I was at a plant sale over the weekend and during a quiet time was
talking to Mark Walsh of Trecanna nurseries and he sells House Leeks
(among other things) none of us in the group knew why they have their
common name, The House bit it ok as people grew them on roofs etc but
Leek?

(Best we came up with was the stopped the roof leaking!!)
--
Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall
www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and
Lapageria rosea

On 28/5/08 12:11, in article ,
"Charlie Pridham" wrote:

I was at a plant sale over the weekend and during a quiet time was
talking to Mark Walsh of Trecanna nurseries and he sells House Leeks
(among other things) none of us in the group knew why they have their
common name, The House bit it ok as people grew them on roofs etc but
Leek?

(Best we came up with was the stopped the roof leaking!!)

I think it might be something to do with the shape of the flower, though I
prefer your version!
http://www.stibbs.org/Holidays/Alpba...Alpbach143.JPG
--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'

In article ,
Charlie Pridham writes:
| I was at a plant sale over the weekend and during a quiet time was
| talking to Mark Walsh of Trecanna nurseries and he sells House Leeks
| (among other things) none of us in the group knew why they have their
| common name, The House bit it ok as people grew them on roofs etc but
| Leek?

The OED says that it's Old English, but gives no hint as to why it
is the only non-bulbous plant called a leek. Given the age of the
word, the reasons are unlikely to emerge if the future!


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

In article ,
says...

In article ,
Charlie Pridham writes:
| I was at a plant sale over the weekend and during a quiet time was
| talking to Mark Walsh of Trecanna nurseries and he sells House Leeks
| (among other things) none of us in the group knew why they have their
| common name, The House bit it ok as people grew them on roofs etc but
| Leek?

The OED says that it's Old English, but gives no hint as to why it
is the only non-bulbous plant called a leek. Given the age of the
word, the reasons are unlikely to emerge if the future!


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Thanks for that.

intrigued I have looked further and found that leac the old english/saxon
word means plant so the name translates as house plant. They appear to
have been grown on house because of the flowers supposed resemblance to
Thor or Jupiter's beard. The site below says the Romans were pretty keen
on them.
That will have to do me I suspect!
http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/h/houlee41.html
--
Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall
www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and
Lapageria rosea

In article ,
Charlie Pridham writes:
|
| intrigued I have looked further and found that leac the old english/saxon
| word means plant so the name translates as house plant. ...

Since the OED doesn't, I suspect that the known uses are inadequate
to draw that conclusion! I.e. the context could be met equally well
by it meaning any plant or a specific type of plant.

For example, 'grass' was any plant that could be eaten by animals
like horses and cattle - i.e. 'graze'.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

The message
from Charlie Pridham contains these words:
In article ,
says...
In article ,
Charlie Pridham writes:

| I was at a plant sale over the weekend and during a quiet time was
| talking to Mark Walsh of Trecanna nurseries and he sells House Leeks
| (among other things) none of us in the group knew why they have their
| common name, The House bit it ok as people grew them on roofs etc but
| Leek?

The OED says that it's Old English, but gives no hint as to why it
is the only non-bulbous plant called a leek. Given the age of the
word, the reasons are unlikely to emerge if the future!

Thanks for that.

intrigued I have looked further and found that leac the old english/saxon
word means plant so the name translates as house plant. They appear to
have been grown on house because of the flowers supposed resemblance to
Thor or Jupiter's beard. The site below says the Romans were pretty keen
on them.
That will have to do me I suspect!
http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/h/houlee41.html

I understand that they were grown on roofs because it was believed they
kept lightning away.

--
Rusty
Direct reply to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co period uk
Separator in search of a sig

In article ,
Rusty Hinge 2 writes:
|
| | I was at a plant sale over the weekend and during a quiet time was
| | talking to Mark Walsh of Trecanna nurseries and he sells House Leeks
| | (among other things) none of us in the group knew why they have their
| | common name, The House bit it ok as people grew them on roofs etc but
| | Leek?
|
| I understand that they were grown on roofs because it was believed they
| kept lightning away.

Clearly a predecessor of paper bags, then.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On May 28, 1:53 pm, Charlie Pridham
wrote:
In article ,
says...



In article ,
Charlie Pridham writes:
| I was at a plant sale over the weekend and during a quiet time was
| talking to Mark Walsh of Trecanna nurseries and he sells House Leeks
| (among other things) none of us in the group knew why they have their
| common name, The House bit it ok as people grew them on roofs etc but
| Leek?

The OED says that it's Old English, but gives no hint as to why it
is the only non-bulbous plant called a leek. Given the age of the
word, the reasons are unlikely to emerge if the future!

Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Thanks for that.

intrigued I have looked further and found that leac the old english/saxon
word means plant so the name translates as house plant. They appear to
have been grown on house because of the flowers supposed resemblance to
Thor or Jupiter's beard. The site below says the Romans were pretty keen
on them.
That will have to do me I suspect!http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/h/houlee41.html
--
Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwallwww.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and
Lapageria rosea

The modern German word Lauch is now used to mean Leek and occasionally
Scallion/Spring Onion.
There are some variations like Knoblauch for Garlic (knob leek - great
name) but these days the word is only used in a very narrow sense like
in English. The original meaning that you describe/found is
interesting. Clearly words can change their range of use over time.

In article ,
Des Higgins writes:
|
| The original meaning that you describe/found is
| interesting. Clearly words can change their range of use over time.

I prevented you on that one!


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On May 29, 11:44 am, (Nick Maclaren) wrote:
In article ,Des Higgins writes:

|
| The original meaning that you describe/found is
| interesting. Clearly words can change their range of use over time.

I prevented you on that one!

Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

I will offer a fulsome apology in due course

The message
from (Nick Maclaren) contains these words:

In article ,
Rusty Hinge 2 writes:
|
| | I was at a plant sale over the weekend and during a quiet
time was
| | talking to Mark Walsh of Trecanna nurseries and he sells
House Leeks
| | (among other things) none of us in the group knew why they
have their
| | common name, The House bit it ok as people grew them on
roofs etc but
| | Leek?
|
| I understand that they were grown on roofs because it was believed they
| kept lightning away.

Clearly a predecessor of paper bags, then.

I thought they discouraged the pink elephants?

--
Rusty
Direct reply to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co period uk
Separator in search of a sig

The message

from Des Higgins contains these words:
On May 29, 11:44 am, (Nick Maclaren) wrote:
In article
,Des Higgins writes:

|
| The original meaning that you describe/found is
| interesting. Clearly words can change their range of use over time.

I prevented you on that one!

Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

I will offer a fulsome apology in due course

I think you are applying some sophistication here.

--
Rusty
Direct reply to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co period uk
Separator in search of a sig

On 28 May, 20:45, Rusty Hinge 2
wrote:
I understand that they were grown on roofs because it was believed they
kept lightning away.

That and it was good material for thatching. In France we call it
artichauds des montagnes. Not leek, but artichocke! Which is perhaps
closer to what it looks like. Tectorum, as in sempervivum tectorum,
means roofing.

In article ,
writes:
| On 28 May, 20:45, Rusty Hinge 2
| wrote:
| I understand that they were grown on roofs because it was believed they
| kept lightning away.
|
| That and it was good material for thatching. In France we call it
| artichauds des montagnes. Not leek, but artichocke! Which is perhaps
| closer to what it looks like. Tectorum, as in sempervivum tectorum,
| means roofing.

Not quite. It means "of roofs".


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On 1 Jun, 18:42, (Nick Maclaren) wrote:
Tectorum, as in sempervivum tectorum,
| means roofing.

Not quite. *It means "of roofs".

Illius me paenitet! ;o)