Studying horticulture.........what posters to put on my wall

[Billabong]

hiyer guys....well the title kinda says it really. what is some absolutely essential informations that i will always need to remember in my gardening/horiculture journey that does take a bit of repetitive memorising for it to sink in....im doing this on the cheap as im a stinkin student. its pretty random so far but this is what iv got

i write like 6yo i know . a lot of this is i am just trying to learn some pretty odd words and their meanings off by heart.
ghanks for any tips guys.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

I find the best way to fix and retain information is to use it. It isn't everyone who would want a conversation about the differences between dicot and monocot, but you could always start a thread on here, or twitter, or somewhere.
BTW are plants with twelve or fifteen petals di or mono see what I mean? You won't forget three or five now.

 

[Billabong]

I find the best way to fix and retain information is to use it. It isn't everyone who would want a conversation about the differences between dicot and monocot, but you could always start a thread on here, or twitter, or somewhere.
BTW are plants with twelve or fifteen petals di or mono see what I mean? You won't forget three or five now.

well. its just an experiment really. on the wall will be easy to see every day. my hope is anything on that damn wall will sink into my bonehead no matter what. i need to add to that page a few of the other things that distinguish die's and monos from each other............ i guess with something with 15 petals you would use these other things to distinguish instead. also plants can lose petals so the petal thing is not reliable at all but still i think worth knowing.

 

[Anniekay]

For me, my nemesis is Latin names of plants. Perhaps a list of plants in the same group. Like all plants in the daisy family, for example, etc, etc. I think that would help the latin names of things just roll right off your tongue.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

For me, my nemesis is Latin names of plants.

Look them up, you will quite often find it is a description of some notable aspect of the plant in Latin followed by a 'Latinisation' of the name of the person who first described it. Some of those plant hunters were a story in themselves, no airplanes in those days and even trains were scarce once you left 'civilisation'. Others are sometimes named after famous gardeners who bred them, so you will find a honeysuckle and a rose sharing very similar names.
Learning straight lists is hard, but if there is a story, a bit of information, to go with it ...
Then go and bore someone stiff telling them all about it , that will embed it permanently

 

[Meadowlark]

Not exactly what you asked for...but arguably more important than tons of "essential information"

"KISS, an acronym for "Keep it simple, stupid!", is a design principle that states that most systems work best if they are kept simple rather than made complicated; therefore, simplicity should be a key goal in design, and unnecessary complexity should be avoided. "

I prefer to omit the Stupid reference

 

[Mystic Moon Tree]

Look them up, you will quite often find it is a description of some notable aspect of the plant in Latin followed by a 'Latinisation' of the name of the person who first described it. Some of those plant hunters were a story in themselves, no airplanes in those days and even trains were scarce once you left 'civilisation'. Others are sometimes named after famous gardeners who bred them, so you will find a honeysuckle and a rose sharing very similar names.
Learning straight lists is hard, but if there is a story, a bit of information, to go with it ...
Then go and bore someone stiff telling them all about it , that will embed it permanently

Latin is not that hard. Its made up of simple parts and pieces smooshed together & each part has a meaning. Parathrombic - pertaining to around the heart. Lupine -being of or like the wolfe lupe. Salvia - salv is to sooth or heal merged with the femenine. Rosmarinus officional - the official rose of the sea.

 

[Mystic Moon Tree]

What you need on your wall: Remember to water the plants.

I guess it would depend on what you are trying to accomplish with your plants before I could recommend what information might be good to have handy. I am an herbalist & permaculturist. My go to information is going to be quite different than someone who owns a flower farm or other type of planting endeavor.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

Here is another way you can practice and remember them. When I was a kid my dad used to play a game where we would collect flowers, one flower and one leaf from each plant and see who could find the most different ones. You quickly learn that not all flowers are big and coloured, plenty of green ones even before you count grasses.
When we got home we would count to see who had most and then look up the ones we didn't know in the flora, that will teach you the terms, looking for them on actual plants, as well as learning the names.
It is good if you can vary the walks, round here you will find different plants locally on acid clay from those on chalk downs a few miles away.
If you get really good you can play the game Dad used to play with people who didn't know him, "Find one each of as many plants as you can, and you give me a penny for every one I know and I'll give you 50p for every one I don't."
I never saw him lose anything, and most amateurs have trouble finding fifty different plants. When you get a bit good at it though it's surprising how many can be found, even on an urban walk were you are looking at cracks in concrete, or between paving stones.
Make your learning notable, the places you go and the people you are with not only make it enjoyable, but give you all these hooks to retrieve the information, quite a few things will become one time learning occasions.