I've used the online botanical pronunciation helper quite a lot in order to know the correct way to pronounce the plants that I happen to be selling.
Found here:
HOWEVER, as I meet other people and we talk about various plants it invariably occurs that one of us will mention a plant name and the other will look puzzled and say "Uh, I dunno what that is." Sometimes its because a plant name is very commonly pronounced incorrectly and I didnt recognize it. Like Clematis. Apparently its supposed to be pronounced KLEM-a-tiss and not like klem-AT-tiss. Cotoneaster is another one. Kuh-TONY-aster. Sure looks like Cotton Easter and most likely that is what I will hear from the majority of laymen. So, I need to know what plant names are usually called, even if it's wrong. At the same time I need to know the proper way to say the names so that I don't sound like a doofus when I am talking to big nursery owners in my area.
Does that make sense? When someone says "Do you have any la-ROPE-uh?" I don't lose a sale because I wasn't familiar with that version of pronouncing Liriope. Pronounced luh-RYE-oh-pee.
Maybe you seasoned sellers already know all these things, but I don't. Someone asked my daughter about a plant called "WIGGLE-uh." Uh… What is that?! Apparently its a common pronunciation of Weigela.
I realize it could require a lifetime to achieve such a feat, and I can't please everyone- but I press on nonetheless.
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