Herself's Houseplants

Naturally it would smell as sweet, but would a rose by any other name attract your attention as quickly as “Pope John Paul II”?Ken Rowe doubts it. People in the rose-naming business deliberately go for something catchy for just that reason, he said. Rowe, of Corvallis, is chairman of the 17th annual Albany Rose Show, which continues through 6 p.m. today at Heritage Mall in Albany.

Visitors to the show will see table after table of the fragile blooms, boasting names such as, “Timeless,” “Veterans’ Honor,” and “Hoagy Carmichael.” [ more How catchy is the name of your favorite rose?]

There are now companies that will name a rose after you or a loved one for a fee. Google ‘naming a rose’ to get a list of vendors.

Or you can go to Every Rose and search for roses by name.

One of the prettiest plants on my deck all summer has been an echeveria named Silver Spoons. The centerpiece in a small hypertufa trough, Silver Spoons also proved to be one of my easiest container plants.

A waxy succulent plant with large silver-blue, spoon-shaped leaves, it looks something like a giant hen-and-chicks (Sempervivum). Its small coral flowers atop tall stalks are a nice extra, but the leaves are really the focal point.

Echeverias are native to near-desert parts of Mexico and South America, where they thrive in soil that is well-drained and often dry. Houseplant books have long offered plenty of information on growing echeveria indoors, but only recently has the plant become a hot item outdoors here in the Midwest. . . . [ read more Silver Spoons is an easy container plant]

Thanks for the photo!

Echeverias are named after an 18th century Spanish botanical artist. They are easy to grow from cuttings. Dead leaves should be removed they are prone to fungus problems. Water them as you would a cactus, deeply and rarely. In winter they lose their leaves, detracting from their appearance. They make great dish garden plants and come in many colors.