Living in Texas and working in the landscape industry, the pressure is on me to be fluent in Spanish. Alas, my Spanish stinks. Often when I launch into a conversation with a nursery worker, for example, I get the kind of look that means, "We must humor her, but what the hell is she trying to say?"
Spanish is an easy language to learn, some say. I am proof against that. Oh, why didn’t I learn when I was a young thing, before my brain filled with woody tissue? Ever hopeful, I am taking lessons at Ole School of Spanish. In that spirit, here’s a mini Spanish lesson with plants which go by their Spanish names as often as English around here. Photos were taken at the marvelous nursery The Arbor Gate in Tomball, Texas.
Esperanza (meaning ‘hope’)/ Yellow bells in English/ Tecoma stans in Latin:
Chile Pequin (‘little chili’)/ Bird pepper/ Capsicum annuum:
Hoja santa (‘holy leaf’)/ Rootbeer plant/ Piper auritum:
Yerba Buena (‘good herb’)/Mexican mint marigold/Tagetes lucida
Well, I don’t have a good photo to post but you can see yerba buena here.
Hasta luego!
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