Hello! I am so looking forward to experiencing this online flora adventure with you all.
My name is Oona. I grew up in Northern Ontario, Canada and have lived in Anchorage since 2002.
I work as a Landscape Architect and I have wanted to revisit botany for some time now.
From an early age, flowers and plants delighted me and learning their names satisfied my curiosity and fed my enthusiasm. When I came to live in Alaska, I was completely smitten by alpine and meadow plants I encountered; some similar, most completely different from the areas where I grew up. Oh, and the berries!
I love how you refer to learning botanical terminology like learning a new language. Using botanical language is challenging for me and while I can interpret botanical references in books, I still hesitate to use it. Gaining proficiency in this language will be my main goal for this class.
I’m happiest in my garden, or walking with my dog and kids in the woods or in the mountains exploring the seasons.
My favourite plants change all the time. Right now, Mertensia paniculata – Alaska Bluebells jumps to mind because it is having it’s moment!
Welcome Oona,
it is great to have you join us for this class. Yes, it is a lot of fun to play around with these botanical terms at the dinner table. Bananas are berries, and peanuts are not really nuts… Once you will get familiar with the terms it is all pretty logical, often times the scientific names are related to some feature of the plant, Lens culinaris is the scientific name for lentil or Quercus rubra for red oak, and there are many more. See a great example from local artist Jamie Smith…
Goals!
Yes. That is the way I would like to learn to speak about plants.