Excellent work, 2nd Law!
Seriously, forward that info to Barry. We’ll show him “no one’s heard of this guy”!
Another Done.
Just got an email from Barry, who’s gonna be at a garden festival in Philly the weekend after next, and who I want to swing by and talk to on that occasion; I cut and pasted 2nd Law’s stats, to which he responded
.
so…um…about our plants…er…Cecils…
What does this guy think he’s selling - diamond tiaras? He’s selling plant cultivars - they don’t exactly have to be named after the most well-known people on the planet or anything. ‘Cecil Adams’ is a great name for a cultivar - there are some pretty dippy ones out there ‘Mrs. Moon’ pulmonaria, anyone?).
Hey, Cecil is a newspaper columnist in addition to being our Perfect Master.
And we aren’t known as the Teeming Millions for nuthin’!
As for naming something for Slug Signorino, well, I wouldn’t be thinking of a flower for him…
I wonder if more people have heard of Cecil Adams, or of hellebores?
I have no idea how to print illegibly in a web form.
I believe there’s a joke at work here. Or maybe it’s a challenge. 
GT
Done, FWIW. I also nominated the 2002-121 to be called Twickster.
You sweet talker, you!
Just voted (using my Miami address). He better damn well name the flower Cecil, or… we’ll give him the evil eye. 
Bumpity-bump.
Any news twickster?
Sorry, didn’t see this till now.
I’m going to a local garden festival Sunday where I hope to connect with Barry – will report back after that conversation.
So twickster, did you hook up with Barry?
Yup. No joy. He was basically too busy to talk, so my well-reasoned argument (that no one would NOT buy a plant they liked just because they didn’t understand the significance of the name) went unpresented.
Sorry, all.
Okay, I think a bump is more appropriate here than a new thread – I’m sure a kindly mod will let me know if this is not the case.
Last weekend I attended the big confab of the Garden Writers Association, which, conveniently enough for me, was in Philly this year. Lots of schmoozing (which I suck at), and lots of looking at and talking about gardens (which I enjoy the hell out of).
One person I did do a little schmoozing with was our old pal Barry Glick. I went up and identified myself, and he said “Dang, name is familiar…” so I added “I’m the Cecil Adams fan” and he knew immediately who I was. He had zero recollection of seeing me at the garden fair mentioned above – his claim was that I hadn’t talked to him, but whatever.
Anyway, I poured on the charm, and gave him the “well-reasoned argument (that no one would NOT buy a plant they liked just because they didn’t understand the significance of the name)” I’d planned to hit him with last time – and he saw the point of it. He still doesn’t want to have to explain to people who Cecil Adams is, but…
His thinking is that he’d do something with a hellebore that he’s not going to be growing in huge quantities, and make it a specific, limited-edition, special thing just for us. I told him there were 100,000 of us (perhaps a slight exaggeration), but that, realistically, I thought we could line up some serious numbers. [Anyone want to guess that actual numbers might be? I was talking out my ass at that point.]
Here’s my follow-up email to him:
And here’s the answer I got this morning:
Sorry I couldn’t get a guess on price – I’m guessing it would be $15, plus or minus, but that’s totally a guess on my part.
Current plan of action: Sign up for his mailing list and specify “Cecil Adams” in the spot for “how you heard about the mailing list”.
Hokay?
You are one determined woman Twick and I love you for it. I still think it’s a great idea and I’m emailing as soon as I’m done posting.
Done and done.
Note for non-gardeners – if you don’t know much about hellebores, here is some info. Short version – they’re ridiculously easy to grow.
Gardeners – they’re hardy zones 4 though 9; non-gardeners, that means you’re good anywhere south of, say, the middle of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Montana and north of, say, Miami.