26 July 2017

Hortensias ? Or hydrangeas?

Walt took cuttings from a big hydrangea bush in our yard a few years ago. He rooted them in water. Then he grew them in pots for a while, until he thought they were ready to be planted in the ground. Now they are growing in beds in front of our garage.


Another name for the plant is "hortensia" — and that's the name in French. Ce sont des hortensias. Hydrangeas are native to eastern Asia (many species) and North America (a few species).


Hortensia is not a botanical or scientific name for the plant. That name is hydrangea. Hortensia is a horticultural term that describes the hydrangea hybrids that we plant in our yards.


Above are some hortensias as depicted by the French réaliste/intimiste painter Henri Fantin-Latour  (1836-1904).

15 comments:

  1. Tell French people you have hydrangeas in your garden and they'll look at you with big eyes, wondering what you're talking about.

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  2. Bonne promenade aujourd'hui...

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    1. Yesterday was a gorgeous day, a côte d'azur like day! Today were back in Normandy, since it is raining! We'll try to go to Rambures (hoping it's open) and then to Amiens and Rancourt. Ma niece just came in and we are on our way?

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  3. Have you ever thought of adding a soil acidifier in order to turn the flowers blue?

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  4. Sorry, but I am nearly hysterical at Walt rooting hydrangeas in water. Did he use rooting powder? I am now officially hysterical. After a break, I have settled. While I don't, there is a good reason why many Australian people when talking about the path of vehicles, that they pronounce the word route as rowt. They are embarrassed to say the word root in any other context than a tree root, and even then some might be nervous about saying that, and ready for a reaction. I have no idea where else it is pronounced as rowt. I get my kicks on Route 66. Well, I guess not the US.

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  5. Still trying, Andrew, to figure out what made you so hysterical. Look at this web page about 'rooting' plant cuttings.

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    1. And Walt told me this morning that he didn't actually root the hortensia cuttings in water, but in soil in pots. No rooting powder needed.

      People in the U.S. do say "rowt" for route, row- rhyming with now, not tow. And the ADSL device is a "rowter" pronounced that way, not a rooter.

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  6. I'd never heard of hortensia before. But there is the woman's name, Hortense. Rare, it is. I don't think many folks in the younger generation say "rowt" for "route" any more, but you're right, it can go both ways.

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  7. I say 'rowter' not 'rooter' for the internet/dsl device. Am I behind the times?

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  8. Yes Ken it is "rowter." In my experience, we used "rowt" for when describing how to get from point A to point B, while "root" was used for Route 15, Route 1, etc.

    My 2 cents.

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  9. I think the "root" and "rowt" differences in re roads in US speech may be a regionalism. I seem to remember my New England father saying "rowt" and people farther west saying "root".
    Didn't know you could root hydrangeas just in dirt. Must try.
    There is a character named Hortense in Bleak House, and I think the name is long out of fashion.

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    1. I think route pronounced "rowt" is the verb form, and route is more often the noun form. The word route is trying to find its place between rout and root.

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  10. You say tomato, I say tomato. We can still understand that it's a fruit (not a veg.)

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