Who was Black-Eyed Susan? Is Queen Anne's Lace really effective for birth control? And how did the Forget-me-not get its name?

The "special properties" of certain plant were first studied as being "useful" which meant mostly medicinal. Many of these properties, real or imagined, were permanently attached to the flowers in their names, both botanical and common.

The Legend of Black-Eyed Susan and Sweet William

These two much loved wildflowers have a romantic legend in common, told in an old English poem by John Gay: "All in the downs the fleet was moored, banners waving in the wind. When Black-eyed Susan came aboard, and eyed the burly men. 'Tell me ye sailors, tell me true, if my Sweet Williams sails with you.' This search for Sweet William is one of the all time favourite wildflower legends and good gardeners always note that these two species are both biennials, bloom at exactly the same, and look lovely together.

Catchfly is also known as Catchwort, Limewort, and None-So-Pretty. This beautiful magenta-flowered plant gets its most popular name from its sticky flowers. It was called Limewort because it resembled a sticky lime substance of the medieval period that was palced on trees to snare small birds.

How the Forget-me-not got its name

This European perennial is one of the world's most loved wildflowers, and though the little clusters of sky blue flowers are wonderful, the romantic legend of how it got its name is ever better. The plant is a streamside species, so the setting makes sense. a medieval German knight is said to have been picnicking on the banks of the Danube with his lady love. He descended the bank to the water's edge to gether some of the lovely blue flowers he saw there but while he was near the water, tragedy struck. A flash flood suddenly appeared and pulled the young man into the churning river. As he was literally swept away, hie tossed the bouquet to his lady on the bank with the three now famous words: "Forget me not!"