Has anyone recently started the RHS Horticulture Course ?

[CheshireDing]

It is a while decades since I last did any official study and exams. I have done things for work, in house etc but am really struggling to retain any information.

Any thoughts greatly appreciated on how to remember Latin plant names when I now feel I am struggling to remember my own name these days

I finished the diploma last year - loved it

there are about 100 plant names to learn

I divided them into the alphabet - so A, B etc , each on a separate card and just repetitively learnt them - so moved onto B when I had A secured

also as I walked anywhere, and saw a plant I had to remember I had to think of it's latin name
It feels overwhelming at first, but there is a lot of repetition after a while
I found it helped thinking of the plants as friends - so like you remember your friends name - Jane Smith, Dave Jones etc
I though of the plants and remembered their names - e.g ilex aqifolium, quercus robur etc particuarly plants I liked
worked for me!

a lot of plant names particuarly the second part are mainly descriptions and repeat so will twig your memory e.g prunella vulgaris, linaria vulgaris - the vulgaris bit just means "common" (from "vulgar") so crops up a lot

A Handbook for Horticultural Students by Peter Dawson is basically the whole course so worth buying - about £40 new.

Oh thank you Sasha ! Some really good ideas there.

I will definitely put those in to play and have a look at that book too. I have the Encyclopedia of Gardening, it's a LARGE book