my first language, the words flower, plant, botany are all feminine nouns. Then it depends what specific plant one talks about. For example, rose, dandelion, peony are feminine nouns, and lilac, tulip, gladiolus are masculine nouns.<br /><br />When I think about all this I realize I tend to characterize plants according to their well being. A plant is either happy (doing well, lush, shiny, smiling) or ailing (not reaching its potential, showing some disease), or dying (not worth the resuscitation). I hate digging up and destroying plants though. I feel like I'm executing them. So there is some anthropomorphism involved then...<br /><br />Thanks for the stimulating thought.Ms Katzehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17435815504086392473noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2891478286629018612.post-38686749203321661552011-05-02T14:11:36.882-05:002011-05-02T14:11:36.882-05:00Oh, I've always referred to my roses as he or ...Oh, I've always referred to my roses as he or she but I think that's because of their names. Belinda's Dream...Maggie...Katy Road Pink (aka Carefree Beauty)are all she and Ducher is a he. I don't tend to "gender-ize" my daylilies or irises for some reason. Maybe they are just plants to me but the roses are family! :) Enjoy your blog, by the way! I was really glad to stumble across a blog so devoted to antique roses!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2891478286629018612.post-6660489688780746762011-05-02T05:52:51.499-05:002011-05-02T05:52:51.499-05:00Roses have personalities, so it makes perfect sens...Roses have personalities, so it makes perfect sense to assign gender identities to the different varieties. While I was working the plant sale this past weekend, I was getting odd looks from some of the people I was talking to as I was referring to a particular rose as 'he' or 'she'. I found myself saying things like, "She's a hefty girl that needs a lot of room" (Peggy Martin), or "I rarely see him without bees in his flowers (Darlow's Enigma). After the folks talk to me for a little while longer, they realize that I'm not crazy (just a bit odd and original) and the conversation appears to become completely normal to them.Connie in Hartwoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09127877285792861166noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2891478286629018612.post-90889204147081392332011-05-01T11:15:10.887-05:002011-05-01T11:15:10.887-05:00Google translates the oak to die Eiche and the map...Google translates the oak to die Eiche and the maple to der Ahorn. Now it has been over a half century since I took, and flunked, German and I am not sure but doesn't that mean that oak and maple or different genders?janes_kidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10421531808505881234noreply@blogger.com