Friday, January 09, 2009
Two Manitous?
I have a rhododendron 'Manitou' planted right at the entryway to our garden; it is a Nearing hybrid, said to be an improved 'Windbeam'. It has remained three foot tall, and is covered every spring, without fail, with lovely light pink flowers.
So far, so good; however I've always pronounced its name "MAN-i-too", like any reasonable midwesterner. Now I find it's supposed to be pronounced "man-EE-toe". That's one of the problems with living, basically, in the middle of a very large and mostly unoccupied cornfield; you never hear any horticultural terms or names actually pronounced, so you're kind of on your own. I suppose it doesn't make much difference, because nobody else around here knows how to pronounce plant names right, either. This State is a little handicapped in pronounciation in general... how else to explain pronouncing the small town of Whatcheer, Iowa as "Wacheer"?
However you choose to pronounce Manitou, it's quite pretty and reliable, and I'm in the market to purchase another one for a small spot in the back of the garden, so I'll have two Manitous (excuse me, "man-EE-toes").
// posted by IBOY @ 5:22 AM 
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I adore rhododendrons, and you're right -- however you pronounce it, this one is a beauty!
# posted by 
: January 09, 2009
: January 09, 2009
This post cracked me up and now I have to go back and correct old memories of visiting MAN-i-too islands in Michigan.
Man-EE-toe, man-EE-toe.
Good luck with finding the second Manitou, Don - will you try to match the size or will you have a Big ManEEtoe and a Little ManEEtoe?
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
Man-EE-toe, man-EE-toe.
Good luck with finding the second Manitou, Don - will you try to match the size or will you have a Big ManEEtoe and a Little ManEEtoe?
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
I liked something I once read about plant name pronunciation, that said since it's not a spoken language, as long as people understand what you mean, you've pronounced it correctly.
Hi Don, have you ever looked at this website?
http://www.taunton.com/finegardening/pguide/pronunciation-guide-to-botanical-latin.aspx
You might enjoy it. There are others out there, too.
http://www.taunton.com/finegardening/pguide/pronunciation-guide-to-botanical-latin.aspx
You might enjoy it. There are others out there, too.
Nancy... I love the soft pink flowers on Manitou.
Annie... Big and Little toe; I need an emoticon of the little guy slapping his head! :o)
Megan... that's what they told me when I was trying to learn Spanish; then the first cantina I walked into in Mexico, I asked the bartender if he wanted a beer (Quere una cerveza?)
Barbee... you know, I do use that and even have it bookmarked; you're right, it is useful.
Don
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Annie... Big and Little toe; I need an emoticon of the little guy slapping his head! :o)
Megan... that's what they told me when I was trying to learn Spanish; then the first cantina I walked into in Mexico, I asked the bartender if he wanted a beer (Quere una cerveza?)
Barbee... you know, I do use that and even have it bookmarked; you're right, it is useful.
Don
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