Names in Nature, a garden to pick from

The names

• Antigone

  Greek

  "worthy of one's parents, in place of one's parents"

  In Greek mytholgy, Antigone was the noble and courageous daughter of Oedipus, who acts as his guide after he blinds himself. Antigone is also the eponymous heroine of a play by Jean Anouilh. Despite…

  

• Armeria

• Ismene

  Greek

  "knowledgeable"

  Sister of Antigone and daughter of Oedipus in Greek mythology, Ismene's name is unlikely to make it in modern times because of its teasability factor. Ismay or Esme would be better bets.

  

• Lithodora

• Melissa

• Trillium

• Calandra

  Greek

  "lark"

  Calista Flockhart opened the door to a whole flock of graceful and unusual Greek names like this, including Calantha, Calla, Carissa, and Cassia. Calandra itself is the name of a species of lark, and…

  

• Nerine

• Myrica

• Silene

• Tansy

  Flower name, from Greek

  "immortality"

  Tansy is a flower name rarer than Rose, livelier than Lily and a lot less teasable than Pansy. Tansy is a perennial herbaceous plant of the aster family that has clusters of small bright yellow…

  

• Blodwen

  Welsh

  "white flower"

  An unusual floral -wen name which was the name of an 1878 opera by Welsh composer Joseph Parry.