When plucked from a garden catalog and scattered on a page, the names of flower, fruit, and vegetable seeds can lead to surprisingly sexy poetry. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “The Sensual Poetry of Seed Catalogs”
You’re listening to A Way with Words, the show about language and how we use it. I’m Grant Barrett.
And I’m Martha Barnette. And Grant, I bet you’ve been up to the same thing I have been up to, which is perusing seed catalogs and dreaming of this year’s garden.
Yep, it’s like the adult version of the Sears catalogs that you looked at at Christmas time when you were a kid.
Isn’t that the truth?
They’re so beautiful, all these lovely plants and flowers.
And it’s just delightful.
Well, yeah, the images, but of course, also the language is what’s catching my eye.
You know, some of those names are just, I mean, why would they be naming fruits and vegetables, things like Diplomat or Albion or Seascape?
I mean, they’re sort of like paint chips or something.
Yeah, there’s a sequence of three that I saw. Divino sabeto orak, they’re like some characters from the new, you know, the new Star Trek series.
Oh, I was thinking a law firm or something. I’ve had some fun fooling around with those names and just putting them together, just piling them together into little poems. How about this one: Purple passion, jersey night, silky sweet, hybrid ruby perfection. Wow, that’s prom night with your sweetie playing Bruce Springsteen on the radio.
Actually, it’s a poem about cabbage and asparagus.
Oh, yeah, that too.
I do like a good cabbage.
Asparagus not so much, but cabbage I do.
Here’s another one: Sugar baby, starlight, crimson sweet, sparkle, tasty bites.
Wow.
And that’s first love, right?
That’s what I’m thinking here.
This is your first love, a little, you know, shy hand-holding. And then you both give your first smooch.
Yeah, actually, it’s about watermelon and strawberries.
One more: German winter, white swan, night and day, purple ruffles, flashback mix.
German opera.
Has to be, right?
No, it’s edible flowers.
No, either that or it’s a Berlin nightclub at 3 a.m.
Could be.
Could be.
But you plucked these names from where? From the seed catalog websites?
Right from the Burpee and the Johnny Seeds catalogs.
They’re lots of fun.
Yeah, they are lots of fun.
If you’re planting your garden or going through the names and there’s something that’s really struck you, give us a call.
Let us know what you think.
Maybe put together your own seed poems.
Or send your seed poetry to words@waywordradio.org.
