Women's Names That Are Also Plant, Flower Names

I've already mentioned black-eyed susans and roses as wildly popular flowers (or dirt-common, depending on your perspective); let's add daisies to that list. Most of us knew what daisies were before we could even spell the name! There are many types, including gerber daisies. But with 'Becky' shasta daisies, you get another two-for-one deal: the women's names Becky and Daisy.

When one speaks of flowers bearing the name, "Lily," the possibilities run the gamut from small plants such as lily-of-the-valley to plants large enough to stand in the back row of a flower bed without being obscured by the plants in front of them. For that matter, there are even aquatic plants named "water lilies." So this is a common plant name that bespeaks great diversity.

Some of you probably think of comedian, Lily Tomlin right away when you hear the name.

Willow is growing in popularity among women's names. Some of you may think of the character, Willow Rosenberg in Buffy the Vampire Slayer (not something I ever watched, I must admit).

In the plant world, willows belong to the genus, Salix and boast a far-flung distribution. Willows are well-known in landscaping in both tree and shrub form. We love the grace of weeping willow trees, for example, and pussy willows are admired as one of spring's most precocious harbingers.

Like Willow (above), Poppy ranks much higher in popularity among women's names than it used to.

The flowers named "poppies" belong to the genus, Papaver. The best-known species are as follows:

• P. orientale
• P. nudicaule
• P. rhoeas
• P. somniferum

Did you know that Iris was the name of a Greek goddess? In Greek mythology the rainbow was supposed to be a manifestation of Iris. She was messenger to the gods, although not as famous as her male counterpart, Hermes.

Bearded iris can be among the most fragrant flowers in your landscaping. Reticulated iris can't match the fragrance of its bearded cousins, but I value it for its early bloom time.

Probably the most famous Stella is the character in the 1947 play by Tennessee Williams, A Streetcar Named Desire.

Stella de Oro is a type of daylily (Hemerocallis). It is valued for being:

• An early bloomer
• A rebloomer
• Not an overly fussy flower to grow

Myrtle does not rank nearly as high in popularity among women's names as it used to. Nowadays, folks may think of Myrtle Beach when they hear the word before they would think of a female name.

Click the link below to learn more about the plant, crape myrtle. Besides crape myrtle, there is also a ground cover named "creeping myrtle," although people more commonly call it "Vinca vine," after the genus to which it belongs.