Plants are discovered, and come by their names, in some intriguing ways…

One day in 1988 Peter Del Tredici of the Arnold Arboretum in Boston Massachusetts was walking to a sports game. He was on his way to Fenway Park to watch the Boston Red Sox (For Brits: They’re a big baseball team. Baseball? You know about baseball? OK.).

The dramatic self-clinging climber Parthenocissus tricuspidata grows on so many buildings in Boston that it’s long been known as Boston Ivy. As he walked to the stadium he noticed that there was a yellow-leaved shoot on a plant climbing up an apartment building. He begged some material to propagate and so when the plant was introduced it was called Parthenocissus tricuspidata ‘Fenway Park’.

It’s an impressive plant. The leaves open bright yellow and in a sunny situation they retain their color. In shade, the leaves tend become a limey green color. In the autumn the leaves develop fiery red, orange and yellow tones.

It just takes a moment and a good eye to spot a great new plant - and to give it an appropriate name. Now if only we had a picture of the yellow shoot on the plant on the building...

Parthenocissus tricuspidata ‘Fenway Park’ is available from Plant Delights Nursery (though their story is slightly different.) In Britain it’s also available from these RHS Plant Finder nurseries.